Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-27
CONCERNING
ORIENTAL RUGS

Although in the best oriental rugs the
coloring is beautifully soft and harmo-
NOUS one cannot describe all the rugs
from the east as works of art; indeed.
the prevalent idea that the oriental has
superior eye for color is in some cases
erroneous. Best of all. he loves tints OF
the crude, glaring order, brilliant blnes
and reds. vivid green's and bright hard
yellows and browns arranged in strong
contrast, while the romance of the
| loom does not exist. save in the brains
of the imaginative writer's. The weaver
| of rugs often lacks skill of every sort,
and performs his task without a thought
, beyond what he is to be paid for 1t. and
is often as not. unkempi, unc!eanlS
stupid and ignorant.
How comes it that some Of the rugs
| one sees exposed for sale at our great
carpet and rug emporiumS are so soft and
| harmonious in their color blends? There
are two reasons for this. and traveller
| just returned from Turkey tells us that
| these are perfectly true In the hrst
place, he assures us that in many rug
making districts the wool used Is never
| bleached hence the natural fat remains
| in 1t. and it is thus much more difficult
| to dye in a clearly defined shade. Also.
and this applies very particularly TO the
Caucasus, fhom whence many beautiful
| rugs 4hail-the lazy dyer seldom cleanses
! his watts. so that he gets a mixture OF col
ors. which blend and give that softly
| broken effect so characteristic of oriental
carpeting.
| But the willy oriental has discovered
| that the foreigners will not buy his gaudy
/ red and yellow rugs they come from
the loom. so, as soon as carpet or rug
! is finished. it Is sent ont to one or other
|. Of his friends in the village. where Ii Is
| laid out upon the mud floor. and for
| week or more is we'll trampled on The
blacksmith's shop is fayorite place for
| stretching these rugs, because the smoke
| soon tones down the gaudy color.ng.
After a weeks treatment the rugs are
washed in a running stream of water and
dried in the sun. IL not satisfactory, the
| treatment is repeated, and 1t is well
| known in Constantinople that the rug
dealers themselves resort to this 'toning
down process, various acids being used,
as we'll as the mud of the Bosporus.
Nevertheless. most exquisite designs
and shades are to be seen in some of the
old Persian rugs, from which copies are
made today. Not only We're the ancient
rugmakers of Persia craftsmen but they
We're artists to their tnger-tips. Hence
il happens that the weaver of today
makes rugs just as beautiful as those of
olden times. simply because he is a good
copyist. The crude coloring is destroyed
by a Judic!ous use OF water and chemi
calls. neither of which causes any injury
to the fabric, and there is no attempt
to hide the process both washing and
| bleaching being considered perfectly le-
Ultimate.
The real antique rug taken from the
wall OF a mosque or temple is perfect
dream of beauty. and it is from these
rugs that the most artistic copies have
been made. AS covering for the floor.
however. these rugs would be of little
use. for they were never intended as
such, as a little examination of them in
museum or curio mart will show. Such
rugs were intended mainly as wall hang
ings in royal palaces and in mosques. and
4 4 flor s,nlt IN
on by bare feet. Copies of these are
made in good. bad or Indifferent fashion,
az cording to the market or the capabiity
of the weaver
In many of the rugmaking districts
each family has its own particular pat
tern, which has been copied for genera
lions, and as changes of vocation are rare
in the east the rug weaver of today is
diligently working at the same pattern
probably as his great-great- great grand
father before him The old Persians
were the first to develop the fullest pos
sibil.ties of rug weaving, and through
this constant copying of the same pat
tern very beautiful work is often pro-
duced The transmission of ancient pat
terms Is very interesting. and one feels
sensation akin to awe when standing
behind a loom. knowing that what Is here
depicted was evolved in the brain of an
ancestor of the weaver maybe hundreds
of years ago.
The operatives in factories where many
of the finest modern oriental rugs are
produced copy these old patterns as well.
The way this is done is curious. however.
The overseer, who has number of
weavers. mostly lads under him. reads
off directions in kind of singsong chant,
thus telling each boy the number of
threads and colorS to use. Every boy
repeats these directions his fingers
move to and fro. New patterns are
taught in the same way. though as a rule
the carpet weavers prefer to be copyists
| rather than inventors. and the new pat
terms are usually adaptations of old
| which European designers have arranged
In the trade any rug over twenty years
old may be called antique. but there are
few really antique rugs the market.
| These wonderful treasures of the east
are usually to be found in the palaces
of kings or in museums. Yet one con-
stantly finds would-be purchasers who
are willing to pay fancy prices for gen.
timely old rugs and there is no doubt
that much Is faxed up and sod as such.
Often, too, one finds q woman intent on
buying an oriental rug who is quite ig-
norant of the matter, SO that unless she
goes to a rel able house she VIII. as often
as not. be led into buying something of
an inferior quality.
There are so many makes and names
1t would be impossible to give them
question, and the very names hold fas-
cination. From the ug-making coun-
tries Of the orient. from Turkey. Tartary,
India, Baluchistan, Afghanistan and the
Caucasus these mellow-hued coverings
come woven by nomad tribes. by the
settled inhabitants of towns and villages.
| or by operatives in factories established
| in recent years IN India, Pfrsla and Asia
Cnn word In conclusion Do not be