Symmetrological review of the ornamental patterns of the Chiprovtsi hand-woven carpets

Especially suitable for the study of 2-dimensional symmetry, antisymmetry and colored symmetry is the large
number of geometric patterns executed in textile. The tradition of carpet-making in Chiprovtsi, NW Bulgaria is selected
for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity in 2014 by UNESCO. The
town of Chiprovtsi is rich in history and was also famous all over the Balkan Peninsula for its goldsmiths. The earliest
information about Chiprovtsi carpets dates back from the 17th century. The hand-woven technique,preserving the
ancient way of weaving, is used to produce two-sided flat carpets and nowadays. The present investigation arose from a
desire to clarify contradictory statements regarding the decorative ornaments which are to be found on the carpeting
from different regions in Bulgaria and in the Chiprovtsi carpets particularly.
It is well known that there are 17 classes of symmetry groups of planar ornaments which repeat in at least two
nonparallel directions; these are known as crystallographic plane groups. When each set is denoted by a color, the
geometrical pattern becomes a color pattern (Senechal, 1975). In this respect, preliminary analysis can be made on
symmetry patterns (Shubnikov and Koptsik, 2004).
Characteristic for the composition of the oldest carpets is a rim orbiting a square or rectangular field consisting of
one or more strips. The traditional carpet ornamentations of the Chiprovtsi region are symmetrically organized with
highly stylizing geometric forms. The first ornamental shape which is determined by the technique of weaving is a
triangle (Stankov, 1964). In different models were documented several typical ornaments with specific names as
“kanatitsa”, “makaz”, “kamulka”, “karakachka”, etc.
According to the symmetry elements and operations in different ornaments are recognized p1, pm, cm, pmm, p4,
p4mm and other plane groups arrangements. From each uncolored group of symmetry several colored groups can be
derived if different choices of color-changing symmetry operators are made. In such manner some late models, from
ornamental period, have received and formed an exceptionally rich decorated style.
Twinning phenomenon, as in crystalline nature, was not failed to be recognized from the Chiprovtsi masters and the
beauty of the principle was used in the model composing. It applied in majority with an ornamental match of two or
several patterns. Adding of black-and-white (anti-) symmetry to the p4mm plane group led to the design expressivity of
the oldest carpet example, exposed nowadays in the museum of Chiprovtsi town.
The Arabic geometrical art with its preponderance of hexagonal or trigonal patterns stands unique in the history of
ornamental art, while the two-dimensional geometrical patterns of antique Greece and Rome in the great majority were
based on orthogonal axial systems(Makovicky and Makovicky, 1977). The rhombohedric-like motifs in Chiprovtsi
models known from older carpets apparently borrowed itsdecorative form from the Orient. It is obvious also from
semantic point of view that some of the ornaments have foreign origin, such as “makaz” from Arabic and others.
The most distinctive feature of the Chiprovtsi carpets can be mentioned as use of the simplified triangular forms and
the stylized models. In addition, the most popular motif “kanatitsa” is regularly used in internal and external
architectural decoration of different parts of local public and private buildings