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THE ORIENTAL RUG
v~T^- "ST'^T! JT'l^.'^T^^r, ITOT.*^
^L^mm^^^MM^M^
Plate I.
ANTIQUE LADIK
Prayer Rug
From the Collection of Mr. George H. Ellwancer
Size: 3.10x6
Mi^^^wm
m
ORIENTAL
XA MONOGRAPH*
EASTERN EDGS AND CARPETvS:
SADDLE-BAG5, MAT^ 'iS PILLOWS!
WnHA(X)JS!5E>EMnOK OF KttflW
AND CU^SES.TYPES, BORDERS,
FIGURES, DYES. SYMBOLS ETC
TOGETHER.WITH SOME PRAG
HCAL ADVICE TO COUECTOEI
ai!^
Copyright, jgoj
By Dodd, Mead and Company
Published September, 1903
W
u
^
PREFACE
THAT Oriental rugs are works of
art in the highest sense of the
term, and that fine antique speci-
mens, of even modest size, have a financial
value of ten, fifteen, or thirty-eight thou-
sand dollars, has been recently determined
at public auction. At this auction, several
nations had a representative voice in the
bidding, and the standard of price was fairly
established. The value of rugs may have
been imaginary and sentimental heretofore ;
it is now a definite fact, with figures appar-
ently at the minimum. What the maxi-
mum may prove, remains to be seen.
Choice old rugs, therefore, to-day come
into the same class with genuine paintings
of the old Dutch School ; with canvases
of Teniers, Ruysdael, Cuyp, Ostade, or
vi PREFACE
whatever similar artist's work may have
escaped the museums. They vie in pres-
tige with the finest examples of Corot,
Diaz, Troyon, or Daubigny ; and in mon-
etary supremacy they overtop the rarest and
grandest of Chinese porcelains.
And yet the Oriental rug, as against
such competitors for the wealthy collec-
tors' favour, has hardly a history, and is
practically without a name or a pedigree.
Experts will tell you at a glance whether
or not your Wouverman is genuine, or
inform you where every true Corot was
owned or whence it was bartered or stolen.
In Chinese porcelains, the knowing dealer
will easily prove to you not only under
what dynasty but in what decade or year
a particular piece was produced.
The painting has descent, signature, or
the brush mark of a school to father it.
The Chinese vase, bowl, or jar has its
marks, cyphers, stamps and dates, and an
undoubted genealogy to vouch for its au-
thenticity. The rug must speak for itself
PREFACE vii
and go upon its intrinsic merits. It is its
own guarantee and certificate of artistic
and financial value.
The study of Oriental rugs, therefore,
can never lead to an exact science or ap-
proximate dogmatic knowledge. Who-
ever is interested in them must needs rely
upon his personal judgment or the seller's
advice. There is practically only one
current book authority in the premises.
A new volume on the subject would
thus seem to be well justified. It is the
hope of the author that this book may
prove itself sound and practical, and that it
may help to make more clear and simple
the right appreciation of a valuable rug.
W. D. ELLW ANGER
Rochester, N.Y., 1903
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. The Mystery of the Rug .... 3
II. General Classification 13
^' III. Of the Making, and of Designs,
Borders, etc 21
\JK IV. Of the Dyeing 35
V. Of Persian Rugs, specifically . . 43
VI. Caucasian Rugs, Daghestan and
Russian Types 61
VII. Of Turkish Varieties 69
VIII. Turkoman or Turkestan Rugs . . 79
\j ^ IX. Of Oriental Carpets, Saddle-Bags,
Pillows, etc 93
X. Auctions, Auctioneers, and Dealers 107
XI. Inscriptions and Dates 121
XII. General Observations and Particu-
lar Advice 131
LIST OF PLATES
Plate
I. Ladik Frontispiece
II. KONIAH Facing page 22
III. Kazak „ ,,36
IV. Sehna „ „ 44
V. Chichi „ „ 5°
VI. Kabistan „ ,,62
VII. Gheordez ,, ,,70
VIII, KouLAH „ ,,72
IX. Melez „ „ 74
X. Beluchistan „ ,,80
XI. Anatolian Pillows . . . . „ ,,94
XII. Bergama „ ,,124
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUG
^fte Oriental H^uq
Chapter I
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUG
TO judge of an Oriental rug rightly,
it must be looked at from sev-
eral points of view, or, at least,
from two aspects ; against the light and
with the light. From the first standpoint,
against the light of knowledge, speaking
figuratively, there may be seen only a num-
ber of rude and awkward figures in crude
colours scattered erratically on a dark or
dingy-lookiiTg background, a fringe of
coarse and ragged strings at either end, and
rough frays of yarn at the sides. This is
what is accepted by many people as an
Oriental rug. And indeed this is what
most rugs are.
3
4 THE ORIENTAL RUG
If, on the other hand, we view our rugs
with the light of a better wisdom and
happier experience, we will see the richest
and softest of colours, the most harmonious
shadings and blendings, medallions brilliant
as jewels, or geometrical designs beautiful
as the rose windows of a cathedral ; or,
again, graceful combinations of charm-
ingly conventionalized flowers and delicate
traceries and arabesques, — all these dis-
playing new glories of ever changing and
never tiring beauty. Each woven picture,
too, is as soft to tread upon as a closely
mown lawn, and caresses the feet that sink
into its pile. These are Oriental rugs as
their admirers know and love them.
Perhaps the chief charm of all such
beautiful rugs is in their mystery. Their
designs are odd and strange and full of
hidden meanings, and their effects are often
evolved from the crudest and clumsiest
figures, hooks and squares and angles ;
they owe their wealth of colour to simple
vegetable dyes from the woods and fields
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUG 5
and gardens, and yet the secret of many
of these dyes is still a secret, or has long
ago been lost. The places whence the
rugs come, the people who make them
and those who sell them, all are myste-
rious and hard to know and understand.
Moreover, broadly speaking, there are
no experts on the subject, no authorities,
no literature. He who would know them
must learn them by experience. The rug
dealers, for the most part, seem to treat
their wares merely as so much merchan-
dise, and what knowledge concerning them
they are willing to impart is so contradic-
tory as to be almost valueless. Few of
them would agree upon the name of an
example which might be out of the ordi-
nary, or be able to tell where it was made.
Ask of them what a " Mecca " is, and
they will stammer in their varying answers.
And yet the Armenians who handle most
of the rugs in this country are often highly
educated, and fully appreciate the beauty
of their wares. Their taste, however, is
6 THE ORIENTAL RUG
not always our taste, and all the Oriental-
ists seem to retain their barbaric fondness
for crude and startling colours. When
we would turn to books for information
in the matter we find that the authorities
are not many. They might be numbered
on your fingers and thumbs. These few
books, moreover, have been published only
in limited editions at high prices, and are
not easily obtainable. One of the most
important of such works is the sumptu-
ously illustrated, elephantine folio, issued
in Vienna in 1892 by the Imperial and
Royal Austrian and Commercial Museum.
And, elaborate as this authority is, the
modest editor, by way of apology, says in
the preface that " no pretensions are made
toward perfection owing to the little in-
formation that we can fall back upon."
A recent authority on the subject is
John Kimberly Mumford, and his volume
on Oriental Rugs, published in 1900,
has thrown much light on the subject.
Too great praise cannot be given to this
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUG 7
work and to his later studies in the same
field.
Still, no one knows it all, and the mys-
tery of Oriental rugs only deepens as we
try to learn. The little that any one may
really know of them through experience,
through questioning and elusive answers,
through conversations with obliging and
polite vendors, and through foreign travel
even, is, when all is said, only a patch-
work of knowledge. Consider how stu-
pendous and hopeless would be the task of
one who would dare endeavour to analyze,
criticise, classify, and co-ordinate the paint-
ings of the past five centuries, were no
names signed to them or no appreciable
number of pictures painted by the same
known artist.
He who would write of rugs has a like
condition to face.
And alas ! also, whoever would write
on this subject must now treat of it prin-
cipally as history. The characteristic rugs,
the antique rugs, the rare specimens.
8 THE ORIENTAL RUG
are seldom to be bought. They are
in museums, or in the hands of col-
lectors who hold them in even a tighter
fist.
Twenty years ago the warning was
given that the choice old rugs were grow-
ing scarce ; the years following found fewer
still upon the market. Two or three years
ago one of the largest wholesale houses in
New York, carrying a stock of half a mil-
lion or a million dollars, had no antiques
to show. In the autumn of 1902, an-
other large New York importer who
had just returned from Persia, Tiflis, and
Constantinople admitted that he had
not brought back one valuable antique
piece.
Nevertheless, the true enthusiast need
not be discouraged. From wandering
dealers, in odd corners, at the unexpected
or by chance, one may happen on a choice
specimen.
The very word " Persian" is a synonym
for opulence, splendour, gorgeousness ; and
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUG 9
" Oriental '* means beauty and wonder and
the magic of the " Arabian Nights.*' From
the Aladdin's cave of the mystical East,
therefore, we may still hope to gather
treasure and spoil.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
Chapter II
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
MOST of the rugs of commerce
in this country come from
Persia, Turkey, Asia Minor,
Turkestan, the southern part of Russia,
Afghanistan, and Beluchistan ; a few also
from India. The rugs are named from
the provinces or cities where they are
woven, and to the uninitiated, the names
seem to have been as fearfully and wonder-
fully made as the rugs themselves. They
are spelled one way on the maps and
every other way in catalogues and adver-
tisements. In enumerating the most fa-
miliar ones it may be well to write their
names as nearly phonetically and conven-
tionally as possible. A few rugs have
trade appellations only, without regard to
13
14 THE ORIENTAL RUG
topography ; and, often, unknown towns
are called into requisition for fanciful titles
to please the purchaser.
Of course the names of rugs may mean
nothing to your man-of-all-work, whose
duty it is to chastise them upon the lawn.
But there is poetry in the names of the
roses, and you cannot half enjoy their
beauty unless you know a Mabel Morrison
from the Baroness Rothschild ; Cecile
Brunner from the Earl of DufFerin ; or
can give the proper rank and title to Cap-
tain Christy, General Jacqueminot, and
Marechal Niel. And who would dare to
talk of laces that could not give a French
or Dutch or Irish name to them ? Or,
when painted pictures instead of woven
ones were under discussion, who would
venture to admit that he had heard for
the first time the names of some of the
Old Masters, or did not know any of
the Flemish School, or could not at least
touch his hat to a Gainsborough or a
Romney ? There were " old masters " in
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION 15
wool as well as on canvas, as the Gheordez
rugs most particularly prove, and though
the artists' signatures are missing or mean-
ingless, their classification is important.
Once learned, and then difficult to re-
member withal, rugs answer to their
names like old and familiar friends. If
Homer catalogued the ships, surely the
masterpieces of the Eastern loom are
worthy of brief nomenclature.
The Persians come first, and perhaps in
the following order of excellence : Kir-
man, Sehna, Kurdistan, Khorassan, Sera-
bend, Youraghan, Joshghan (Tjoshghan),
Feraghan, Shiraz, Gulistan, Mousul, etc.
The rug dealers frequently speak of a
" Persian Iran," but as Iran is the native
expression for Persia, the name is as tauto-
logical as are the dealer's laudatory adjec-
tives. So far as the term " Iran " can be
differentiated, it is now applied with some
propriety to rare old Persian rugs of fine
weave only, whose proper name may be in
doubt.
i6 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Among the Turkish rugs, which are
mainly those from Asia Minor, the Your-
dez (or Gheordez), the Koulahs, Koniahs,
and Ladiks are by far the finest, and then
come the Bergamas, vying often for like
high honour, the Melez, and many others
which are vaguely classed as Anatolians.
From Turkestan come the numerous
Bokharas and the more uncommon Samar-
kands ; from Afghanistan, the Afghans and
the Khiva, and Yamoud-Bokharas. But
the two rugs last named seem to have a
doubtful paternity, and should perhaps be
classed with the other Bokharas.
Beluchistan sends but one type, which is
generally unmistakable, although Afghans,
Bokharas, and Beluchistans all have a family
likeness.
To Caucasia in Russia are credited the
Kabistans, Shirvans, Chichis (Tzi-tzis),
Darbends, Karabaghs, Kazaks, and Gengias,
also the Soumacs, or so-called Cashmeres.
The first four of these are somewhat simi-
lar in character, and not many years ago
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION 17
were generally sold in this country under
the indiscriminate title of Daghestans. We
are more specific in our knowledge now,
and can classify and differentiate an old
Baku rug, or a Kuba, which is a Kubistan,
and therefore what we used to call an
antique Kabistan.
India provides us only with some fine
large carpets mostly of modern make, and
also with many imitations of Persian rugs,
made in part by machinery like the cur-
rent substitute for a Turkish towel.
