Moldavian floral rugs are the masterpieces of Moldavian craftsmanship. They are distinguished from other traditional rugs by their floral patterns on a black background. The floral motifs on Moldavian kilim rugs follow the same pattern: one or more floral bouquets in the centre of the carpet framed by a floral frieze.
The flowers represented on these floral rugs are all those that grow in Moldova: lilies of the valley, tulips, chamomile, bells, geraniums, sunflowers and especially roses of all colours.
The floral motifs on a Moldavian kilim rug are not stylised, but faithful representations of the real models. The success of these floral representations depends on the skill of the weavers. Thus, you have Moldavian kilim rugs with slightly coarse flowers and other Moldavian carpets with finely woven floral patterns.
But why this obsession with flowers? Floral motifs as we know them today appeared on Moldavian floral rugs at the beginning of the 20th century. The floral rugs woven before this period and which have been passed down to us had primitive geometric and stylised patterns similar to those of today’s Turkish carpets. The style of today’s Moldavian floral rugs was inspired by Aubusson carpets and brought back to local taste, i.e. larger carpet dimensions, larger floral patterns, brighter colours.
The popularity of floral motifs is explained by their aestheticism, these kilim rugs were used as tapestry and having a wall decorated with flowers looked very pretty.
I mentioned earlier the delicacy of the floral motifs, there are floral rugs with finer patterns than others. You can see above an example of the difference between the two categories.
Flowers are not the only motifs represented on Moldovan kilim rugs, there are carpets with animal motifs framed by elaborate floral friezes. The most represented animals are deer, but there are many others. If you wish to see more, you can look at our collection of Moldavian carpets which reflects this variety of zoomorphic patterns.
