CARPET, a well-known species of covering, chiefly employed for the floors of rooms, but also used for a variety of other purposes. Carpets are of oriental origin, and are made of different sorts of stuffs; some of them of silk ornamented with gold, dthers of cotton, but by far the greater part of wool. They are woven in a variety of ways.

Persia and Turkey carpets are the most esteemed. They are woven in a piece, in looms of a very simple construction, being only composed of two beams placed the one above the other, about eight feet separate, in parallel lines; the warp of the web being put on the uppermost, and brought down the undermost beam, through heddles. The pattern to be wrought is drawn and painted on design paper, and placed before the weaver, who works the figure into the warp with dyed worsted yarn, cut into proper lengths. He then passes a woof shot through the web, to bind the worsted yarn. When the carpet is made to the dimensions required, it is then taken out of the loom and dressed with shears made for the purpose. Till of late years the manufacture of these carpets was confined to Persia and Turkey; but they are now successfully imitated at Axminster in the south of England, and at Kilmarnock in the west of Scotland.

Brussels, Wilton, imperial Brussels, and royal Wilton carpets, are all woven in looms of the same construction, and derive their names from the places where they were invented. The difference of their fabric consists as follows, viz. in the Brussels, the worsted yarn raised to form the pile and show the figure is not cut; in the Wilton the pile is cut, and has the appearance of velvet; in the imperial Brussels the figure is raised above the ground, and the pile cut, the ground uncut; and in the royal Wilton the pile is raised higher than in the Wilton, and cut, which makes it a more massy carpet. The cloth of these carpets is composed of linen and worsted, and the loom for weaving them is very ingeniously constructed. The linen is put on a beam, and brought through heddles and a reed; it is only used to bind the worsted yarn, and should not appear on the right side. The better it is covered, the more complete and perfect is the carpet.

The worsted yarn is put on small bobbins, with a weight attached to each to keep the yarn of a uniform tightness. There are in some of the looms 1300, and in others 1800 of these bobbins (according to the width of the web, which is generally twenty-seven inches, although some are thirty-six inches), placed in frames behind the loom, and planted of different coloured yarn, to answer the figure. The yarn is then passed through the harness, heddles, and reed, to combine with the linen yarn, and form the cloth. The harness is tied to tail-cords, which are passed through a frame filled with small pulleys; a simple is then attached to the tail cords, and brought down by the side of the loom, upon which the pattern of the carpet intended to be wrought is put with lashes and drawn by boys. Machines have been introduced in place of boys, but they have [7:6:173] not been found to answer the purpose so well as in the other sorts of carpeting. When the boy draws the lash, he has in one hand a piece of thin board, three feet long and six inches broad, which is called a sword. This sword he passes through under the yarn so drawn with the lash, and keeps it on its edge until the weaver passes a wire through in front of the reed. This wire keeps up the worsted, and the weaver throws two shots of linen woof through the web, and forms the pile. It is necessary to have sixty of these wires for raising the pile, and at all times to have at least six of them in the web next to the reed, or else the worsted would sink, and the linen appear on the right side of the carpet, which is a great defect. When it is intended to make Wilton and royal Wilton, the wires that are used have a groove in them; and a small knife with a guide to it, called a travat, is drawn across the web into the groove, and cuts the pile: and for making imperial Brussels both a round wire and a grooved wire are used at the same time.

Double or Kidderminster carpeting is composed of two plies of cloth, and having what is called a right and a wrong side, the colours being reversed. Suppose a carpet of scarlet and black, what is scarlet on one side will be black on the other. They are, however, made in a variety of colours; and when done so, the warp of the web is made of small yarn, so that when it happens to be of a different colour from the woof, it may appear as little as possible; for in this sort of carpeting there cannot be put more than two colours in a line without mixing, whereas in Brussels five can be thus put.