OF THE MAKING, & OF
DESIGNS, BORDERS, ETC.
Chapter III
OF THE MAKING, & OF
DESIGNS, BORDERS, ETC.
I
N order to appreciate
the beauty of rugs, it
is well to remember
how they are made, and with
what infinite patience the
bits of wool are knotted onto
the warp one after another,
knot upon knot and tie after
tie, until the perfect piece is
finished. Yet, no ! Finished
it may be, but never perfect. Deliberately,
if necessary, it must show some defect, in
proof that Allah alone is perfect. Such
at least is the poetical version of a crooked
rug as the seller tells it. Yet never was
a vendor but will expatiate fluently on the
21
22 THE ORIENTAL RUG
merits of a rug
}^^ which lies true
and straight
and flat upon the floor, as a good
rug should. It is a common sight
nowadays in shop windows to see
some wandering artisan plying his
trade for the edification of the
passer-by. In his own home it is
generally a woman who does the
weaving, and very commonly the
whole family take part in it. More
often still the rugs were woven
by an Oriental maid for her prospective
dowry, and the practice yet obtains. A
specimen of her handicraft in textile art
was a bride's portion and marriage gift ; it
was considered as essential to the pro-
ceedings as the modern trousseau. This
offering was a work of love and often a
work of years. It is but natural, under
such circumstances, with dreams, hopes,
and fancies for inspiration, and the stimulus
of rivalry, too, that masterpieces should
MAKING, DESIGNS, BORDERS 23
result. These Eastern marriage portions
correspond to the " linen chest '* of our
ancestral Puritan Priscillas ; and similar
customs now survive in many countries.
Except that the "accomplishment" of the
Oriental maiden is so much more im-
portant, it might also be compared to the
beadwork so diligently done by our grand-
mothers. If the Persian bride gave infinite
toil and pains to innumerable knots and
ties, our belles of the last century were also
unwearying in their tasks, and strung more
and smaller beads than any would care
to count or finger now. The de-
signs on these bead-bags were
mostly crude and " homely," and
their art was very simple. But
though the handiwork of the
Orientals was expended in a bet-
ter cause with
worthier skill,
both linen
and wool,
and even
Persian, Caucasian
24 THE ORIENTAL RUG
' beads, be-
spoke a la-
bour of love
in such em-
ployments;
which, alas ! is
ut of date to-day.
gs of this charac-
gathered from house
to house, together with
r^^ some few stolen from mosque
Feraghan L^f Design OX palace, Were the first ripe
spoils of twenty years ago. Of course the
supply was soon exhausted. It is an inter-
esting question whether it might not be
possible, in the East, to revive this high
class of work among the girls. Instead
of establishing great factories for machine-
made products from set designs, could not
the most skilful of the girls be induced by
good prices to create original pieces and
rejuvenate the old art ?
The method of weaving is most simple.
The warp is stretched on a rude wooden
MAKING, DESIGNS, BORDERS 25
frame, and this warp is either wool, linen,
or cotton. The knotting is begun at the
bottom and worked from right to left.
A bit of woollen yarn about two inches
long is deftly twisted between the strands
of the warp, then tied in a secure knot,
and the ends left as they are. This knot
of yarn is then secured in place by one or
more twists of the end of the warp, and
then another knot of yarn is tied and
the process repeated ad infinitum until the
bottom row is finished and another row
begun. Not till the rug is all made are
the ends of the knots cut, ac-
cording to the length of nap
desired. Such, at least, was the
original method, although the
various knots
are all a mys-
tery to any
but the ini-
tiated, by
whom they
are generally
26
THE ORIENTAL RUG
classified as two only. When one square
inch of rug is completed, according to the
quality of the rug and the coarseness or
fineness of the yarn, there have been thus
laboriously tied from one hundred to five
hundred knots, not uncommonly a thou-
sand and more in some museum pieces.
And all this v^^hile the weaver is working
with his brains as well as with his fingers
and keeping true to the design and colour
scheme which he carries only in his head.
Except in the few inten-
tioned copies, specially made,
they had formerly no pat-
terns to follow. Each par-
ticular weaver, however,
was wont to keep to the
general design and col-
^{o^ ouring which distinguished
o**'"^? his particular locality.
Of designs it may be
said, generally, that they
were originally individual
trademarks, and, of them-
Koniah Field
MAKING, DESIGNS, BORDERS 27
selves, stamped the locality
of their weavers. Later, as
know^ledge and civilization
spread and tribe grew to communi-
cate with tribe and nation with
nation, local designs came to be
used indiscriminately. For exam-
ple, you will find in the semi-
antique Feraghans or Shiraz, or
Kiz-Killims as well, the distinctive
and unmistakable Sehna models.
On the other hand, certain definite,
primal, and unchanged designs, both
in the field and border, mark some rugs ab-
solutely and exclusively; as the Bokharas
and Afghans. In many, their classifica-
tion is fixed, or at least approximated,
rather by their borders than by the figur-
ing of their fields. There are many bor-
der designs surely determining their origin
and the region to which they properly
belong. These borders may have been
borrowed or stolen, or may have naturally
spread to other regions, even in the old
28
THE ORIENTAL RUG
time ; and they may be adapted to various
other makes to-day. Their evident indi-
viduaHty of design tells its own history
just the same.
It is not difficult to master the char-
acteristic features of the borders of many
types ; and, once know^n, they make a fair
foundation of knowledge for the collector.
They are often truer and safer guides to
classification than are the designs of centre
or field. Indeed, the study of borders,
inner, middle, and outer borders, and
borders characteristic, modified, or excep-
tional would make a book of wondrous
artistic interest and beauty of design.
Even the item of selvedge,
particularly in the Beluchis-
tans, shows great skill in
colouring and pattern.
The
consider-
ation of
charac-
teristic
MAKING, DESIGNS, BORDERS 29
patterns in field and border is so involved
with verbal description and specification
in the various classes of rugs that an at-
tempt at complete pictorial illustration of
such figures in their proper place is prac-
tically impossible. A few reproductions
are shown in this chapter which may-
serve as examples. Some of them are
more particularly considered elsewhere in
the text, as reference may show.
The Serabend border is referred to on
p. 50, and is quite unmistakable; and the
Persian border (p. 23) is
familiar to every one, and
appears frequently on
Caucasian rugs of every
quality and every age.
The Feraghan leaf design
is noticed on p. 52, and
Crab Bordtr
30 THE ORIENTAL RUG
wherever used in
the drawing, determines
its class as absolutely as any figure
may. The Rhodian border is referred to
more particularly on p. 72, and the Koniah
design and Koulah border are described in
their proper place, p. 72. Other Persian
borders are most interesting, although they
may not particularize any class or locality.
Such are the turtle and crab borders (pp.
28 and 29), and the lobster design, at the
head of this page. The origin of these
strange forms of ornament as applied to
carpet-weaving adds only another mystery
to the subject. But dyes were derived not
only from leaves and roots, but also from
insects, molluscs, and crustaceans. It must
be that the origin of the colour originally
suggested these symbols of marine or in-
sect life for decorative effect. The more
they were used, however, the more con-
ventionalized and meaningless they appear.
MAKING, DESIGNS, BORDERS 31
recent weavers not appreciating what they
represented. Old pieces show more clearly
the evident model. But old pieces also
often show original creations in border and
design, far more artistic than the usual
types. The Kazak border of the titlepage
is an example. The discriminating col-
lector, when a choice offers, will do well
to avoid the commonplace.
\
OF THE DYEING
Chapter IV
OF THE DYEING
THE dye, the tone, the richness,
and colour value of a rug was, and
still is, an essential characteristic
of the weaving of each class and region ;
and it was formerly not only essential but
exclusive, the dyes being often trade secrets
or, more truly said, tribe secrets.
Of course every one knows that the
colouring of the yarn of the best Oriental
rugs is derived only from vegetable or ani-
mal dyes, and to this is due their beauty
and durability. It may be noted also, in
parenthesis, that it is the yarn and not the
wool that is dyed. Alas, that modern
weavers. Oriental and Occidental, have
learned to substitute mineral or aniline
dyes! These not only destroy the wool
35
36 THE ORIENTAL RUG
and fade badly, but when the fabric is
cleaned or wet by any chance the colours
run, and leave their stains and blemishes.
Of course, too, they fail to give the rich-
ness, depth, and lustre of the good old
method. Generally, their manifest crudity
bespeaks the poor quality and coarseness of
their make. Some vegetable dyes also
fade, but they fade only into softer and
more pleasing shades, and more delicate
and harmonious blendings, as witness, in
many antiques, the soft and beautiful tones
of pink, salmon, and fawn which come
from raw magentas, as the back of the rug
will prove. But that magenta dye was of
the old school. Modern magentas seem
never to fade away gracefully and becom-
ingly. It must be noted, however, while
speaking of the dyes used in the fine old
rugs and in the best rugs of to-day, that
for one or two colours resort was, and is,
had to mineral dyes. Many of the best
old Turkish specimens have thus suffered
in their blacks and browns, and many a
Plate III.
ANTIQUE KAZAK
From the Collection of Mr. Erickson Perkins
Size : 5.9 x 7.2
OF THE DYEING 37
museum exhibit is eaten to the warp where
these colours occur. It may be well to
remember this, as some varieties of Mousul
and of Turkish weave, thus worn to the
warp in spots, leaving the other figures
raised and in relief, are palmed off on the
innocent purchaser as rare, " embossed '*
pieces. Iron pyrites is the mineral from
which these black dyes are made, and some
Turkish weavers seem to know no vege-
table black or brown. In some of the
best Persians, Serabends particularly, the
green which is used in the borders has
the same fault as the Turkish blacks
and browns; and if it does not "fade
away suddenly like the grass," at least it
leaves the nap "cut down, dried up, and
withered."
The subject of the various dyes might
be extended to a separate monograph, for
really the whole history of rug making
depends upon the dyes used. The day
that the aniline, petroleum dyes came into
use doomed the perfect making of carpet or
38 THE ORIENTAL RUG
rug; and not all the strictest laws of the
Medes and Persians — which is to say, the
Shah of Persia — have availed to prevent
the use of the mineral dyes, and the com-
plete demoralization of modern weaving.
You may find even in choice, closely
woven, artistic Shirvans and Kabistans
of fifteen and twenty years ago some
few figures in certain colours which are
clearly and manifestly aniline. They are
the strong reds and especially the bright
orange. And in some modern Kurdistans,
which should be free from guile, a few
figures betray the same telltale glaring
media. Used with a sparing hand, as
they are, they do not ruin a rug, but they
are none the less a blotch upon its fair
repute. The theory is, so far as con-
cerns the new Kurdistans, for instance,
that these few mineral dyes are bought
by the weavers from some traveller or
agent by chance and inadvertently, and
without knowledge of their character.
Otherwise they would hardly be used for
/
OF THE DYEING 39
a few figures in a finely woven piece,
where all the other dyes are vegetable.
One expert Armenian has a sure test for
mineral dyes in his tongue. When in
doubt he cuts a bit of wool from the rug,
nibbles it a minute or so, and then pro-
nounces his sure verdict. But the test is a
delicate one, and the fruit of knowledge is,
presumably, bitter.
Again, in speaking of colours and shad-
ings, it may be interesting to know why
solid colours so often come in streaks,
changing abruptly, for instance, from dark
blue to light blue, or dark red to light red.
You may have any of several explanations :
that the weaver, dipping his wool into the
dye, stopped, for any trivial word or inter-
ruption, and the wool took on a stronger
hue ; or, that another hand or one of the
women or children took up the work ; or,
again, that the plant, from which he bruised
that particular hue, gave out in his back gar-
den. Any of these reasons may be right.
But the more credible one is to believe
40 THE ORIENTAL RUG
that the artistic weaver knew how effective
is this change of colour, and what a pleas-
ing, changing, varying light and shade it
gives to his masterpiece.
OF PERSIAN RUGS, SPECIFICALLY
Chapter V
OF PERSIAN RUGS, SPECIFICALLY
TO describe in detail the charac-
teristics of all the classes of rugs
and carpets that have been men-
tioned would be hardly possible, even with
a hundred object lessons. The peculiar
features of some of them, however, may be
noted. But first be it observed that the
term " antique " as applied to rugs is gen-
erally sadly abused. A rug is not beauti-
ful simply because it is old. It must have
been fine when new, it must have been
carefully preserved, and it must rejoice in a
ripe old age. Time must have dealt kindly
with it, and only softened and mellowed
its original beauties. Let the antiques
which are but rags and tatters, however
valuable for their design, hang in the mu-
43
44 THE ORIENTAL RUG
seums, where they belong ! The only merit
of one of these genuine remnants of three
or four centuries ago is in their originality
of design. They were creations and not
imitations, and made by true artists and not
merely skilled weavers. Choose you, in-
stead, a more modern rug of fine quality
which will improve from year to year as
long as you may live to enjoy it.
