The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-12-26
CARPETS.
THE ORIGIN. EARLY HISTORY AND PECULIARITIEs
OF TdEIR MANUFACTURE.

1aE OBlGIN, EARLY HlSIOh1 AMI OLAahA AA
OF TdEIR MANUFACTURE.
The manufacture of carpets is of the great
est antiquity. We read of them in the sacred
writings, and they have been found amone
the ruins Of Pompeii and other ancient cities
Woven carpets, carpets such as are now sc
common. were first used in the East. where
the custom of sitting cross-legged on the hool
still renders them especially useful. Oul
rude English forefathers covered the floors OF
their houses with rushes, hay or straw, and
in Norwegian farm houses, where so many
ancient customs still exist, the floor of the
best room is commonly strewed with juniper
twigs. The first step toward a woven carpet
was made by plating rushes to form mat
ting.
The Turks and Persians were the first to
bring the art of carpet making to any degree
of perfection. India and Tunis also manu-
featured them in great quantities, and those
countries for long period supplied Europe
with these articles of luxury. In the Middle
Ages carpets were first used before the high
altar and certain parts of the chapter IN alb
beys. Beside carpets are spoken of as early
as 1901, and insdrawings of the fifteenth cen
fury the royal throne Is represented as belng
surrounded by carpet OF a simple flower
pattern. Turkey carpets before the commu-
Mon table are noticed in the reigns Of Ed
ward VI, Elizabeth and James.
The manufacture of carpets is SAID to have
been introduced into Europe by the French
in the reign OF Henry ". The largest manu-
factory was that Of Chaillot. or the royal
mandatory Of La Savouiere (the Soap
House), situated about a league from Paris.
These carpets were of wool, and were worked
in the manner of velvet, as in the modern
Wilton. A mandatory was also opened in
England in the reign of Henry VIII but
this industry was not permanently established
until 1855, when the revocation of the edlct
of Nantes drove half O million of Professionals
from France, many of whom settled In Eng
land and set up the manufacture of carpets
The method Of weaving velvet carpets was
into London about the year 1850,
by two workmen who left Chaillot In conse-
quence of some dispute, aud went 10 Eng
land for employment They were encour-
aged by Mr.. Moore, to whose assldulty the
manufacture of carpets in England, is princi-
pally owing. But after time these men left
Mr.. Moore, and in company with French
man named Parisot established two other
manufactures, under the patronage and with
the pecuniary assistance of the Duke of Cum
berland. MIR. Moore was however, for
midable rival to the scheme. HIS manufac-
tory fourished, and in 1857 he obtained a
premium from the Society of Arts for the pro-
duction of the best imitation of Turkey
carpet.
The Turkey carpet, however, consumes a
larger quantity of material, and the process
of making it is very slow; hence it is an ex-
pensive article. The introduction of other
and cheaper modes of weaving carpets led to
a general taste for this luxury, SO that very
soon room not covered with a carpet was
considered as unfurnished; and in country
like England, where wool was abundant, it
was easy to reduce the cost of manufacture
until carpets were within the reach of nearly
every one. On the Continent of Europe,
however, this taste has never become COM
mon, and the inlaid floor, polished
with wax, is still continued in the houses of
the wealthy, while in poorer houses the plain
deal boards remain without covering.
The real Turkey carpet is made in one
piece. Those manufactured by the Orlentals
are usually too small for use in this country.
nhe patterns consist merely of curved and an
gular strips of variegated but dark and unob-
trusive colors. The warp is of strong linen
or cotton, to which lunches or tufts of col
ored worsted are tied according to the pat
tern, a drawing of which is placed before the
weaver to copy. The surface is afterward
shorn level. Young gi1Is are employed in
maki ing these carpets Their nimble fingers
tie the coLored wor5teGs with great rapidity,
end, from constant practice, they know which
particular color to use without referring to the
pattern sheet.
It is probable that the smooth turf first sug-
gested the use Of the carpet, and the flowers
that decorate the one may have suggested the
ornaments for the other. 1t is to be regretted
that the suggestion should have been forgot
ten IN designing patterns for carpets, for ill.,
stead of the beautiful and simple objects
which adorn the turf, we often see on carpets
scrolls and heavy decorations,
pictures of animals etc, on which it would
be impossible to walk if the real instead of
the simulated objects were placed on the
ground. Design in the useful arts, when
regulated by common-sense and propriety.
without which good taste can not exist,
would not place on the floor ornaments in
tended for the wall or the vertical lines of a
building.
The carpets Of Turkey and Persia, which
present to US the most ancient mode of car
do not err in this respect They
are soft in texture, pleasant alike to the feet
aud eyes, presenting not pattern, but har-
monious shading or grouping, not of light
and bright colors, such as would soon soil,
and require the absurd anomaly of another
carpet of inferior material placed upon it to
preserve it, but of dark, unobtrusive colorS
which give repose to the eye, and do not
divert attention from the lighter and more
brilliant decorations of the walls and ceilings
These latter, not being trampled upon, are
not liable to soil, and indeed, require to be
light and bright in order TO reflect the light
Of the room, and thus contribute to its cheer
fitness; but it is not so with the carpet, which
should be quiet both in color and design.
Good Society.
A writer says As a rule, those most solicit
ous about social status have q reason for be-
ing so, and those who think least about it
have the most solid footing. 1t does not &C.