The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-19
ANTIQUE RUGS.
Great Opportunities Are Afforded hI
Them for Deception.

The coioEs Of the best Oriental rugs
never fade. The dust and other fOreiga
particles that they accumulate in the
course of time soften the original cOlOTE
but nothing of their primal quality if
really lost. Moreover, they can be clean
ed thoroughly over and over, and neither
the texture nor the coloring will be thC
The Persians will do nothing asids
from their own methods, but the people
of India are excellent at copying, and
will reproduce a rug from a cOlored de-
sign, If they do not have the original so
perfectly that one cannot be told from
the other They are able even to get
the time-scftened effects in copying from
the old rug. Two rugs are being made
in India to match a large sixteenth CEN
fury rug for one of the Vanderbilts, the
design having been sent from here.
Another rich family is having rugs for
their entire house made in India from
, designs prepared by an artist to match
the furniture and decorations, almost al
being in the French Renaissance style,
although this is against the advice OF
architect and decorator.
Good antiques cost hundreds and many
Of them thousands Of dollars; 5000 and
$4,000 are not exorbitant for rugs of good
size and quality.
For $4,000 you may buy lovely slken
rug whose authentic history is lost in
antiquity, but it is supposed to have been
made by a princess, as no one else would
have had time enough to weave It. There
are about 1,200 knots to the inch.
Almost all the old patterns have been
repeated and are still being used, the eX-
captions being those Of a few rugs IN
the mosques, Of which no copies are per-
mitted.
The Armenians have brought over
great many spurious rugs within the last
few years and have demoralized taste
and trade. The wool in these rugs IS col
ing is less skillful.
Rugs and carpets are likely to mount
in price this year. Carpets already have
taken that turn, and they are likely to
go still higher, since about % per cent OF
the wool used in their manufacture
comes from China. The reason for the
increased cost of rugs is not clear. but it
probably is due to local causes in the re-
mote, districts where they are manufac>
tured.
To be the possessor of an antique rug
is the ambition Of many and the achieve
ment Of few. OF those who congratulate
themselves upon their ownership Of such
valued article many would have the
bubble pricked in an instant if they were
the New York Press.
There are not 200 genuine antique
rugs for sale in this country" Is the
statement Of one of the most experienced
men in the business. Those who own
them hold on to them. for their value in
creases every day To be an antique a
rug must be at least leo years old. so
what do people mean by coming 70 me
and saying that they have an antique rug
which they bought when it was new
twenty years before?
'One man thinks because a rug looks
a little dingy and because he paws a good
price fer it that it is q genuine antique,
but new rugs are doctOred to give them
the appearance Of age. See this one. Tt
has been sent here to be repaired and the
owner believes that 1t Is real ANTIQUE
but IL has the dry rot. ] can tear it, and
l could not do that if il were real Doc
tored rugs are PIT in a boiling solution
with an infusion that gives the yelioWish
cast, such as this one has. Always be-
ware of rug with that tCne. 1t IS like
ly 10 have been treated, and that will
ruin it for wear.
"a bank president bought a handsome
rug for his office. paying $3.50 for II. I
knew that 1t was q modern rug the MN
ute l laid my eyes on it. but he thought
] was mistaken. One night there was a
fire in the rooms above the bank and
three inches Of water stood on the rug
for several hours. If it had been what
it was said to be 1t would have come out
Of its bath as good rs ever. but. being a
counterfeit. the water ruined it. The in
surance company found il out and re-
fused to pay the $3.50 The firm that sold
the rug was threatened with exposure
and suit for selling the ruZ as an antique
and decided to take 1t back and refund
the money.
1.-THE best rugs come from Persia, and
are named after the provinces in which
they are made. Once in a while a rug
that is made in a certain province has
the appearance Of one made in another
and the only way one can tell to which
class it reallys~belOngS IS to disSect il and
find how the knots are tied. The manner
Of making these rugs has come down
from generation to generation and from
century to century. The same patterns
persist and are done in the same colOrs.
The people are nor inventive. neither are
they initiative. They know how to do
one thlhg well. and they keep on doing
it as long as they live. and their children
take it 10 when they lay il down A
few years ago aniline dyes were intro
went UP from artistic people eyervwhere.
The exports from Persia fell of and the
shah. on learning the cause. forbade tho
LnportatIon OF these dyes, and so the ma
tive rug and carpet makers have gone
back TO their beautiful vegetable dyes
that will endure forever