It may also be premised that the sizes
of rugs run from about three feet to six
feet wide by four to ten feet long. Few
rugs approach squareness, and rugs wider
than seven or eight feet are classed as
carpets.
Some of the most beautiful pieces used
to come, and still do, in the form of "strips,'*
" hall rugs," or " stair rugs," according to
trade parlance. They are worthy of a
better name, which is their Persian term,
" Kinari." They were made in pairs to
complete the carpeting of a Persian room,
being placed on either side of a centre
rug, with two shorter strips at the top and
Plate IV.
ANTIQUE SEHNA
From the Collection of the Author
Size : 2.4 x 3.1
This is apparently one side of a pillow. The other side,
which is also in the possession of the author, is exactly similar,
except that the colours are reversed, the medallion being red
and the corners blue. This mat has 33 to 36 knots to the
running inch, making over 1,000 to the square inch, or more
than a million knots in the small piece.
OF PERSIAN RUGS 45
bottom. More fine specimens of these
long strips are now to be found than of
smaller sizes, and they should not be
neglected by the collector. By artistic
arrangement and device they will accom-
modate themselves to almost any house,
somewhere, and few choicer prizes can
be bought to-day.
The Persians are eminently the best rugs
to buy. They are usually finer and more
closely woven than the others, and more
graceful in design, and seem to show a
more refined and aristocratic art. The Kir-
mans would be the first choice, and are to
the rug dealer what diamonds are to the jew-
eller, a staple article which he must keep in
stock, and which finds a ready sale. But
even were it possible to buy a true diamond
Kirman, the very catholicity of taste to
which diamonds and Kirmans appeal de-
tract from their merit in the eyes of those
who seek for more individuality. For the
new Kirmans, fine, soft, and clean as they
look, are all very much alike, and mostly
46 THE ORIENTAL RUG
copies or variations of a few particular an-
tique forms, with a floriated medallion in
the centre, or a full floriated panel, and
floriated corners. A familiar design is a
vase of flowers in graceful spread, with birds
perching on the sprays. Or, again, they
show some adaptation of " the tree of life.'*
This symbolical figure appears in many
forms, now denuded of its leaves like the
" barren fig tree," and covering the whole
rug, and now in smaller form as " the cy-
press tree," or the sacred "cocos," three or
more to each rug, in full foliage and look-
ing for all the world like certain wooden
fir trees. It needs only the combination
of these trees with the stiff wooden animals,
far more wonderful than Noah ever knew,
and tiny human figures, which might be
Shem, Ham, and Japhet, all of which adorn
these rugs, to remind one of the Noah's
ark of childhood. Representations of birds,
men, and animals never appear on Turkish
rugs, the explanation being that the Turks,
as Sunna Mohammedans, the orthodox sect.
OF PERSIAN RUGS 47
are opposed to them on religious grounds ;
while the Shiites, the prevailing sect in
Persia, have no such scruples.
But before leaving the subject of the
Kirmans, be it well understood, by the
wise and prudent, that not one out of a
thousand, or indeed ten thousand, of those
on the market to-day (and they are as
common as door-mats) has any pretence
to genuineness. They are faked in every
way. They are washed with chemicals to
give them their soft colourings, they are
made by wholesale and, it is said, in part
by machinery, and they are no more an
Oriental rug than is a roll of Brussels car-
pet or an admitted New Jersey product.
To the credit of whom it may concern, it
must be stated that the dipping, washing,
and artificial aging of these commercial
pieces is mostly done by cunning adepts
in Persia before their works of art are ex-
ported. Only an expert's advice should
be relied on in buying a Kirman, to-
day, and even that should have a good
48 THE ORIENTAL RUG
endorser. The distinction between Kir-
mans and Kirmanshahs was founded in
fact and was important. But the latter
term as now used in the trade is only
poetical. It is the same new Kirman
euphemized. No other rugs except silk
rugs, which come under the same ban,
have proved such a profitable swindle to
unscrupulous and ignorant vendors, and
have given a bad name to the dealers who
try to be honest in their calling.
The Sehnas are highly prized by the
Orientals and Occidentals. Old examples
are uncommon and are very choice.
" Their fabric gives to the touch the sense
of frosted velvet. They reveal the Meis-
soniers of Oriental art," says a writer on
the subject. Some of these come in very
small sizes, like mats, two feet by three.
They have a diamond design, the centre
being a graceful floriated medallion on a
background of cream, yellow, red, or green,
with floriation at the corners, making the
diamond. They are the most exquisite of
OF PERSIAN RUGS 49
Persian gems, and are further considered in
another chapter.
The Sehnas have the nap cut very close,
v^ellnigh to the warp, and are therefore
often too thin for utility. They do not
lie well on the floor, and by reason of their
short nap look cold and lack richness and
lustre. If you can find a choice one, how-
ever, and if, happily, as sometimes occurs,
it may have a little depth of nap, you will
own a pearl of great price.
The Khorassans are very soft and thick.
They generally show the palm-leaf or loop
design in their borders, and are altogether
desirable. Their colouring almost always
inclines to magenta, but time subdues this
to a delicate rose. Time has also subdued
most of the specimens offered, to the sad
detriment of their edges and ends. The
ends are very seldom perfect, and age
seems to bite into the borders of the
Khorassans with a strange and voracious
appetite. It is well to consider these de-
fects in your choosing.
so THE ORIENTAL RUG
The Serabends and their class have one
border peculiar to themselves and a centre
of double, triple, or multiple diamonds in
outline, in which are scattered irregular
rows of small figures, generally palm leaves,
so called. This peculiar figure has three
or four different names, the palm leaf,
the pear, the loop, etc. It was originally
worked into the fabric of the finest Cash-
mere shawls, and represents the loop which
the river Indus makes on the vast plain in
upper Cashmere, as seen from the mosque
there, to which thousands made their pil-
grimage. It was thus intended as a most
sacred symbol and reminder. The Sera-
bends are firm in texture, lie well, and are
most satisfactory. Sometimes, however,
the green in them shows the faults of an
aniline dye. Their designs are peculiar to
themselves, but never become monoto-
nous. The palm-leaf pattern is of course
common to many kinds of rugs. But
the varieties in the form and size of it are
infinite.
Plate V.
CHICHI
About forty years old
From the Collection of the Author
Size : 3.6x5.10
1%"*;' ^<;-- --"^^'S^i^/'A^Va';-.--' .■ v^^-;sb ,.*^-^^^^ ?j^-
OF PERSIAN RUGS 51
The Shiraz rugs are warm in colour, lus-
trous, but rather loosely woven. Many of
them show the "shawl pattern," small hori-
zontal or diagonal stripes. These striped
rugs, however, are always wavering and
irregular in design and soon tire the eye.
They are well passed by. Reproductions
of the old Shiraz designs with the centre
field filled with innumerable odd, small
figures used to be common a few years
ago. They were very rich and handsome.
Almost all of them, however, have the
great defect of being crooked. They will
puff up here or there, and, pat, pull, or pet
them as you may, it is hopeless to try
to straighten them. They are frequently
called Mecca rugs, on the generally ac-
cepted statement that these are the rugs
usually chosen to make the pilgrimage to
that shrine.
The Youraghans and Joshghans (Tjosh-
ghans) possess the general excellences of
the best Persians, but they are not com-
monly seen. The Joshghans will show in
52 THE ORIENTAL RUG
their field a light lattice-work design with
conventionalized roses, or graceful diaper-
ings and patternings, of the four-petalled
or six-petalled rose. The Persian rose is
single, of course, and appears in many
simple forms. The Joshghans might be
the prototypes of some of the old Kubas
or Kabistans, except that floriation was re-
placed by tiling and mosaic work in the
Daghestan region.
The Feraghans are not as finely woven
as the Serabends, and on that account,
primarily, yield to them in excellence.
But old Feraghans often come in smaller
sizes than the Serabends and in more de-
sirable proportions. On the other hand,
while Feraghans are generally of a firmer
quality, there are also antique Serabends
heavy and silky. Between the two it
would be little more than to choose the
better specimen. While the Feraghans
have no accepted border to distinguish
them, they have a most marked character-
istic in the decoration of the field. It is
OF PERSIAN RUGS S3
a figure like a crescent, toothed inside ; it
might be a segment of a melon. But more
than likely it was originally a curled-up
rose leaf; for the rose, variously conven-
tionalized, is most common to this class.
There is generally an indication of a trellis,
on which the roses are formally spread.
But the curled leaf is almost always in
evidence, however varied or angular it
may be drawn.
The Persian Mousuls are perhaps the
best rugs now to be had for moderate
prices. The region where they are made,
being partly Turkish and partly Persian,
gives them some of the characteristics of
each nation. But the choice ones are al-
ways offered as Persian ; and the designs
of most of them are distinctively of that
country, with frequent use of Serabend
borders, Feraghan figures, etc. Their
centre field sometimes contains bold me-
dallions, but generally it is filled with
palm-leaf or similar small designs, which
54 THE ORIENTAL RUG
in themselves arc quite monotonous, except
as they are diversified and made beautiful
by graduated changes of colour in both
the figures and background. Sometimes
these streaks of varying colour make too
strong a contrast, but generally they shade
into each other most harmoniously, and,
the nap being heavy and the wool fine,
these rugs are eminently lustrous and silky.
They have no rivals in this regard ex-
cept among the Beluchistans and treasured
Kazaks. As you walk around them they
glow in lights and shades like a Cabochon
emerald. One of their distinguishing de-
signs is a very conventionalized cluster of
four roses, the whole figure being about
the bigness of a small hand. There is a
rose at top and bottom and one on either
side, with conventionalized leaves to give
grace. The design is recognizable at a
glance, and is wellnigh as old as Persia.
For the rose is conceded to be Oriental in
origin, and if it is not primarily a Persian
OF PERSIAN RUGS 55
flower, it belongs surely to her by virtue
of first adoption.*
The designation of certain rugs as Kur-
dish or Kurdistan has been used indis-
criminately, yet they are by no means the
same, and between the two classes is a well-
marked distinction which should be recog-
nized. Kurdistan is a large province in
northern Persia, with a protectorate gov-
ernment both Turkish and Persian, and
with the Turkish inhabitants in the ratio
of about two to one, according to the
geographers. The Kurds constitute only
a small but most important part of the
population. They are generally spoken
of as ** a nomadic tribe," or more fre-
quently as " that band of robbers, the
Kurds.'* Regardless, however, of their
morals or habits, by them are made char-
* This ancient four-flowered pattern appears in as many
forms as the loop or palm-leaf; but whatever bud or blossom
may be modelled by the weaver, the design retains its strong
distinctive lines. It is shown on the cover of this volume in
one phase, and it appears in different form in the plate of the
Beluchistan rug.
56 THE ORIENTAL RUG
acteristic, coarse, strong, and often superb
rugs which are properly called "Kurdish."
On the other hand, the Persians in Kurdis-
tan make a finer class of rugs and carpets,
which are known as Kurdistans. These
latter have been praised by an eminent
authority as " the best rugs now made in
Persia and perhaps in the East." They
are certainly bold and splendid in design,
beautiful in colouring, and of great strength
and durability.
The Gulistans are thick, heavy, and
handsome, with striking designs, frequently
like the flukes of an anchor, on a light
ground. They are not common now even
in modern weaving.
There are many other Persian rugs
which might be further specialized and
considered. But such old commercial
names as Teheran, Ispahan, etc., can in
fact only be differentiated by an expert;
and when experts disagree, as will fre-
quently occur, and when they are at a loss
to decide whether an important specimen
OF PERSIAN RUGS SI
is an Ispahan or a Joshghan, classification
becomes obscure to the layman and even to
the collector ; and he will wisely avoid the
complexities of such discussion. So, also,
Sarak rugs are rarely seen now save in
modern reproductions, and must be passed
by with the same criticisms as apply to the
new-made Tabriz.
CAUCASIAN RUGS, DAGHESTAN
AND RUSSIAN TYPES
Chapter VI
CAUCASIAN RUGS, DAGHESTAN
AND RUSSIAN TYPES
THE Daghestan rugs of Caucasia
are only second in importance to
those from Persian looms. An
opinion is reserved, nevertheless, regarding
antique Turkish weaves, which are herein-
after considered.
