The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-02-17
RUGS RARE AND BEAUTIFUL.
Mr.. Costikysn Tells How They Are 1Gad
by shepherds.

yar. Costikvsn Tells How They Are Made
By shepherds.
The store at l,2l9 Front street, formerly
occupied by Bake, Cole & Co., was UNDER
going g process of transformation yester-
day. The Costikyan brothers we're busy
from early morning till late ct night ar
ranging their exhibition of Oriental
rugs and tapestries. Today ct 10 o'clock
the doors will he thrown open TO the gen.
eral public and the exhibition which ID to
last two days will begin.
The huge room has been divided into
three apartments and the walls Of each
have been hung with rugs and tapestries.
Some idea of the size Of the collection can
be gained from the fact that not only are
the walls completely covered, but big
stacks of rugs are lying on the floor.
The Costikyans have certainly succeeded
in getting together q large number OF
uncommonly beautiful articles, and the
sides of the rooms are gorgeous with the
dull blues and reds, the yellows and
browns in which the Oriental dyer de-
smooth fine nap of silk and camel's hair,
the closely woven tapestries from Cash
mere and the odd designs from Kurdistan
which Mr.. Costikyan pr0nounces "Kure-
dis-tahn''-abound.
"These goods" said Mr.. Costikyan yes
terday, do not come from the cities OF
Turkey, nor even from the large towns;
they are not made in power looms. But
they are wrought by families living in the
country, away on the plains or up in the
mountains. These people have their focks
from which they get the wool. They dig
roots and get their own dies; and they
spin by hand the yarns for these works Of
art. The making Of such sna = rug may take take
twenty. The time is not much of an OBJ
ject, for the rugs are not made for sale, but
for keeping in the family during genera
tions. They are handed down year after
year, and rugs three or four centuries old
are not uncommon. Here, for example, is
Bokhara piece at least 200 years old. 1t
is made Of silk and camel's hair, and, as
you see, is very smooth. Yet it is scarcely
worn at all, for it belonged in palace and
no man thought Of stepping on it until he
had removed his street sandals. Thus it is
that these tapestries last SO long.
''The nap'is made by tying into the warp
these colorcd yarns. The weaver has no
pattern before him, but he makes it up
producing these strange effects you sec.
He ties in little piece of red, or whatever
shade he wants, drawing the knot tight.
Row after row Of these scraps of yarn are
tied in, but the long ends mingle and you
can not discern any pattern; only
the designer himself knows what it is to
be. But when the work is done, he takes
the shears and clips the yarn down as
close as he chooses to the body Of the rug,
and then the pattern comes out very
boldly.
"These browns shading from light to
dark are the camel's hair undyed. The
young camels are lighter colored. than the
old ones, and that fact gives the different
tint Of brown.
"These whites are made Of goats hair
and so 1t goes.
"You will notice that it is impossible to
fill out the nap, for the yarn making it is
tied in hard knot to the body Of the
rug"