Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-10
AN ORIENTAL RUG MARKET
Produces of Central Asia Gathered for Ship
ment at Tifis.
tonne of the Interesting Sights of the
Old Town-Bnzaars and
Hat Stores.



where the Turkish carpets are gathered for
shipment into the western markets of the
world. while Tinis dealers handle chiefly
the products of central Asia. the Caucasus,
Persia and Baluchistan The trade amounts
to many thousands of dollars annually in
the bazaars of this city, and buyers from
London. Paris. Berlin and st. Petersburg
make regular journeys here to replenish
their stocks.
1t the Caspian sea. from Astra-
khan to Petrovsk, that l first came into
contact with the fact that the rugs which
we consider treasures of art at home are
but the ordinary carpets of the country to
the jewellers. in these regions. On the
steamer on which | sailed the third and
fourth class passengers were using as trav-
cling blankets pieces of carpet which would
have made their fortunes If it had been
possible to sell them at American prices,
and the Persian porters had their backs
padded with fragments Of saddle bags such
seldom in the shops of Europe and
America At Tif1is I found the merchants
fully aware of the western demand for
good specimens of oriental weaves, so that
the place for bargains was not here. Once
over the Caspian into central Asia, how
ever. where travel is comparatively light,
none but the Russians have entered the
field buyers, and it is still possible to
obtain treasures at small price if judicious
methods are pursued
OF all the carpets known as oriental prob
ably the most familiar pattern and the one
most promptly recognized wherever it is
seen is that called Bokhara. II is a carpet
with dark red background, on which are
placed rather small figures in black and
varying shades of red, the pattern always
the same as 1t has been for many genera
tons 1t is a favorite covering for the
floors of libraries and dining rooms. and
good carpets of this kind highly valued
for the excellence of their color and tex
ture. which improve with age The most
Interesting thing about these carpets as
~. Ey1f heir hon iS
are not Bokhara carpets at all, and the
name is altogether misnomer.
All the way across Russia and during my
first crossing of central Asia l was asking
friends who knew what particular SOU
venirs Of the Transcaspian provinces should
buy and what carpets We're the very best
of all the native weaves- Always the reply
was that the carpets Of the Tekkfn mr.
Romans were far the best in central Asia,
and that by all means l should not fan TO
secure one to carry home Now. had
never before heard of such variety, ana
II was equally surprising to me that no
one ever spoke of Bokhara carpets which
had believed the best from these regions
At last, when | got into the heart OF Iur-
kestan and was visiting at the homes of
Russian officers who had lived there for
many years and had gathered the finest
products of the native looms at inhnitesimal
prices before the natives knew that the
rest of the world wanted them, l set to
work to have the puzzle explained Then
it was that l found that the Bokhara car
in Bokhara at all. nor are they made by
the Bokhariots. but by the man-stealing
Turkomans. the Tekkin Of the deserts of
Transcaspia-
In the bazaars of the city of Bokhara
when l asked for Bokhara rugs / was
shown what we know at home as Afghan.
and they were made by Bokhariot women
there in the khanate, instead of in Afghan
istan- And when l asked for the finest
rugs they had they brought out what We
call Bokhara, displayed them proudly,
TIZ.I rL.r, Tall md cod ha TNrE-
foundest envy for their neighbors across
the ONus whom they seorn for everything
except their rugs.
Non1adc and thieving vagabonds as they
are. with little in the way of industry ex-
cept their great herds Of sheep and camels.
with no towns and hardly a civilization,
these Tekkin Turkonans have been making
for many years the finest carpets that CEN
trail Asia produces. In company with Col.
Agamaloff at Merry | wandered from one
kibitka TO another. looking for treasures
from the loom and watching the method of
weaving. All the carpets are woven on
hand looms. and the work is done by wo-
men and girls. The yarns are spun from
the wool OF their own sheep and dyed by
themselves with vegetable dyes extracted
in cold water. The rude loom is set up in
one Of the circular kibitkas, peculiar tent,
of which the frame is a latticewOrk and the
covering the thickest of felt. The combina-
tion is peculiarly fortunate in the deserts Of
Turkomania. The frame is light but strong.
and when night comes or the wind falls the
felt may be raised and the cooler air ad-
united. At other times the heavy felt keeps
out the direct heat Of the sum- leaving these
primitive habitations the coolest of tents.
Many of the rugs and saddle bags OF Ba-
luchistan come all the way across Afghan
istan and reach western markets by way of
the Transcaspian railway. The carpets of
Persia come into market either by the car
avian route from Meshed to Askhahad or
directly TO the ports on the south coast of
the Caspian sea, where the Russian steam
ers trade. TheEce all the wares come to
Tifis. In the bazaar here immense stocks
are carried, including all varieties of Per-
sian carpets, Iran. Hamidan, Herman. kho-
rassan. Shirvan. Shiraz and the others. All
the sorts from central Asia are represented,
such Khva, Bokhara- Afghan and Ba-
luch; but the first of these are not pro-
life as the provinces of Persia and the
number at hand IS small Then come the
various weaves of the Caucasus called here
by the same names that characterize them
at home. Daghestan, Kazack, Karabagh
and others, most of them and by
means as fine as those from the remoter
countries. The value of age is never for
gotten even here and every merchant in
the bazaar can say antique" with Junction.
even if he does not know another word of
English or OF French
Streets and shops in the native quarters
OF Tifiis are extremely picturesque and in
teresting. Except in the most pretentious
places the shop is but the width Of its
front door and one show window. which
stand equally wide open at this season. On
low benches the floor itself sit the
merchant and his assistants. adding to the
stock while they wait for customers, for
these shops are manufactures as we'll,
where the raw material is worked up into
the finished product through all the inter-
yening processes. There Is not as much
pickering here as in the bazaars of Tur-
keStan-
of all these shops the most picturesque
and striking in appearance are the hat
stores. Around the open front OF the
stalls they display q festoon of the re-
markable tail hats OF wool, such as are
worn by all of the native races of these
states. of all extremes OF height and size.
In color they are usually either pure white
or black and the materials include all the
better varieties of wool that are grown
here in the Caucasus and in Central Asia
Some OF these are familiar In the American
markets. particularly the ones We call As
trakhan. Persian lamb and Angora The
people of the Caucasus, Ceorgians, Circas-
SLAMS. Persians. Armenians, Cossacks and
other more obscure races all wear the tall
hat Of wool in some form or other and
take as much pride in it as the Russians
do in their boots or the Mexicans in their
somhreros. The choicest OF woods are Sc
!eeted and the workmanship IS of the very
best Such hats. made OF the finest ma
terial. cost from s. to 81.