If history does not satisfactorily prove
that the Caucasus was originally the north-
ern part of Persia (as may have been, under
Cyrus), Persian dominance and influence
may be demonstrated, in textile art, by rug
borders, patterns, and designs. The Shir-
vans, Kabistans, Chichis, Darbends, Kara-
baghs, all exhibit pronounced Persian
characteristics, and show the educational
power of the mother country of this handi-
6i
62 THE ORIENTAL RUG
craft. Fineness of weave, delicacy of hue,
and chaste simpUcity of design are distin-
guishing features of this group. But, as
contrasted with the Persian patterns, the
Persians use for their detail roses, flowers,
palm leaves, etc., while the Caucasians
gain similar effects from geometrical fig-
ures, angles, stars, squares, and hexagons,
with small tilings, mosaics, and trellisings.
The true and the beautiful was never better
demonstrated by Euclid through angle,
square, or hypothenuse. An old Chichi
rug, like a drawing of Tenniel's, will prove
what grace may come without a curve and
by angles only.
It is unfortunate that the best rugs of the
Caucasus come from the large province of
Daghestan, and that that general term is
applied to them indiscriminately. Twenty
or more years ago most of the Oriental rugs
which were sold here to an uneducated and
unappreciative public came by way of Tiflis,
and for lack of knowledge were all branded
with the common name of Daghestan.
Plate VI.
KABISTAN
Thirty or forty years old
From the Collection of the Author
Size : 4. 5 x 5.6
CAUCASIAN RUGS, ETC. 63
Thousands of beautiful Kabistans, Shirvans,
Bakus, etc., were then sold for a song un-
der the one arbitrary title. They would
be priceless to-day, and yet the former
commercial, vulgar use of the name leaves
it in undeserved disrepute. As used in this
chapter, it is intended to mark a distinction
between certain of the Caucasian types,
which it properly represents, and the
Russian types from the same region,
which are illustrated in the Kazaks and
Yourucks.
What may have become of all the fine
Kabistans, which were forced upon the
market years ago, is a question. Are they
all worn to rags and lost to the world ? Or
do they still turn up at chance household
auctions ? Many fine specimens may be so
discovered, dirty, disguised, and disreputa-
ble, but easily reclaimable and made anew
by washing. There is a theory, also, that
many choice pieces came to San Francisco
in the 'seventies and 'eighties, and are lost
to sight and memory somewhere in Cali-
64 THE ORIENTAL RUG
fornia. A collector might well explore
this home field.
Too great praise cannot be given to the
old Shirvans, with their " palace " or " sun-
burst " pattern ; to the Chichis, with their
mosaic work, worthy of Saint Mark's Ca-
thedral ; to the Karabaghs, with their flam-
ing reds; or to the Kabistans, with their
soft, light tones of colour, made softer still
in contrast with ivory and creamy white.
These are the despised Daghestans which
were, and for which the collector may
now vainly search abroad.
It is not always easy to distinguish
between an old — or middle-aged, may
we say ? — Shirvan or Kabistan. Many
of their designs are common property, and
it is the cleverer weaver who executes
them the better. This broad statement
may be made by way of a test : the best
of the Shirvans are rather loosely woven
and thin. The Kabistans are of finer
weave, are firmer and heavier, and lie
truer on the floor.
CAUCASIAN RUGS, ETC. 6s
Two classes of rugs from the Caucasus
have been referred to as Russian, the You-
rucks and Kazaks. There is no authority
for the distinction except in the rugs them-
selves. They prove their case from their
thickness and iron durability, from their
sombre or strong red colouring, and from
their daring crude and simple designs. In
their utility they bespeak an article of
warmth and weight, and in their art they
represent a barbaric simplicity like a Navajo
blanket. Kazak and Cossack are almost
synonymous terms ; and the Cossacks, the
Kurds, and the Indians have something of
kinship in weaving, at least. But the Kazak
rugs are not all crude, by any manner of
means. If strength is their first character-
istic and strong primitive pigments in rare
greens, reds, and blues ; and if their patterns
are simple and angular ; — none the less,
in antique specimens, much originality was
shown in the drawing of their borders, and
soft browns and yellows with ivory white
appeared in their colouring.
5
66 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Of the Shirvans, Chichis, etc., ordinarily
offered, there is nothing to be said. They
are cheaply and roughly woven, and made
only to sell. They are disposed of by the
thousands at auctions, and piles and piles
of them fill the carpet and department
stores. Be it said to their credit that
they will outwear any machine-made floor
covering ; that they are good to hide a
hole in an old carpet ; that they help to
furnish the bedrooms of a summer cot-
tage ; that they are most useful in the back
hall ; and, in fine, that they are better than
no rugs at all. Yet, on the other hand, be
it well understood that they are not, as
frequently advertised, " exquisite examples
of textile art," and that fine Oriental rugs
are not to be bought at " $6.98 " apiece.
OF TURKISH VARIETIES
Chapt er VI I
OF TURKISH VARIETIES
BABYLON or Egypt may have
woven the first carpets or floor
coverings, and China of course
worked early in the same field. But
Persia acquired the art quite independent
of China, and well in the beginning of the
long ago. Indeed, the Chinese industry
practically ceased to exist many centuries
back, and was transferred to northern Persia,
where the history of this handicraft has its
true beginning. From Persia all other
countries have drawn their knowledge and
inspiration, and however much they may
have endeavoured to create and to evolve
new figures and new designs, even the
oldest examples of their art must concede
something to Persian influence.
69
70 THE ORIENTAL RUG
The Turks, above all others, have shown
themselves the most apt scholars, and in-
deed in many lines have improved upon
their teachers. The choicest specimens of
Turkish weave are as rubies to the other
precious stones, rarer, more brilliant, and
more costly than diamonds. Though not
so closely woven as some of the Persians,
they are wonderfully beautiful in artistic
picturing and in their own Oriental splen-
dour of colour and design. Such in partic-
ular are the antique Gheordez, as splendid
in rich floods of light as the stained-glass
windows of a cathedral. They are the
finest woven and have the shortest nap of
their class.
Here is the description of one taken
from a catalogue of twenty-five years ago :
" Antique Gheordez Prayer Rug. Mosque
design, with columns and pendant floral
lamp relieved on solid ground of rare
Egyptian red, surmounted by arabesques
in white upon dark turquoise, framed in
lovely contrasting borders."
Plate VII.
ANTIQUE GHEORDEZ
Prayer Rug
From the Collection of Mr. George H. Ellwanger
Size : 4. 6 X 5. 1 1
OF TURKISH VARIETIES 71
Another is pictured as : "A flake of
solid sapphire, crested by charming floral
designs in ruby on ground of white opal.
The mosaics and blossom borders are
toned to perfect harmony."
These word pictures are in no way ex-
aggerated, and only help to portray the
glories of the old Gheordez, with their
graceful hanging lamps, as wonderful as
Aladdin's, in a vista between pillars of
chalcedony or onyx. They came in the
form of prayer rugs generally, and a pro-
nounced feature of those more commonly
seen is a multiplicity of small dotted
borders. The older and finer examples
show borderings of far more graceful and
artistic drawing.
The antique Koulahs and Koniahs,
though not so finely woven, have mostly
the same superb centres or panels of solid
colour as the Gheordez, and vie with the
latter in the splendour of their hues, if not
in the delicacy and intricacy of their
designs outside the central field. The
72 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Koulahs may generally be recognized by a
narrow border, which is peculiar to them-
selves and is almost invariably found on
them. This consists of a broken line of
little tendrils or spirals quite Chinese in
character, and looking much like a row of
conventionalized chips and shavings. It is
so odd and distinctive that once seen it can
never be mistaken. The Koniahs also
have little figures which are quite their
own, and which usually appear somewhere
in the central design. They are small
flowers each on a single stem, and the
flower has commonly three triangular
petals, like an oxalis or shamrock leaf. It
is quite unlike the blossoms which be-
sprinkle other rugs. With this, often come
crude figures of lamps like miniature tea-
pots. The Ladiks display all the colours
of an October wood, and complete the
group of Turkish old masters. Not a few
of them have also a unique border in the
form of a small lily blossom. Experts
speak of it familiarly as the " Rhodian
Plate VIII.
ANTIQUE KOULAH
Prayer Rug
From the Collection of Mr. George H. Ellwanger
Size : 3.11x5.6
OF TURKISH VARIETIES 73
border," but its origin is altogether ob-
scure.
These words in testimony to the beauties
of Turkish rugs may be offered simply by
way of guide-posts to lead to some mu-
seum. A few battered and torn war-flags
of Gheordez or Ladiks are occasionally
offered on the market, but the best of them
lack all character and colour, and show
only the bold design and holes and strings
and naked warp.
Just which particular Turkish rugs are
properly classed as Anatolians it is hard to
say, Anatolia being so large a province.
The term as commercially used is only
as comprehensive and expressive as " Iran '*
applied to the Persians. It is generally
misapplied to an uncertain class of old,
worn, and tarnished remnants or new coarse
prayer rugs, ruinous of harmony with their
magenta discords. Yet many of the
" mats " are rightly called Anatolians, and,
premising a later chapter, one of the
greatest delights of collecting was to look
74 THE ORIENTAL RUG
over a pile of them, with the never-failing
hope of finding some bright particular
gem. And these mats are truly the little
gems of Turkish weaving, and in accord-
ance with the Oriental fondness for jewels
and precious stones the suggestion that they
represent inlaid jewelled work has been
well imagined. But here again we cry,
" Eheu fugaces ! " They have gone. It
is idle to look over the pile. There are
no good ones for sale. One explanation
of their scarcity is in the fact that the
Armenian dealers have a weakness for these
small pieces themselves, and are wont to
indulge their fondness for colour and sheen
by keeping the choice ones for their own
use. So the mats of commerce are either
new, coarse, and crude and offensive with
arsenical greens and aniline crimsons and
magentas ; or they are but soiled patches
and bits of old rugs sewn together. Caveat
emptor! and let the buyer look at their
backs before purchasing.
The old Melez rugs, with characteristics
Plate IX.
MELEZ
Forty or fifty years old
From the Collection of the Author
Size : 3.10x5.3
OF TURKISH VARIETIES JS
peculiar to themselves, are of almost like
importance to the Koniahs and Koulahs.
Frequently they have a suggestion of the
Chinese in their figures and decorations.
You will find symbolized dragons pictured
on them, also the cypress tree ; while in
colour they form a class by themselves, and
exhibit shades of lavender, heliotrope, and
violet such as no other kinds may boast.
Whatever this dye may be, and whatever
tone of mauve or lilac it may take, you
will find it only in the Melez, a few Ber-
gamas, or in some old Irans, whose race is
practically extinct. Worthy modern Melez
are still to be had, and will improve as they
wear ; if only they are firm in texture and
do not flaunt the battle-flag colours of
Solferino and Magenta.
The Bergamas come mostly in blues
and reds, most prominently set out by soft
ivory white. One of their recognized
patterns is quite individual, and readily
marks their class. It is a square of small
squares marked off like a big checker-
76 THE ORIENTAL RUG
board. Other small pieces are almost
square, with the field in mosaic-work or
flower blossoms. In the fine old speci-
mens, which used to be, the Bergamas
rioted in superb medallions or in a floriated
central figure like a grand bouquet. As a
class, their merit is softness and richness.
Their defisct is that of the Shiraz, a prone-
ness to curl and puff themselves with pride.
The fault is caused by the fact that their
usually artistic selvedge is too tightly
drawn. Skilful cutting of the selvedge
and new fringing will correct the error.
Some old and some excellent new
Bergamas have lately been in evidence in
the stocks of the Oriental dealers. How-
soever or wheresoever they come, the col-
lector may well take courage from their
appearance and apply himself to the chase
with renewed zest.
TURKOMAN OR TURKESTAN
RUGS
Chapter VIII
TURKOMAN OR TURKESTAN RUGS
THE geography of the carpets and
rugs thus far considered has in-
cluded a very considerable area.
Any traveller or collector who may
have journeyed in fact to the regions
where they are made may well have stories
to tell, for his wanderings will have led
him into strange lands and wild places.
But the remaining classes of rugs, which
we are wont to see lying gracefully in
front of our hearths, as tame and peaceful
as kittens, have come from still farther and
wilder regions of the world ; and the won-
der is that we see them at all or are per-
mitted the privilege of treading on them.
The Turkestan class, so far as our subject
is concerned, carries us east from Persia,
79
8o THE ORIENTAL RUG
through Afghanistan and Beluchistan even
into China. They are Oriental in very
truth, and at first blush, it would seem,
should be more crude and barbaric in
their art. But as compared with the
bold, rough, and rude weaves and patterns
of the Russian Caucasians, they are, as a
class, most refined and delicate in design
and fine in texture.
It has been said that " whoever has seen
one Bokhara rug has seen them all."
