Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-17

T european or American makes is that, bein
/; hand woven. they bear the impress of tn
\ human labor spent upon them. They are ais
D more artistically dyed, and are decorated ac
6 cording to the true principle of conventions
, design.
These carpets and rugs are produced at va
ley OF places IN tho east. Turkey, Persia
. ESypt, India, Beluchistan. Afghanistan anC
> lurkestan each command a share of the trade
ou. the largest centers of manufacture an d dis
riputlon are In Turkey. There are howe yer
no large factories in any of these oriental coun
tfies as there are in the United States, all tn
, goods usually being the work Of single famiIie
or individuals The looms on which the car.
Pets are woven are Of the simplest kind and dc
not dlifer from those that were in use n thou
SAND Years ago. They consist of two upright
ana TWO cross beams. from the upper of which
depend the warp threads.
WORKED IN AN UNDERGROUND HUT.
In the case of the carpets made by the nomad
'fioes OF west kurdistan. they are worked
generally In kind of underground hut. The
GROUND having been excavated to a sufficient
uepth 10 ano-d space for the occupants and
sneiter from the weather. a small incline or
nISht OF clumsy steps gives access to The DWELL
ing. Inc TWO cross beams are then introduced
ana the work is carried on the weaver deftlv
Tying or knotting the wool round two of the
warp threads. and when one row has been done
In that way the weft thread is introduced and ia
pressed into its place by an instrument known
as lay. Tho process is repeated the
woven part being wound round the lower beam
until the carpet or rug is finished ANY num-
per OF coiorinss may be used, and the design or
quaity OF the article can bs, and often ia
varied In the course OF weaving The irregu-
iarity sometimes noticed in rugs ia TINS
partially accounted for. All the designs are
| woven from memory, the detais being handed
uo"n as tradition from generation to genera
broken line his weaver ancestors and produc
ing almost by instinct the patterns that are so
highly priced, and which exercise an artistic
spell by their distinctive and characteristic
beauty.
To give an idea Of the vast amount Of labor
expended in the manufacture of one of these
carpets 1t may be stated that there are from
4oo 10 oOO stitches In ward width. and that the
pile or thickness Of the wool from which the
carpets are woven is sometimes several inches.
Each stitch Is OF course made separately. and
IN single square yard the number of these
STITCHES Will amount to from 175. 900 to $40 600
L nus IN single carpet measuring four Yards in
wioth and nve Yards III length there will be
from 3,3OO,O0O to 100000 stitches II is Diff
hcult to conceive a greater amount OF labor.
skill ana patience than Is necessary for the pro-
duction OF large carpets.
With the Greeks and Romans Asiatic carpets
were considered as articles of great I1xury and
were used In the temple of Jupiter Their value
was such ~ placed them beyond the reach of
any but the most opulent citizens of that dny
and no carpet was thon worth considering unless
1t came from beyond the Persian gulf
coMMoN CHARACTERISTICS
The common charac teristics Of all oriental
carpets, whether of the Hindus and Mussulmans
OF India, the Turks, the Persians. the Turkomans
or Syrians, is their highly artistic decoration
Doth In design and coloring. When in use by
the natives they are the chief. and sometimes |
with few cushions, the only, furniture of an |
eastern room, and therefore. IN leu of other |
household decoration. the is almost co ntiuu-
ally resting on them. and it is by n natural in
stlnct that they are made as lovely and attract
i've as possible.
In India the manufacture of carpets is well
distributed throughout the country and they
therefore. have very wide range of both dual
lty and texture. The village system Of that
country tends to localize a manulact ure when il
Is once established, and the caste system to per
petuate Its technology and art. In Turkey
also, manufactures generally become per-
manent wherever they first introduced.
In Persia, however. it il all different for not |
only the nomads. who all weave carpets. more
or less, but the settled handicrnftsynen of
the towns, travel about in search of work
aod so it happens that the same carpet design
used at one time in kurt!istan or Khorassan NAV
Mt another be used at karlnan. Then, too, every
Mohammedan Is bound to go on pilgrim
ages 10 such holy places rs Mecca
and Medina, Nejef and Masllad, and those who
visit these shrines usually take with them one
or more carpets for daily use ard to serve, if
necessary. to pay their way. Many carpets of
the pilgrims also taken as religious gifts
and they become the perquisites of the priests
attendants. who also. in exchange for ready
money, gradually obtain possession of the rri-
vate rugs of the pilgrims. and in this way car
pets of every local style collected together
each year at the different Mohammedun shrine,
owl
northern Africa, and are thence dispersed
through the various avenues OF trade.
THE PERSIAN CARPETS
The colorings of Persian carpets are generally
SOFT rich and deep. and the pile is fine and
close. producing a general effect appreciation
Of which grows with experience Some of the
most interesting of all Persian carpets are
made in Shraz. n city situated about ( 500 feet
above the level of the sea, the sheep in the i'm
mediate vicinity OF which produce the very
inest wool. There is on exhibition in London
' hat is without doubt or exaggeraton the finest
Persian carpet in the world. 1t is the holy !
arpet Of the Mosque Of Ardebil. a carpet
shich for size, beauty. condition and authen-
icated age is entirely unrivaled By any known :
Example. The dimensions of this CARPET are |
a feet inches by II feet inches. The
,round in the body of the fabric is of rich
,lue covered with floral tracerv of exquisite
lellcacy and freedom Of treatment. center
neunlnOn or pale yellow terminates on Its outer '
dSe in sixteen mlnaret-shaped points This d
arpet was according to its inwovcn inscrip-
ion. actually in existence in the wear 1885,
Silken carpets are another rare DESCRIPTION. +
he manufacture of them, formerly carried on
n Persia. has long been discontinued As may
'e imagined. they are very costly, ranging in
rice from $500 to $4,000 each, and not of n
cry large size even at the latter price. A
cry elaborate silken carpet was cent to London
ONE time ago from kashmir by Maraiah Goo
ab Sing. The pile was nearly an inch thick
nd was made entirely of silk. 1t is said that
n every square foot of it there we're over ten
housand ties or knots. few years ago when
ne Prince OF Wales was in India the great hail
n which the maharajnh entertained him was
overed all over with a costly silken CARPET tina
lze and mugnlcence OF which greatly aston
shed the prince and his companions
The cheapeninG effects of trade in recent =.
ears have caused somewhat lamentable de-
ay in the technical qualities of nearly all east =
IN carpets. In India the evil has been agra
atod by competition between the government
risOns and the caste weavers for the custom of
nglish exporters. Carpets, however arc still
reduced in such places Khiva Khorassan,
okhara and in parts OF India beyond the reach
European influence the daily life
the people. which still exhibit the character
tic beauties and honesty which in all ages
ave made the reputation of oriental carpets
lany of the most luxurious velvet carpets
ONE from the city of Benares. The .ntiuuity
I this place Is described i'll Sherring's sacred
titles of the Hindus.' in which it is said that