Evening star., 1926-12-12
BY LEILA MECHLIN.
.woRLD.famous animal carpet

fX 4 woven In T6FSld All lAC Da<~
IA teenth century. which formerly
IH belonged to the Emperor of
s Austria and Is valued. 1t is said,
at extraordinarily a million dollars, Is
to, be exhibited here in the Corcoran
Gallery of Art from December IA TO
49, This carpet, which was probaDly
given by Peter the Great to the Aus
trianf Emperor. Leopold l. upon his
visit to the Austrian crown IN the
year 1898, is one of the rarest ana
finest examples of the Persian art or
carpet making In existence. For many
years it was a cherished possession In
the collection of the Austrian En-
perors and was perhaps esteemed the
greatest of that famous collection.
which is universally acknowledged to
be the finest ever assembled In the
Western World.
After the overthrow of the Haps-
burg family the E,nperor's art treas
ures were transferred from his palace
at Schonbrunn to the Austrian State
Museum and for the first time exhib-
tied to the public. In order to endow
the museum it was determined to sell
one of the imperial carpets. This was
the one chosen for the sacrifice. The
sale was sanctioned by the reparations
committee and executed under the seal
of the British legation. Thus the car
pet became the property at that time
of the firm of MesSrs. Cardinal
Hartford, London. It is now owned by
v. Behar of Glasgow, Scotland by
whom 1t was lent to the great Persian
art exhibit assembled this past season
In Philadelphia, from whence 1t comes
here.
This carpet measures 25x11 feet in
dimensions. Like other of the fine
court carpets, the warp and weft are
of silk, but the pile Is woven in the
finest quality of selected wools--wools
probably taken from the lambs breast.
For this reason the pile is as lustrous
as silk and has deceived not a few.
The dyes, likewise, represent the high
est achievement of the dyer's art. AS
o writer in a recently published art
Journal has said, Nothing could ever
dim the intense glowing emerald bor.
der. the lustrous ruby of the field" It
Is its pattern, design, color and work.
manship that give this carpet supreme
importance, fabulous value.
A British writer, in an article pub.
lished in a recent number of Apollo,
an astute London art journal, has writ
ten as follows!
"The carpet was finished about
1860. 1t is thus in the zenith Of the
poetic period of Persian textiles, for
the weavers then were artists in the
true sense OF the word, poets in wool
and silk and gold, who often worked
verses from Haflz into the design they
were weaving--inen who took infinite
pains, who reckoned time as nothing,
whose wants were simple and few,
whose ideals were without limit.
ut is interesting to imagine how
the weaver designer developed his
IDEA. He had traditions Of the past
to guide him. First, he unused over
a deep rose or ruby ground, into
which any other hues could merge
with soft and delicate effect, but yet
remain distinct. His eye pictured
great, sweeping and thread.like stems
on 1t, and these he wrought into
spirals, connecting them with others
and making them to blossom into
monts OF wonderful beauty in form
and color. Larger motifs were put
in their appointed places; Chinese
cloud-for7ms. drawn with vigor; giant
leaves inhabited by floral details, and
other flowers. half-artichoke, half
pomegranate. = A vast host Of
smaller blossoms. buds and flowers
were added, until the ground became
a maze Of shapes, orderly, though in
apparent confusionA--a veritable riot
of bright, warm and harmonious col.
pairs Of birds in gay plumage, an.
teiopes and their kind. After them
came the named lions prowling, or
leaping on their prey; striped tigers
and leopards, portrayed as II they had
been copied from some old Sassanide
silk. In the field Of the carpet as a
whole there Is an atmosphere Of mys-
tery-it reveals and it conceals. It
Is an allegory Of the beauty Of Aurora
in the jungle garden.
"This Is made plain by long In.
scription which almost fills the first
stripe OF the border. A ground Of the
most exquisite yellow, upon which a
pattern OF thin spiral lines is traced,
forms an ideal setting for the Persian
scrip. The main stripe of the
border has a deep verdant green field.
upon which liz pattern, repeating in
many Instances details Of the orna-
Of the carpet. A narrow out
side stripe repeats the general rose
tint in its field. and by this binds
the panel Of the textile to the border,
In general effect. The cloud.forms
here remind one of their evolution
from the Chinese dragon Of the sky.
'sThe carpet was woven for, and
used at the court Of one Of the Sanfid-
ian r1onarchs of Persia, although 1t
woven in Ispahan. A new chapter In
its history opens with q journey to
Europe as a present from the Shah
to the then Car of Russia. probably
at q period when costly gifts of that
description might have had some in
fit1ence on the political history Of ma
tions. The 'Emperor's carpet
is. Beyond comparison. the most ex-
cellent Of animal hunting carpets Of
id r.. I,@ SR Il
1t has sojourned in Ispahan, Moscow,
Vienna, Schonbrunn and London, and,
last Of all, America"
With reference to this and other
great examples Of Persian weaving,
one of our distinguished American
landscape painters. Edward w. Red.
field. is quoted as having said that
nothing could exert a more potent
beneficent influence on American
painting than these, not that they af-
ford material for meditation but rather
for inspiration. All are agreed that
they are great works Of art. Fur
thermore, they are growing scarcer
each year. No one would dream Of
using this hunting carpet to tread
upon; those who collect such works
hang them on the walls. They are
material not for use but providing
a. feast for the esthetic sense, an i'm
pulse on the part of cotemporary
artists to more beautiful creation.
And yet. strange as. 1t may seem.
these great works of art alone must
pay duty in order to enter this coun-
try. Under the present tariff they
are heavily taxed. The reason given
is protection OF our own carpet
making industries, but the carpet
makers themselves have within the
last year joined together to ask Con.
70. dy.fxy zf n %
that there Is no competition between
flo x,roConf md fha craat mast and