Their set designs and staple colouring have
been so long familiar that we have lost
respect for them. There are the well-
known geometric figures for the centre,
smaller similar figures for the borders, and
a mosaic of diamonds or delicate traceries
of branches for the ends. Choice ex-
amples, like the stars, differ from one
another in glory only. The variations
evolved from the one conventional design
are almost infinite ; and the many shades
and tones of red which are used bring to
mind the paintings of Vibert and his won-
Plate X.
ANTIQUE BELUCHISTAN
From the Collection of the Author
Size : 4. lo X 8. 3
.HB^sfccr3»^^Ck3£:<'3--;M?^S^^li3-g^ a^wmscBSP^psgg^^
TURKOMAN RUGS 8i
derful palette of scarlets, carmines, crim-
sons, maroons, and vermilions.
Some of the rare old Bokharas come in
lovely browns and are almost priceless
in value. Sad to say, it remained for an
American vandal to discover a process of
" dipping " or " washing " an ordinary rug
so as to imitate these rare originals, and
many dealers unblushingly sell these frauds.
To wear imitation jewelry is far less repre-
hensible. Happily the trickery is generally
distinguishable because the "dip" or stain,
whatever it may be, is apt to run into the
fringe or otherwise betray itself. The wise
buyer will reject with scorn any rug, under
whatsoever name offered, which shows no
other colouring than various shades of
chocolate brown. No such uniform brown
dyeing ever characterized any class of rugs.
Even the brown Bokharas which are in
museums show some other tints with their
brown tones.
Good Bokharas, like good Kirmans, are
undeniably beautiful and of great value.
82 THE ORIENTAL RUG
but the mere fact that both are considered
staples in the rug trade tends to detract
from their artistic value ; and that they
are so generally doctored, disguised, and
perverted puts them in bad repute.
The Yamoud-Bokharas come in larger
sizes than the others of their type ; are not
so fine in texture, but thicker and firmer.
Their designs are larger and bolder, and
they show a most becoming bloom. They
also display green and even yellow in their
colouring, which is not usual in Bokharas.
Their selvedge is beautifully characteristic.
In Bokharas proper the adornment of the
selvedge usually is on the warp ; as in the
Bergamas and Beluchistans. In Yamouds
the selvedge is almost always carried out
in wool with like skill as that given to the
rest of the piece.
The Afghans are a coarser edition of
Bokharas, and may be mostly considered
for utility. They come in large sizes, and
almost square ; have bold tile patternings,
and in the finer examples are plush-like
TURKOMAN RUGS 83
and silky. These are still to be had, but
many modern ones are dyed with mineral
dyes, and their bloom is meretricious. The
chemist has waved his magic wand over
them, not wisely but too well.
The Beluchistans are somewhat akin to
the Bokharas, and like the latter rejoice in
reds and blues in the darker tones, while
they display greater variety in their designs.
These are ordinarily crude and simple, but
in the old exemplars they were of con-
siderable variety, and their wealth of chang-
ing colours in sombre shades was rich
beyond the dream of avarice. " Lees of
wine," "dregs of wine," "plum," " claret,"
"maroon," — these are terms which have
served to describe their prevailing colours.
The adjectives are still applicable and may
give some idea of the colourful effects
which are obtained from their stains of
brown and red and purple. For decora-
tive effect, their deeper tones make most
harmonious contrast with the subdued and
softened Persians and old Daghestans. In
84 THE ORIENTAL RUG
many specimens, new and old, white, both
blue white and ivory, is used in startling
contrast. It makes or mars the picture,
according to the artistic skill of the weaver.
The wool used in the good Beluchistans is
particularly soft and silky, and lends to
them their unique velvety sheen. No
other varieties show it so perfectly, al-
though antique Kazaks have their particu-
lar plush, and the Mousuls with their
depth of pile have a shimmer and shifting
light which is their especial artistic feature.
The distinction may not easily be formu-
lated; but, nevertheless, the sheen of the
Beluchistan is one beauty, while the play
of light and shade on a Mousul is another
pleasure to the eye.
In the Bergama rugs the weaver does
not disdain to spend some toil and time
upon the selvedge ; and this, even in small
specimens, is commonly four to six inches
long, carefully woven in white and colour
and with occasional ornamentation. In
this selvedge a small, elongated triangle is
TURKOMAN RUGS 85
frequently embossed in wool, with the
commendable purpose of avoiding the " evil
eye/'
But in the Beluchistans the maker " en-
larges his phylacteries, and increases the
borders of his garments." He goes even
to greater pains and trouble in the elabo-
ration and finishing of his selvedge. It is
often prolonged to eight or ten inches in
moderate-sized rugs, and is woven into
most interesting patterns and stripes of
colour. It is literally carried to extremes.
It may seem an act of vandalism, but the
wise and stoical collector will do well to
eliminate all but two or three inches of
it and have a skilful weaver overcast
and fringe the ends. Selvedge, however
adorned, is utilitarian only, and, like
useless fringe, it must not be allowed to
detract from the proportions and beauty
of the piece itself.
For the comfort of the collector be it
known that within the last year or two,
many fine Beluchistan mats and small rugs
86 THE ORIENTAL RUG
have been secured somehow by the whole-
salers and are in evidence in the retailers'
stock. Beluchistan, evidently, is one of
the remote regions last to be drawn upon,
scoured, ravaged, and exhausted. The
opportunity should be improved by the
provident buyer.
The Soumac or Cashmere rug calls for
no further description than a Cashmere
shawl. With the exception of choice
antique specimens which time has chastened
and mellowed into pictures in apricot,
fawn, robin's-egg, and cream colours, the
Cashmeres are rather matters of fact than
of art.
What are known as Killims, or Kiz-
Killims, the better class, are hard fabrics
akin to the Soumacs except that they
have no nap on either side, and are
double faced. They are mostly Caucasian
and Kurdish, with the bold designs of
those classes, or they come in the beautiful,
delicate patterns of the Sehnas. In their
crudest and strongest Kazak figures they
TURKOMAN RUGS 87
appear in the most brilliant pigments, with
soft reds, rose, lake, and vermilion for con-
trasting colours, splashed together as on a
painter's palette. Of course they lack the
sheen of a rug, but their colour effects are
marvellous. While generally used for
portieres and coverings, they are perfect
rugs for a summer cottage, being most
durable, and are worthy of attention.
Moreover, fine antique examples are still
to be had. Some collector might be the
first to make a specialty of them and
garner them before they pass ; the end of
the Oriental weaver's pageant. The usual
warning, however, must be given, that they
are often cursed with the barbarous ma-
gentas hereinbefore mentioned, a colour
which would ruin a rainbow.
The products of Samarkand are quite
out of the ordinary, and thoroughly Chinese
in character. Except by association and
classification they have no resemblance
to the Turkestan or any other division.
They form a class by themselves, the
88 THE ORIENTAL RUG
legitimate successors of the old Chinese
rugs, long gone by. They are very bold
in design, and in colour tend to yellow,
orange, and various soft reds. An inferior
make of Samarkands often appears under
the title of Malgaras. They have neither
quality nor colour to commend them.
But there are old Chinese rugs also.
Most of them are in the conventional blue
and white, with simple octagonal medal-
lions, with no border to speak of, and
with little strength of character. They
are coarsely woven and have been so com-
monly imitated by machine reproductions
in English carpetry that even blue and
white originals have small merit to boast
of. There were, and doubtless still are,
Chinese rugs of far more importance.
Many are noted in the catalogue of a
sale in New York City no longer ago
than 1893. From one item remembered,
they showed various beautiful colourings,
far beyond the simple white and blue,
and in design displayed much of the
TURKOMAN RUGS 89
artistic strength, grace, and beauty of the
old Chinese porcelains. It is a mys-
tery where these rugs lie hidden. No
one boasts of owning them or claims
credit to even a modest $10,000 antique
specimen.
OF ORIENTAL CARPETS, SADDLE-
BAGS, PILLOWS, ETC.
Chapter I X
OF ORIENTAL CARPETS, SADDLE-
BAGS, PILLOWS, ETC.
HOWEVER a man may justify
himself for collecting rugs, re-
gardless of his success, of his
needs, or of his income, there would seem
to be no danger of any one making a
specialty of buying carpets. Except to
millionaires or for clubs and palaces, space
would absolutely prohibit, if the housewife
did not. The nearest that the enthusiast
might approach to such an ambition would
be in the accumulation of hall strips ;
which has its own temptations, quite with-
in the possible.
And yet the term " carpet " is an elastic
phrase, and any piece which exceeds six
or seven feet in width and of greater
93
94 THE ORIENTAL RUG
length, is entitled by courtesy to be named
a carpet. It may be said that a rug, like
a baby, ceases to be a rug at an uncertain
size, and then becomes a carpet. But car-
pets in the larger dimensions, ten by twelve
feet or more, as ordinarily understood, are
only herein considered. They are really
articles of utility first and always, and must
answer to certain measured requirements.
Such is the accepted theory and practice.
The buyer is wont to think that the merit
or beauty of a carpet is of secondary con-
sideration if only it fit the room. Here is
a heresy. It is far better that the room
should be made to fit or adapt itself to the
perfect carpet.
If you would buy one, the best that you
can do is to choose wisely. They are all
of modern make, with very few exceptions.
If you have one that is antique, you your-
self have made it so, or you have inherited
a ragged and neglected example of bygone
years. The modern carpets, nevertheless,
those still made to-day, are many of them
Plate XL
ANTIQUE ANATOLIAN PILLOWS
From the Collection of the Author
Sizes : 1.10x2.10, and 2. i x 2. 1 1
\^fir^P/if>i^^d^PP44U^d^r>M^^£j^f^4'd^ff^^^^^^
CARPETS, SADDLEBAGS, PILLOWS 95
superb pieces, far outclassing any small rugs
of the same weaving.
The Kirmanshahs would come first, of
course; closely woven, beautiful and soft
in colour, delicate and artistic in their
designs, they are the most perfect floor
coverings for the salon, reception or music
room. If they were only real ! But very,
very few of them are. They have all been
treated with chemicals, and their beauty
of complexion is just as artificial as any
rouged and bepowdered courtesan's. Un-
less you have one out of ten thousand, it
has not come from a palace, but from a
scientific laboratory.
Many of the Tabriz carpets lie under
the same suspicion, and those of soft tones,
claiming to be antiques, may be wisely
questioned. But new ones come in clean,
rich colourings, in fine designs, and are tex-
tile masterpieces.
The Kurdistan carpets of to-day are by
far the best of all. They are more loosely
woven, but they are so much the heavier.
96 THE ORIENTAL RUG
and that is to be desired in a carpet.
And they are honest. Their colours are
beautiful, varied, strong, and true. It is
claimed for the Kurdistans that some of
their dyes are still well-guarded secrets ;
and it is true history of some years ago
that many a bloody feud and murder grew
out of cherished Kurdistan secrets of dye-
ing. Their designs are bold and striking,
with grand centre medallion and corners,
and a field artistically adorned. Money
cannot buy anything better than a fine new
Kurdistan ; and thirty or forty years of
wear should leave it better still.
Next to be chosen would be the Goro-
vans. They also show brave figuring with
a strong centre medallion, characteristic
zigzag corners, and angular ornamenta-
tions which are most gracefully carried
out. Their colouring is usually in fine
blues and reds.
Modern Feraghans come in large carpet
sizes, and some antique ones are still to be
had. But the Kurdistans and Gorovans
CARPETS, SADDLEBAGS, PILLOWS 97
far surpass them in two important par-
ticulars. The Feraghans appear only in
their own peculiar, small-figured designs,
which are without strength or character
on a large floor space. Besides that, being
more closely cut than the others, if they
do not soon wear out, they soon wear
down, and begin to show the suspicion of
their warp and their loss of tone and
colour. They are beautiful carpets, never-
theless, and will practically last a lifetime.
But the heavier they are, the better.
There are few other modern Persian car-
pets in large sizes which come in appre-
ciable numbers for classification. There
is a rather indefinite order of Gulistans,
under which title many good nonde-
scripts are sold.
There are also current Sultanabads, in
very large sizes, well woven, on old models,
to meet present uses.
Most other carpets are of Turkish weav-
ing, whatever their names, and come under
the general title of Smyrnas. Smyrna is
98 THE ORIENTAL RUG
the centre of distribution for a great variety
of cheap and coarsely woven carpets ; but
poor in quality as these may be, they
should not be confused with the Ameri-
can machine product also known as a
** Smyrna." In the same class come the
Oushaks, Hamadans, etc. There is nothing
more to be said for them than to testify
that they will wear better than a Brussels
carpet, and give some distinction to a
modest dining-room.
It is a far cry from carpets to saddle-bags,
and yet these latter are of greater import-
ance and interest to the collector. More
valuable pieces of Oriental weaving are
to be found among the diminutives than
in the grand opera of textiles.
