Felt
A textile produced from matted wool fibres, felt is one of the most essential elements of the material culture of the Mongol nomads, serving to produce the insulating cover for the yurt, boot-liners, carpets and cushions, and various types of sacks and containers.
It is difficult to establish precisely when felt came to be used by the nomads of Central Asia, but feltmaking technologies had clearly become highly developed by the time of the Xünnü, whose felt embroideries are known to us from the objects discovered in the frozen Noyon Uul and Pazyryk tombs. Felt is produced today not only as an insulating cover for the yurt, but also as a material for embroidered felt rugs (esgii shirdeg), hats, bags, boot liners (oims), wall-hangings (xöshig), saddle-pads and a variety of other objects. It is valued as a symbol of purity and abundance, and the making of felt is a communal festive activity involving the recitation of special poems of blessing, as well as the holding of a celebration in honour of the new textile and to thank the participants.[1] The feltmaking is always a communal activity, undertaken with the assistance of a number of neighbouring families, which is associated with various ritual poems of blessings and concludes with a traditional celebration. Small felt objects such as bags, hats and boot liners are generally made by hand inside the home, by one or two people, while felt for the yurt is made out of doors by a large group of people.
The wool of the sheep is shorn twice a year, once in spring and again in late summer or early autumn; felt for the yurt and for carpets is generally produced following the second shearing, at the end of August or the beginning of September. First the wool is beaten with long canes in order to separate the fibres, then the tufts of wool are laid out over top of an existing piece of felt known as the "mother felt", in several perpendicular layers, while warm water is sprinkled over top of the wool. Finally the felt is rolled up in a horse-hide around a wooden axle, and drawn behind a horse over a course of several kilometres, until the felt has become sufficiently compact. In the evening, the family having made the felt invites everyone to their home for a "felt feast". On this occasion a sheep is slaughtered and served, along with airag and dairy products, to the guests, who join in singing and playing music, guessing riddles, telling stories and reciting epic poems.
Notes
- ↑ L. Batchuluun (trans. Eric Thrift). Felt Art of the Mongols. Ulaanbaatar: Institute for the Study of Arts and Culture, 2003. ISBN 99929-2-163-3
 | In commemoration of the legacy and teachings of His Holiness Dulduit Danzanravzhaa Fifth Wrathful Noble Xutagt of the Great Gobi (1803-1856) I did not overbearingly sophize Nor preach with pride and arrogance But having found a sense in this world Spoke the truth of my dear heart. |   |