The herald., 1897-11-14

exclaimed one housekeeper as she sat
in the midst of her array of rugs a few
days ago. when we moved into our
new house with it's beautiful hardwood
floors, l vowed that I'd never have Il
tack driven into them as long as
lived. To be sure. the rugs cost a
trifle more than carpets at the start
but I'm sure they'll last four times as
long, and they're so much easier to
take care of. Instead of letting your
floor-covering gather dust for months
until it is lnsurferable, and then hav-
| ing your house torn up for days while
it is being cleaned. you can have your
rugs thoroughly busted every day, and
they can be sent to the cleaners, one
or two at a time, without being
missed. I've grown younger every day
since l gave up having carpets on my
tloors.'
This seems to voice the general SEN
timent of housekeepers who have tried
| the experiment. One cause of the in
creasing popularity Of the oriental rug
| is doubtless the greater variety in
texture and patterns which has come
with the growth of the trade. This sea-
son there are more different kinds Of
rugs than ever before. The great i'm
porting houses have We'd with one an
other in securing unique and striking
patterns. Their buyers have secured
the Orient from Turkey to the China
Sea in search of odd and pleasing
| things. One large firm in New York
has arranged for the exclusive sale Of
the whole product of a certain village
in India famous for its rugs.
ha a y.
thing in expensive rugs comes from
northern China. 1t was discovered a
couple of seasons ago that in some of
the small villages in the interior of
China. rugs of beautiful colors and
striking antique patterns were being
made. A number of them were brought
to this country, where they have at
| tracted favorable notice and have
brought large prices, selling easily at
couple of hundred dollars apiece; while
the finest ones bring more than twice
that amount.
The weaving of oriental rugs is as
truly an art as the making of tapes
tries or the painting of a picture. Many
families in Persia and India have been
weavers for generations, and the pres
,nt members are quite content to copy
| the designs originated by some distant
ancestor of artistic temperament. In
| o+bars the fine sense of harmony in
| shade and color persists, and they turn
out new patterns as artistic as any of
| tbe older ones. In few cases Ameri-
oan and European artists have drawn
dasiens TO be executed in the East, but
those have usually been for large and
extensive rugs ordered by wealthy
customers.
For a long time the product of Per-
sia was the finest and most beautiful;
hut European dealers, in their desire
for a cheaper article, flooded the coun-
trv with orders for an inferior class of
| Goods and this, with the general de-
generacy of the modern Persian, has
almost destroyed the artistic skill
which made their earlier work famous.
recently had talk with gentle
man who has returned from an extend
ad trip through India, Persia, and
Cb;pa in search of art treasures in this
| line.
"Oriental rugs are like wine," said
be ..in that they improve with age.
Tho most valuable rugs in existence to-
dav are the antique Persans, many of
the,n $50 to 200 years old. There is
nothing that gives fine rug a settled
color and a gloss like hundreds of bare
feet tramping across it year after year.
| This has led to attempts at fictitious
ageing by beating and artificial wear
inr and fading, but detected by an ex-
merit. Some of the genuine are worth as
high as s15, coo. 1t is impossible to wear
out antique rugs of fine quality, for
they were woven with warp that is
like iron, and every year adds to the
value"