Beginning at the bottom, we find plenty
of the little pairs of bags, twelve or eigh-
teen inches square. They are donkey bags,
carried back of the saddle, and generally
appear in Shirvan make or, most commonly,
in Shiraz weaving. The Shiraz often have
considerable beauty and sheen and dark rich
CARPETS, SADDLEBAGS, PILLOWS 99
colouring. But these very small pieces
have little real utility or available artistic
beauty. They never lie well, and only
litter up the floor. They belittle a well-
arranged room as would a frail and useless
gilt chair. They are recommended for
pillows, but we Occidental infidels associate
rugs too closely with the foot to find them
easy to the head. They are also advised
for use as hassocks. But the hassock long
ago disappeared, with or under the " what-
not," or behind *' the horse-hair sofa."
Other bags, used on horse and camel,
come in more important sizes, as large as
two feet by six feet or more. Exquisite
specimens of Bokharas are found among
these ; artistic, antique pieces, woven as
fine as needlework. A number of these
seem to have come suddenly on the mar-
ket in some mysterious way ; and they are
of every size within their small limits ;
because, as an Oriental has suggested, there
are pony camels also. Another mystery
about those camel bags would seem to be
loo THE ORIENTAL RUG
that some are beautifully straight and there-
fore most to be desired, while others are so
curved as to be impossible of use unless
around the foot of a pillar. Here is a
case differing from that of the ordinary-
crooked rug, because these bags were orig-
inally made straight and true. Overload-
ing and overpacking have only sagged
down the middle. I dare not say that the
more the curve, the greater the age and
the more the value ; but it may be that
curved Bokhara saddle-bags, passed by, by
the Levite, are prizes to be picked up by
the good Samaritan, and may be easily re-
stored to normal rectitude.
But the term " saddle-bag," whether for
this animal or that, is confusing and alto-
gether too generally used. It must be
borne in mind that a bag was and is an
article of universal utility to the Oriental.
For all purposes of travel, journeying, or
visiting, it corresponds to our valise or
portmanteau of to-day ; or, in aptest com-
parison, to our " carpet-bag" of fifty years
CARPETS, SADDLEBAGS, PILLOWS i o i
ago. And, according to the taste and
means of their owners, these Persian,
Armenian, or Turkish carpet-bags varied
in size and beauty. A few rare old
Caucasian small rugs can only be accounted
for as valued personal rug-bags of their
period.
Among these smaller pieces are alone to
be found the most valuable of all the col-
lector's spoil, the small Sehnas. Very
rarely they come in pairs, about two feet
by three feet, and therefore could not have
been used as bags for any purpose. They
are pillows; and pillows of course play
their important part in the menage of the
East. Besides the exquisite Sehnas, the
finest of the Anatolian mats, as they arc
generally called, were used for pillows and
not saddle-bags. The warp generally
proves their purpose. When the warp runs
vertically to the larger side, and ends in a
fringe, that specimen was of course some
sort of a saddle-bag. When the selvedge
is at the shorter end you have the pillow.
I02 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Among the other beautiful miniature
specimens of textile art, which are still
occasionally offered, are saddle-cloths.
They appear mostly in beautiful Sehnas,
and occasionally in fine old Feraghans and
other Persian weaves. They are marred,
however, for beautiful floor coverings by
the necessary angular cut in them, through
which the straps of the saddle passed.
This is often skilfully filled in, in the case
of choice specimens. But the blot re-
mains. Their irregular shape also con-
demns them for the most part with the
many admirable but irreclaimable crooked
rugs.
These saddle-bags are frequently used
for table coverings or for mural adornment.
But in our modern house decoration rarely
does a rug look well upon the wall. The
Persians hang them instead of pictures,
which is well. But they do not mix them
with pictures on the wall, which is better,
and shows good taste on the part of the
Persians. A rug appears best upon the floor.
CARPETS, SADDLEBAGS, PILLOWS i o 3
The collector of small pieces to-day
will do well to buy every bag or pillow of
Bokhara or Beluchistan which may please
his fancy. They are to be had now at
modest prices, but unless all signs fail, they
will soon become as rare as any of the
other miniatures. You will look in vain
for them with the vanished Anatolians
and diamond Sehnas.
AUCTIONS, AUCTIONEERS, AND
DEALERS
Chapter X
AUCTIONS, AUCTIONEERS, AND
DEALERS
jk JUSTIFICATION of the method
/% of selling rugs by auction has
/ % been offered in many forms and
phrases. It is perhaps best expressed some-
what thus : Every number has a certain
intrinsic value, and that is a basis price
at which it should sell. But beyond that
it may have an extra value, which, like
beauty in general, is in the eye of the
beholder. The beholder, therefore, who
sees a rug to covet it should name his
own price for it. It may be one of the
specimens he lacks in his collection ; it
may fit this corner or that. Anyway,
it is worth more to him than to the
107
io8 THE ORIENTAL RUG
lower bidder. Incidentally, the seller
and the auctioneer gain the fair profits
of competition.
Other arguments in favour of the auction
have been advanced by the head of a great
department store. His opinion is that
the auction gives every one a chance to
get the rug desired at a fair price. Tastes
differ and prices differ, but the average
of an auction is fair to both buyer and
seller.
Regardless of theories, rug auctions, by
whomsoever fathered or sponsored, thrive
and flourish.
If the auction be the collection of such
and such an Oriental, whatever his name,
there will be a great deal of cheap stuff in
his stock, and there will also be many
choice pieces which he holds as the apples
of his eye.
He buys from the wholesaler so many
bales at so much per bale of say twenty
pieces. In the bales of ordinary qualities
the several items will average about the
AUCTIONS AND DEALERS 109
same. But in the more expensive bales
there is a good general average, with a
few prizes added. They are like the two
or three green firecrackers in the packs of
our childhood. These special pieces in
the high-priced bales give the seller his
legitimate opportunity and profit. If these
odd firecrackers please your fancy more
than mine, and I am contented to choose
the conventional red ones, it is for you to
fix the value of the greens.
At an auction the apparent authority
and ruler is the auctioneer, while the
owner weeps cheerfully on one side and
shrugs his shoulders in half-pathetic res-
ignation at the sacrifice. In reality the
auctioneer knows pretty well what he is
about, and, if not, is quickly posted by the
owner. It is no harm to say that if we
cannot believe all that we read in the
Bible, no more is it safe to take literally
all that the auctioneer asserts. A recent
skit in " Life " is pertinent (quoted from
memory) : —
no THE ORIENTAL RUG
" T'he wife. Look at this splendid bargain
I bought for twenty dollars to-day. It's worth
two hundred.
" The husband. Indeed ! How do you know
it is worth that much ?
" The wife. Why, the auctioneer told me so."
A new plan of auction has been recently
tried. You may buy in one or more lots at
your own price, and if you do not wish to
keep any, they may be returned within a
certain number of days. You may bid ad
libitum, recklessly as you choose ; and if
your choice be not all that your fancy and
electric light have pictured it, you are
under no obligation to keep it or pay any-
thing on it ; you may elect to change your
mind and send it back. How this plan
works in practice and finance has yet to be
demonstrated. It would seem to be all on
the side of the buyer and against the seller,
who must lose many a bid from a bona
Jide purchaser at a lower figure. The
matter of human nature doubtless figures
in the problem, because there is some little
AUCTIONS AND DEALERS m
feeling of shame about returning an article
bought in under competition, no matter
what the guarantee may be.
As to the auctioneers, they are always
glib of tongue, good-natured, and persua-
sive. That they are not canonically and
absolutely truthful is perhaps not their
fault. They certainly cannot know more
about rugs than the few authorities who
have made a study of the subject ; and, as
said before, they are generally prompted
by the " consignor " of the collection. If
only they would not call every rug an
" antique and priceless specimen," their
individual consciences might be happier,
and their audience less bored.
However, no matter what the audience,
or how small it may be, there are always
some there who will appreciate the differ-
ence between a four-dollar and a forty-
dollar offering, and bid up the former to
seven dollars and the latter to thirty dol-
lars. Thus the auctions go merrily on
and strike a general average. The skilful
112 THE ORIENTAL RUG
auctioneer will feel the pulse of his audi-
ence with a quicker touch than the most
renowned of doctors ; and once assured
of their class and position, wealth and
condition, and what grade of merchan-
dise they are willing to buy, the game
is in his own hands, provided only
that his audience is large enough. He
should have at least a regulation pack of
fifty-two in order to do justice to his
own hand and skill, and in order to
play off one card of his audience against
another.
The auction has its own particular fas-
cinations, and its own habitues and devotees
in every city. The chronic attendants
should be the most careful and conserva-
tive of buyers. But the artful auctioneer
soon learns to know them, to recognize
them among his clientele, and to humour
their whims, moods, and fancies. Sooner
or later he will wheedle them into a bid
against their better judgment, and then
make good capital of the fact that such
AUCTIONS AND DEALERS 113
and such a connoisseur had bought so great
a bargain.
The question might be asked, imper-
sonally and perhaps impertinently. What
was the auctioneer's influence at the Mar-
quand sale ? Was his the power ? Was it
due to the catalogue ? or was it in the air ;
and the zeal of an eager audience ?
The retail trade in rugs throughout this
country is largely in the hands of Arme-
nians, both fixed and peripatetic ; but of
recent years much of their business has
been annexed by the department stores.
These various Armenian dealers are uni-
versally known for their shrewdness and
cleverness as well as for other ingenuous-
ness and natural courtesy. Except the
heads of the carpet departments in some
few large concerns, they know much more
about their wares than other salesmen, and
their personal, live knowledge gives a fillip
of enthusiasm to the purchaser. They
would control the retail trade in rugs,
were it not that the department store has
114 THE ORIENTAL RUG
brought against them its powerful weapon
oi per cent. The store asserts that it wants
only its modest per cent on the cost of any
article, no matter what its sentimental value
may be. This may not be truth in its
stark nakedness, but it has availed to draw
to them a great deal of the trade in Orien-
tal textiles.
The wholesale dealers are the most im-
portant factor in the question of distribu-
tion, for almost all the rugs sold in the
United States must first pass through the
hands of one or another of a dozen New
York princes of the market. Large or
small retailers may import some pieces
directly from London, Paris, or Con-
stantinople, but even the most important
retailers buy heavily from the great Arme-
nian wholesalers in New York City.
It is difficult to estimate and impossible
to state absolutely the number or even the
value of the Oriental rugs annually im-
ported into the United States. The reason
is that in the reports of the U. S. Treasury
AUCTIONS AND DEALERS 115
as to " Imported Merchandise," etc., Ori-
ental carpets and rugs have no separate
classification, but are included under the
general heading of " Carpets woven whole
for rooms, and Oriental, Berlin, Aubusson,
Axminster, and other similar rugs." It is
quite a mixed company, but Oriental
weaves as herein considered are at least
distinguished as such, and differentiated
from carpeting by the yard. They have
also the distinction, with the others of
their group, of paying a tax of ninety
cents per square yard and forty per cent
ad valorem, as against from twenty-two to
sixty cents per square yard and the same
forty per cent ad valorem for the vari-
ous Brussels, Wilton, and Axminster floor-
coverings coming by the yard, and not in
one piece. And the duty on Oriental rugs,
be it observed, is measured by the square
yard, and therefore no record is kept of
the number of pieces, or how many indi-
vidual items of the four classes have been
imported.
Ti6 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Nevertheless, the statistics for the year
ending June 30, 1902, show this general re-
sult : The total value of that year's import
of these " whole carpets, Oriental, Berlin,'*
etc., was a trifle below three million dollars.
Two and a half millions of this value came
to New York with only half a million left
to divide between Chicago, Philadelphia,
Boston, San Francisco, and other ports of
entry. The supremacy of New York City
as the Oriental rug mart for this country
is easily manifest, although it is not so easy
to estimate what proportion of the two and
a half millions of value was in Oriental
rugs and what in modern carpets. One
expert figures the value of the Oriental
rugs imported that year into New York as
more than half the total, or perhaps two
millions. It is as fair an estimate as may
be had. Considerable as this amount may
be, it seems much less than might be
expected. It may perhaps indicate the
cheap grade and low quality of most of
our present acquisitions in this category.
AUCTIONS AND DEALERS 117
The gathering of the rugs by the
buyers, in the first instance, involves great
hardships, endurance, and even danger ;
and the deeper their incursions into new
and strange territory and unopened and
unexplored sources of supply, the more
profitable their spoil, but the greater their
toil. Beluchistan, as previously suggested,
would appear now to be one of the re-
motest regions yet remaining to yield up a
few new treasures to the persevering buyer.
