An important branch of Azerbaijan's traditional folk art is weaving. The main factor that led to the emergence of weaving as a primary art form of antiquity was directly related to the presence of fibrous plants growing here due to the natural conditions of the territory of Azerbaijan. As raw materials and household characteristics are the main conditions for the emergence of separate areas of weaving, each of these areas was peculiar for certain ethnographic regions and art centers, distinguished by their traditions and labor skills. Thus, traditional fields of weaving such as line weaving, hessian handcraft, shalbaf (specific shawl type) weaving, gimp weaving, carpet weaving have appeared in Azerbaijan.
Like other fields of weaving, Azerbaijan has an ancient tradition of the hessian handcraft, as well. In the 19th-early 20th century, this kind of handicraft was mainly characteristic of the Lankaran-Astara ethnographic region. Writings of the Russian author D.Kistenyev, who studied the economic life of Lankaran district in the late 19th century, and G.Chursin, who visited the district in the 1930s, along with many handicraft areas, contain information about the hessian handcraft, according to which this field of art was mainly widespread in the life of the people who resided in the region’s plain area. The main reason for this was the richness of wetland vegetation in the plains.
Relevant materials preserved in the National History Museum of Azerbaijan show that our people have created examples of the weaving art in various forms and styles, for domestic purposes. The traditional customs of giving the hessian handicraft, which was mainly used in the life of the Talysh people in Azerbaijan, as a dowry to the bride shows that in the past, families without carpets and palases (carpet-like products) considered the hessian handicraft as an important household item.
As part of a hessian handicraft, wicker baskets, and many other woven products were made. The mats were usually woven from plants that grow in swamps and are called "dalo" (sedge), "legh//ligh", "piza//puza". As result various names were used, according to the types of plants from which the mats were divided into such types as "daloa timon//tomon", that is, "mat from sedge", "legha timon//tomon", that is, "mat from ligh ", as well as according to the pizas’ large or small size – into “kala piza timon//tomon” (mat from large piza) and “hirda piza timon//tomon” (mat from small piza).
Mats and mat products were divided into different types not only according to their material but also depending on their domestic use. Thus, mats and various types of wicker baskets were made for being laid on the floor, wrapped on the wall, storing and carrying products such as grain, rice, and fruits.
Wicker baskets were used to transport food, and bast wares were used to store them. The materials of Azerbaijan’s Ethnographic Fund give grounds to say that the wicker baskets and wares were also made in different varieties. "Legha zanbul", that is, baskets called "ligh baskets", as the name implies, were made of ligh in a round shape and were two-handled, while bast wares were usually woven from "hirda piza".
At the same time, the circular mat scales made of a leash and the samples of hanging pockets made of leash prove that the art of weaving plays an important role in the economic and family life of our people. The looms for weaving mats were of vertical and horizontal types. However, their weaving technologies were mainly similar; the weaving process was carried out with a beating board called “si” of both looms.
Thus, matting craft was one of the main and inseparable handicraft areas of the population’s occupation at different stages of historical development. Despite requiring hard work, at present, the interest in matting products has not disappeared. According to the field-ethnographic materials preserved in the Ethnographic Fund of the National Museum, it can be said that matting craft has been traditionally continued for centuries. It has played a very important role in the life of the Azerbaijani people and has maintained its importance, both in the past and in modern times.