By sending their ebru rugs to China, Royal Halı Company from Gaziantep started a new interest and market for Turkish carpet industry in Asia.
With an average annual production of 350 million square meters of machine made carpets, the industry of Gaziantep now travels beyon the Great Wall of China with the ebru rugs manufactured and exported by Royal Halı Company. Last year, 2 billion 140 million dollars worth of carpets of Turkish carpet industry were exported to 158 countries. While the biggest interest came from Saudi Arabia with 337 thousand and 43 dollars acquisition, China has also made 47 thousand 187 dollars in exports.
Royal Halı made a difference by combining the art of ebru (also known as the marbling art) with art of carpet and then sent these new beautiful products to China. “For us, it was one of the interesting developments as the great attention came from China. Capable of copying everything, China’s interest in buying these top level handmade carpets made us very happy and proud not only for our company but also in the name of our country. By this way, China is also learning about our rich culture and history” says Cihan Dağcı, the General Manager of Royal Halı.
The art of marbling on paper, or ‘ebru’ in Turkish, is a traditional decorative form employing special methods. The word ‘ebru’ comes from the Persian word ‘ebr,’ meaning ‘cloud.’ The word ‘ebri’ then evolved from this, assuming the meaning ‘like a cloud’ or ‘cloudy,’ and was assimilated into Turkish in the form ‘ebru.’ Marbling does actually give the impression of clouds. Another possible derivation of the word ‘ebru’ is from the Persian ‘âb-rûy,’ meaning ‘face water.’
Although it is not known when and in which country the art of marbling was born, there is no doubt that it is a decorative art peculiar to Eastern countries. A number of Persian sources report that it first emerged in India. It was carried from India to Persia, and from there to the Ottomans. According to other sources, the art of marbling was born in the city of Bukhara in Turkistan, finding its way to the Ottomans by way of Persia. In the West, ‘ebru’ is known as ‘Turkish paper.’ Royal Halı makes this art form meet their products and create beautiful ebru rugs as a result.