These rugs so gathered to the centres of
trade in Constantinople, Tiflis, and other
distributing points, quickly find their way
thence to New York, and help to make
the magnitude and seeming wonderful
complexity of the large wholesale depots.
Whoever is fortunate enough to have the
entree to any of these great New York
storehouses will be first among those who
understand the importance, value, and ap-
preciation of the Oriental rug.
INSCRIPTIONS AND DATES
Chapter XI
INSCRIPTIONS AND DATES
IN addition to the many patterns, figures,
devices and symbols, which are used
for ornamentation, rugs and carpets
are often embelHshed with hieroglyphic
writing, somewhere in their field, and
commonly at top or bottom. Not unfre-
quently complete borders are thus com-
posed, as is evidenced in old Kirmans,
These designs are so graceful in their many
angles and occasional curves that they
scarcely suggest mere lettering. Such
they are, nevertheless ; and our English
script, with all its loops and turns and
recurrent " lines of beauty," would hardly
avail for like effective results. It is but
another proof of the artistic possibilities of
angular lines and geometric figures, so
often demonstrated by Oriental weavers.
121
122 THE ORIENTAL RUG
With few exceptions, all of these hiero-
glyphics are in the Arabic language, and
are quotations from the Persian poets, with
flowery sentiment, or from the Koran, in
proper precept. But, as is more important,
there will frequently be found in the
corners of a choice piece, or elsewhere
unobtrusively woven, the signature or
cipher of the maker, with the date of the
making. This at once gives distinction
and value to such a specimen and exalts it
above its fellows. It also calls loudly for
an answer to the question of what such
name and date may be. Very rarely can
the dealer inform you, because he does not
know. Here, then, is a great stumbling-
block in the path of the collector. It may
be worth while to go around it by way of
a brief explanation.
The Arabic language has been the lingua
franca of the East from the time that it
succeeded Greek in the seventh century.
It still retains its universality wherever
Mohammedanism rules. Turkey may be
INSCRIPTIONS AND DATES 123
excepted from its sway, but, none the less,
it is a most necessary language to-day in
Constantinople. Its use by carpet- weavers
is by reason of its catholicity ; that it may
be understood where their varying lan-
guages and unknown dialects would tell
no story.
That Arabic is so generally known
throughout the Orient is doubtless no
greater marvel than that mere children in
Paris speak French. But, however con-
venient, as an inter-racial and commer-
cial language, Arabic may be to those
accustomed to it, or naturally conversant
with it, it is most difficult to learn by
Western races. With ten years' study one
may become a good scholar, and proficiency
may follow for the persistent few. This
will explain why inscriptions, texts, and
verses on rugs and carpets are meaningless,
except to the most erudite ; and except, also,
to those who see in them only another phase
of Persian ornament, strange, mysterious,
arabesque, and beautiful.
124 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Regarding the date, often woven into
an example which the artist thought espe-
cially worthy, it would seem that some
simple formula might be given for its ready
translation. This may be approximated,
although it is not so easy a matter as might
appear, and requires a few words on the
subject of Arabian numerical notation.
Their general system is similar to ours,
and, corresponding to our miscalled "Arabic
figures" of:
o, i» 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
their digits are represented by
Both are read from left to right. These
Arabic digits, however, are not always
easily to be deciphered on a rug, on ac-
count of the spreading of the wool and con-
sequent irregularity of outline, and also
because they generally appear in modest
size. The back of the rug will show the
figures much more sharply than the face.
Plate XII.
BERGAMA
Thirty to forty years old
From the Collection of the Author
Size : 3. 1 X 3.5
INSCRIPTIONS AND DATES 125
when there is a doubt. When the Arabic
numerals are made clear, it remains to
reduce this date to the corresponding one
of the Christian era, by means of a com-
plicated table.
All Mohammedan dating (with excep-
tions not to be considered here, however
interesting historically) is from the Hegira.
The reckoning is not from the time of
Mohammed's " flight " from Medina
(September, 622), but from a day about
two months earlier ; namely, the first day
of that Arabian year. This beginning of
the epoch, according to the best modern
authorities, probably corresponds to July
16, 622.
Mohammedan chronology, however, is
often expressed in other ways than by clear
figures, and such florid records are most
difficult to interpret. Again, in old manu-
scripts, on coins and on a few rare antique
carpets, the date is written out in full, in so
many words ; as, for instance, " two-hundred-
and-five-and-twenty- after- the- thousand."
126 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Intricate dates like these are to be solved
only by an expert.
But when the year is in question, with-
out regard to month or day, and when
the year is written in legible figures, a
rough formula for computing the corre-
sponding Christian date is as follows : Sub-
tract from the given Mohammedan year
one thirty-third part of itself, and add to
the remainder six hundred and twenty-
two. Thus: A. H. 1 1 96 = A. D. 1 1 96 —
36 + 622 = A. D. 1782. This is accu-
rate enough for all practical purposes, and
involves no difficulty except the decipher-
ing of the Arabic digits. The failure
to subtract this essential one thirty-third
part explains frequent misreadings by the
ignorant dealer or uninitiated amateur.
That six hundred and twenty-two must be
added to the given Mohammedan date
explains itself. But it must be remembered
also that the Moslem year is lunar, and
thus a little more than eleven days shorter
than our solar year. Their reckoning
INSCRIPTION.S AND DATES 127
therefore gains one year in every thirty-
three of our computation.
Modern commercial rugs of ordinary
quality are occasionally provided v^ith a
date or other calligraphic figure to simulate
the real signed and dated masterpieces.
This trickery should never deceive even
the most unwary, unless the piece is
of exceptional merit ; and then, there is
no deception ; or at least there is value
received.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND
PARTICULAR ADVICE
Chapter XII
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND
PARTICULAR ADVICE
MANY kinds of rugs are made in
part of camel's hair, generally
undyed and of a soft brown
tone. They are praised as particularly
desirable and durable, and antique speci-
mens often showed a distinguished beauty.
Modern examples are seldom improved by
this addition to the wool. Camel's hair, in
the muggy days of summer, has the great
fault of offending the nose and proclaim-
ing not only that the " Campbells are
coming " but that the circus and the whole
menagerie is already here. If the camel's
hair part of your rug is soft and silky, it has
been taken from young camels or from the
camel's belly, and the odour is hardly ever
131
132 THE ORIENTAL RUG
noticeable. Of wool in rugs generally it
may be said that the best is from the
younger sheep, and the silkiness and sheen
of the wool give those same characteristics
to the rug.
Silk rugs, both antique and modern,
fairly dazzle the eye with their beauty,
but he who may afford one will needs af-
ford also to furnish the surroundings for
it in like magnificence. Otherwise all
else grows pale and dull and leaden beside
their refulgent glory. Place a piece of
modern Dresden china side by side with a
fine antique specimen of Chinese porcelain,
and the garishness of the modern ware
will give a pallid tone to the soft whites
of the Oriental artist. But the fault is
not with the older and perfect art ; it
is simply the old truth, in a new form,
that evil colours corrupt and kill good
colours.
Be that as it may, old silk rugs are
almost priceless, and of value to a million-
aire collector for their originality of design
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 133
and for their soft harmonies of colour
which centuries alone can give. Modern
silk rugs are mostly machine made, in part
at least ; are a detriment and a blot on any
scheme of household decoration, and are
always worth less than the price paid for
them.
By experience we may best learn how
to choose a rug. As, for instance : never
buy a rug, least of all at an auction, with-
out thoroughly examining it. See its back
as well as its face, and so be sure that it
has not been cut, and that there are no
serious holes in it. Quite one-third of the
good old rugs will show some rents or
tears, often made by the grappling-hooks
as the bales are shipped and transhipped.
If these are no bigger than a silver dollar,
a skilful repairer, of whom there are
plenty, will readily remedy the defect.
Also hold the rug up to the light to know
that the moths have not eaten it. Look
at the nap and see that it is not worn to
the warp. Lay it on a board floor, if
134 THE ORIENTAL RUG
possible, and apart from other rugs, and
see that it lies flat and straight. None but
those that are firm enough to lie well are
desirable for use and general comfort. Of
course many fine antiques are their own
isufficient excuse for exception from this
rule.
If in doubt as to whether a rug has
aniline dyes or been doctored or painted,
a handkerchief moistened with the tongue
may sometimes discover the truth. Paint-
ing a rug is a device not unfrequently
practised when the nap is worn down and
the warp shows white.
Bear in mind that a good example
may be so dirty as not to show half its
merits. A sharp patting may scatter
enough dust to display it in its proper
colours, and you may thus, literally, un-
earth a treasure.
Remember, too, that rugs never look so
well or show as clear and bright when
hanging on the wall as lying on the floor.
Therefore, test a rug spread out flat before
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 135
you in broad daylight. It is a trick of the
trade to hold up one end of the piece ex-
hibited and keep it waving to show its
sheen. This is often a mere device to
conceal its bad shape or other defects. If
you are buying a rug for use on the
floor, you should see it so displayed.
Its sheen should be judged by walking
around it and considering it in various
lights.
Note that with few exceptions the fringe
and selvedge on a rug were not made for
beauty but for protection. When the
fringe is ropy, long, or uneven, or the
selvedge eaten into or ragged, do not leave
the rug to its unkemptness, but trim it
religiously. A man should have his hair
cut and put in order at proper times ; and
the propriety of this observance is com-
monly preached on very many prayer rugs,
where the comb is prominently pictured, to
remind the devout that " cleanliness is next
to godliness." Indeed, the comb in vari-
ous forms is so common a feature in the
136 THE ORIENTAL RUG
angular arch of most prayer rugs that its
suggestiveness almost detracts from their
beauty. The counsel is most persistent.
Even the clean white fringe of a fine
Persian is often so long as to need clipping.
Two inches or so is a plenty. If more is
left, the strings only curl under and show
a ragged and broken line, and the rug
never appears trim and orderly.
When the selvedge is gone, and the end
borders or sides of the rug itself are en-
croached upon and sawed by the tooth of
Time, more than half of the value and
beauty of the piece is lost ; but to pre-
serve its usefulness it should be overcast
and further damage prevented. Never
buy a rug as a perfect or even choice
specimen if any border at the sides or
ends is gone beyond repair. Every border
should have its corresponding end, and vice
versa, or the piece is imperfect. Selvedge
is of slight importance, but, like a woman's
skirts or a man's trousers, it is unforgiv-
able if worn or frayed. The side edges
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 137
which are otherwise still perfect are apt
to become more or less ragged with
wear. That is a detail, if the borders
themselves are intact ; and the edges only-
need overcasting before it is too late.
When the good housewife has the rugs
and carpets beaten, let it be done on the
grass, if possible, and not when they are
hung on a line and so allowed to break
with their own weight. Also let the
severity of the beating be tempered with
kindness and discretion. In winter, sweep-
ing with snow will clean and brighten
them most wonderfully.
This whole matter of cleaning is a
neglected science and worthy of a thesis
all to itself. The face of a rug will stand
the slapping which is its usual punish-
ment for being dirty; but do not forget,
in the end, to stroke it, with the nap,
and so soothe its feelings. Do not beat a
rug or carpet on the back. That has no
defence of nap, and you are liable to break
the warp and loosen the knots. Frequent
138 THE ORIENTAL RUG
sweeping is far better than the brutality of
constant beating. The wool of a rug is
really a sentient thing. However dead
it may seem, it has a life and vitality
all its own. It can be quickened, re-
juvenated, and made alive again by proper
washing.
Rugs in our modern houses easily accu-
mulate dust and grime and smoke. But it
is absurd to think that a rug is antique be-
cause it is dirty ; or, more foolish still, that
because it is dirty it is both antique and
beautiful. Wash some of your treasures
and you will wonder at their real glory
and colour. Generally speaking, every rug
should be washed about once a year. It
is the Oriental custom ; and carpets there
are otherwise kept much cleaner than with
us, by reason of many usages and observ-
ances. That the Orientals wash their
rugs in cold water is not so. Wherever
and whenever their laundering is done,
the water is as warm as can be had,
naturally.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 139
Milady washes her laces with her own
fair hands, and delights in the task. The
rug collector will do well, perhaps, to fol-
low her example ; except for the tender
specimens, which must needs do without
it, and the carpets, which are unmanage-
able. At all events, he will do wisely not
to send his valued specimens to the ordi-
nary carpet-cleaner. They may come back
expurgated, but some virtue has gone out
of them. The wool has lost its oil and
life.
It is hardly within the province of this
volume to prescribe the exact methods of
washing. Wool soap will do wonders,
it being always remembered to stroke
softly with the nap, while the rug is dry-
ing. In Kurdistan and neighbouring prov-
inces the rugs are first soaked in milk of
some kind and then rinsed, cleaned, and
rubbed dry. The milk gives back to the
wool its essential oil, and it becomes at
once soft, shining, silky, and alive with
glowing colour. This process, simple as
HO THE ORIENTAL RUG
it is, is kept as a profound secret by the
few who know it in this country. Another
Eastern method is to rub the rug with a
mixture of rice-meal and oil, but the first
recipe is by far the better.
Rugs must be cared for particularly as
to moths. When they are in general use
the moth will not corrupt, rust, or break
through and steal, as may be paraphrased
from the Scriptures. The criminal in-
dictment against the moth in this regard
cannot be drawn too strongly. He is the
collector's great enemy, because he destroys.
Age and even wear only ripen the perfec-
tions of fine modern pieces. Carpets and
rugs stored, or laid aside, are not moth-
proof, wherever they may be ; unless they
are treated as in the great wholesale houses,
where they are lifted and moved once
a week and protected with the odorous
moth-ball.
When rugs have to be moved and
packed frequently they should be folded
differently each time, and not always in the
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 141
same creases. Otherwise, wear and tear
will soon show in the folds. For many-
obvious reasons they always should be
folded away with the nap inside.
Experience should teach the collector to
appreciate and care for all fine examples
which he may already have. There are
few others to take their places. " Going !
going ! going ! " has been said of them too
often. Time, as auctioneer, now says
of them, as of old Chinese porcelains,
"Gone! " And that they should be even
rarer than old china is quite understand-
able. The ravages of time deal more
gently with porcelains than with rugs.
Only breakage, not wear, moth, and abuse
affects the former; and it is generally
guarded in glass cases and dusted by the
mistress herself. Your rugs are neglected,
or left to the gardener's heroic care and
treatment. Use and abuse encroach upon
the ends and edges of a glorious old master-
piece, and ere it is too late, it becomes but
"a king of shreds and patches."
142 THE ORIENTAL RUG
If there were new rugs to take its place^
we might say : "The King is dead. Long
live the King!" But there are no new
ones worthy of succession. The royal line
is virtually extinct.
INDEX
Sntrex
Afghan rugs, 82
" ** , modern, mineral dyes in, 83
Anatolian rugs, 73
*' , commercial term, 73
♦♦ mats, 73, 74
Angles, mystery of, 2
'• , use of, 62
Angular ornamentation, 96, 121
Antique carpets, 94
" rugs, not to be had, 6
** ** , term abused, 43
** ** , tones of imitated, 81
** *• , valuable for design, 44
Arabian digits illustrated, 124
" Arabic figures," miscalled, 124
Arabic language, 122
** " , catholicity of, 122, 1 23
Armenians, appreciation of, 3
*' , as dealers, 1 13
" hoard Anatolian mats, 74
Auction, arguments for, 107, 108
" , caution in buying at, 1 33
" , fascination of, 112
[*• , ways of, 109, 1 10
Auctioneer, 1 09, 1 1 o
" , powers of, iii-i 13
Authorities, few available, 4
145
146 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Babylon, first rugs woven at, 69
Bale, rugs by, 108, 109
Bead-bags, 23
Beluchistan rugs, 83
•' ** , silkiness of, 54
Bergama rugs, 75
" " , defect of, 76
'* " , lavender in, 75
Bokhara camel-bags, 99
" rugs, 80
" " , browfn, 81
*' , Yamoud, 82
" saddle-bags, crooked, desirable, 100
Border, Caucasian, Persian, 23
* , classifying rugs, 27, 28
* , crab, 29, 30
* , dotted, Gheordez, 71
' , Koulah, 27, 72
' , Ladik, lily, 25, 72
' , must have end to correspond, 136
' , Rhodian or lily, 25, 72
' , Serabend, 29, 50
* " , in Mousuls, 53
Borders in Khorassan rugs, defective, 49
Camel-bags, 99
** <* , crooked, desirable, 100
Camel's hair in rugs, 131
Cashmere, see Soumac
Carpet, 93
** , room should fit, 94
Carpet-bag, 100, 101
Carpets, modern Persian, 94—98
" ** Turkish, 97, 98
Caucasian rugs, characteristics of, 62
INDEX 147
Caucasian rugs, Persian influence on, 61
♦* •• , varieties of, 16
Chichi rugs, 61, 62
** ** , ordinary specimens of, 66
Chinese figures in Melez rugs, 75
*' old, rugs, 88, 89
** weaving transferred to Persia, 69
China, first rugs from, 69
Collector encouraged, 76
Colours, brown, to be rejected, 81
" , chemical in carpets, 95
** , dark, of Beluchistans, 83
** , flaming red, of Karabaghs, 64
'* , green and yellow, in Bokharas, 8z
" , lavender, heliotrope, &c., 75
•* , magenta, to be avoided, 75, 87
" of Beluchistans, 83
" " Bergamas, 75
** " Ladiks, 72
" ♦* Gheordez, 70, 71
** , red, of Bokharas, 80, 81
Comb, as symbol, 135
Cossack, like Kazak, 65
Crooked rugs, poetical version of, 21
Daghestan, confusing term, 61, 62
" rugs, 6 1
'* ** , term distinguished, 63
Dates on rugs, i 24, i 27
tt €t it ^ Arabian digits for, i 24
'* ** ** , formula for reading, i 26
" ♦* ** , intricate forms of, 125
Dealers, uncommunicative, 2
*' , wholesale, 108
Design, checker-board, 75, 76
148 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Design, comb, i 35
•* , Feraghan, 24, 53
** , four roses, 54, 55 (note)
*' , Koniah, 26, 72
" , lamp, 72
•' , mosque, 70
** , no pattern for, 26
" , ** palace pattern," 64
** , "palm-leaf," "pear," loop, 50
" , "shawl pattern," 64
" , ''sunburst," 64
Designs, as trademarks, 26
" , animals for, not on Turkish rugs, 46
•• , geometric figures for, 80
«' , Kazak, in Killims, 86, 87
♦• , mosaic- work in, 64, 76, 80
** , palm-leaf, in Mousuls, 53, 54
" , tile, 82
♦* Dipping " rugs to imitate antique, 81
Donkey-bags, 98
Dyes, aniline, mineral, 35, 36, 38, 134
" " " , test for, 39
*' , black, 36
•♦ , brown, 37
" " , imitated, 81
♦« , green, 37, 50
" , magenta, 36, 49, 87
" , secret in Kurdistan carpets, 96
Edges, should be overcast, 137
Ends, importance of perfect, 136
♦* , in Khorassan rugs, defective, 49
** , should have corresponding borders, 136
Experts, disagreement of, 56
" , no, 3.
INDEX 149
Feraghan carpets, 96
** *' , small figures of, 97
" rugs, 52
** ** , characteristic design of, 29, 52
«* *' , " " " illustrated, 24
Figures, j^^ Design
Fringe of rugs, not for beauty, 135
" " " , trimming of, 136
Geography of carpets and rugs, 79, 80
Gheordez rug, 70, 71
Gorovan carpets, 96
Gulistan carpets, 97
rugs, 56
Hall rugs, desirable, 45, 93
*• ** , Persian term for, 44
Hamadan carpets, 98
Holes in rugs, cause of, 133
India carpets, i 7
Inscriptions on rugs and carpets, i 2 1
" Iran," as descriptive term, distinguished, 15
" , a trade term hke "Anatolian," 73
Ispahan rugs, 56
Jewels, mats like, 74
Joshghan rugs, 51, 52
" ** , like Ispahans, 57
Kabistan rugs, 63
'* ** , distinguished from Shirvans, 64
Karabagh rugs, 64
Kazak rugs, 65
" " , plush of, 84
Killims, 86, 87
Khorassan rugs, 49
I50 THE ORIENTAL RUG
*' Kinari," Persian term for ** hall rugs," 44
Kirman rugs, 45—48
Kirmanshah carpets, 95
" rugs, trade name for Kirmans, 48
Kiz-Killims, see Killims
ELnots, kinds of, 25
" , numbers of, 26
Koniah rugs, 71
" *< , characteristic design of described, 72
'* " , " *' " illustrated, 26
Koulah rugs, 7 1
** " , characteristic border of described, 72
tt <t ^ (t (< << illustrated, 27
Kurdish rugs distinguished from Kurdistans, 55
Kurdistan carpets, 95, 96
rugs, 55» 56
Kurds, " a band of robbers," 55
Ladik rugs, 72
** " , characteristic border of described, 72
" " , ** '* " illustrated, 25
Lamp, Aladdin's, 71
Lamps like tea-pots in Koulahs, 72
Malgara rugs, 88
"Mats," Anatolian, 73, 74
" , Beluchistan, 85
"Mecca" rugs, doubtful term, 3
" ♦' , Shiraz, so called, 51
Melez rugs, 74, 75
Mohammedan dating, 125, 126
Moth holes to be looked for in buying rugs, 133
Moths to be guarded against, 140
Mousul rugs, 53
'* " , shimmer of, 84
INDEX 151
Museums, best rugs in, 6
" , brown Bokharas only in, 81
" , guide-posts to, 73
Mysterious inscriptions, 123
Mystery of the rug, 2
Names of rugs, 8, 9
(( *< " , commercial, 56
'« " " , importance of, 14
(< ft <( ^ unknown and fanciful, 14.
OusHAK carpets, 98
Pattern, see Design
Persia, inspiration drawn from, 69
"Persian Iran," ignorant term, 15
Persian, means splendour, 6
Persian rugs, best to buy, 45
" " , order of, 15
Pile, depth of, in Mousuls, 84
Pillow, shown by selvedge, loi
Pillows, Sehna, loi
Prayer rugs, 71
" ** , comb in, 135
Rose, conventionalized, 53
" , Oriental origin, 54
" , Persian, 52
Rugs, beating of, 137
*« , cheap, uses and value of, 66
'* , cleaning of, 137
" , firm, that lie well, desirable, 134
" , folding of, 141
<* , holes in, 133
152 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Rugs, hung on wall, criticised, 102, 134
'* , moths in, 140
** , much worn, to be avoided, 133
•' , neglect of, 141
" , number annually imported, 114, 115, 116
** , painted or doctored, test for, 134
** , retail trade in, 113
'• , tricks in selling, 135
** , washing of, 138, 139, 140
" , wholesale dealers in, 114, 117
Russian, types of, in Caucasian rugs, 63, 65
Saddle-bag, 98
*' " , shown by selvedge, loi
" ** , term confusing, 100
Saddle-cloth, 102
Samarkand rugs, 87
Sarak rugs, 57
Selvedge, cutting of in Beluchistans, 85
** ** ** *' Bergamas, 76
" of Bergamas, 84
" '♦ Beluchistans, 28
*' " Bokharas, 82
** *' pillows, 10 1
•' " saddle-bags, loi
** " Yamoud Bokharas, 82
** should be trimmed, 135, 136
Sehna rugs, 48, 49
'* pillows, 10 1
Serabend rugs, 50
" *' , characteristic border of, 29
" " , " " illustrated, 50
Shiraz donkey-bags, 98
rugs, 51
** , defects of, y6
ft ■
INDEX 153
Shirvan donkey-bags, 98
" rugs, 64
" *< , distinguished from Kabistan, 64
Silk rugs, antique, 1 3 2
" " , modern, to be avoided, 48, 132, 133
Sizes of carpets, 44, 94
<» « rugs, 44
" *' *' , almost square, 82
Smyrna carpets, 97, 98
" Smyrna " carpets, so called, 98
Soumac rugs, 86
*' Strips," or " Stair-rugs," proper name of, 44
Sultanabad carpets, 97
Tabriz carpets, 95
" rugs, 57
Teheran rugs, 56
Tjoshghan, see Joshghan
Tree, cypress, 75
, " of Life, 46
Trellis, rose, 53
Turkestan rugs, 79
<* *' , varieties of, 16
ft " , «' " , order of, 16
" w^eaves, like rubies, 70
Turkoman rugs, 79
Tzi-tzi, see Chichi
Washing of rugs, essential, 138
<< *' ** , methods of, 139, 140
Weaving, done by w^omen, 22
»' , method of, 24, 25
Wholesale dealers, buyers from, 108
Wool, camels', 131
" from young sheep, desirable, 132
154 THE ORIENTAL RUG
Wool has life, is sentient thing, 138
♦' , like plush in Kazaks, 84
" , soft and silky, in Beluchistans, 84
YoURAGHAN rugs, 5 I
Yourdez, see Gheordez
Youruck rugs, 65
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^„ 3 5002 00384 2585
Ellwanger, William De Lancey
The oriental rug; a monograph on eastern
Art NK 2808 . E5 1909
Ellwanger, William De
Lancey, 1854-1913.
The oriental rug
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