The warp of the web is put all on one beam, and passed through the harness and reed; the figure intended to be wrought is raised by a machine placed on the top of the loom above the harness. A machine was in use for this purpose, which was invented in Kilmarnock about eighteen years ago, and was wrought on the principle of the organ barrel; but it is now superseded by another, where the figure is cut on paper, and is consequently called a paper machine. It is of French invention, and was originally used in the silk trade, but is now in common use in the carpet trade. One great advantage which the paper machine has over that of the barrel, is, that when once a pattern is cut, it can be woven at any time (for an indefinite number of patterns may be wrought in one machine), and it is only necessary to take out one pattern and lay it past for future use, and put in another, which can be done in ten minutes; whereas on the barrel machine, the figure, which is put on with small wire pins, when it is required to be changed, must all be taken out and put on anew, or else have a number of barrels for each machine, which adds greatly to the expense.

This sort of carpeting differs from Brussels, inasmuch as that both warp and woof appear on the surface of the cloth, whereas in Brussels it is the warp only.

With regard to three-ply imperial or Scotch carpeting, although it is only recently that this sort of carpeting has been made, it is getting very much into repute, and is considered very little inferior to Brussels. Some years ago an attempt was made in England to make three-ply carpeting, but it did not succeed; they could not make the figure distinct on both sides, and it was abandoned. Kilmarnock has the merit of obviating this defect, by bringing them to their present state, and of fairly establishing the trade, which has now become very considerable, and is still increasing.

They are woven in the same way, and in looms of the same construction, as the two-ply carpeting, having three plies of cloth in place of two plies, which makes them much more durable and comfortable, being nearly one half heavier in the fabric, and every way superior in appearance.

In this sort of carpeting, as well as in the two-ply Kidderminster, it is the woof which predominates, and shows the figure.

French or tapestry carpeting differs from Kidderminster and three-ply imperial Scotch carpeting, inasmuch as it is the warp of the web, which is made of worsted, that shows the figure. In other respects they are much the same, and are woven in looms of the same construction, with a machine and the other appendages.

Venetian carpeting is made both plain and figured, and is used mostly for stairs, passages, and lobbies.

Plain Venetian carpets are woven in looms of a very simple construction, having only heddles and reed. The warp is a very heavy body of worsted yarn, and should cover the woof so completely that it cannot be seen. The pattern is generally in stripes, and shaded like the rainbow; and the great object of the manufacturer is to bring off the shade of colour from dark to light imperceptibly. They are likewise made checked, and in squares like a draughtboard. The figured Venetian are woven in looms of the same construction as the two-ply or Kidderminster carpeting, having a machine to raise the pattern wanted, which is entirely of the warp of the web, and is all worsted yarn, the woof being completely covered by it, which is composed of a thick shot of woollen and a small shot of linen yarn alternately.

Besides these described above, there is also Dutch carpeting, which is woven much in the same way as plain Venetian, but a great deal coarser, some of them being made of cow hair.

There are other branches of the arts and sciences upon which the successful manufacturing of carpeting very much depends, such as spinning, dyeing, and drawing. In Scotland it is matter of regret that so few artists have turned their attention to the designing and drawing of patterns for Persian, Turkey, Brussels, and double or three-ply carpeting. In England there are some who make it a very lucrative branch of trade, and we have no doubt but it may become equally so in this country.

The carpet trade in Scotland is much indebted to the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of domestic Manufactures, for the very liberal premiums given by them to the successful competitors in carpet weaving. They have, by their patriotic exertions, introduced into this country several sorts of carpeting, which are likely to become a very considerable branch of trade, and consequently employ a number of men, and likewise to consume a great portion of wool, a staple article of the country. The premiums sometimes amount to between six and seven hundred pounds.

The following is a description of the machines employed in the manufacture.

Plate CLIII. fig. 1, description of Brussels, ⅛∙c. Carpet Loom. A A A A, the frame of the loom, consists of six posts, with caps and cross rails to bind them together. The posts arc seven feet high, of an oblong square, six inches broad and five inches thick, and the caps and cross rails five inches broad and two inches thick; the extreme length of the frame eight feet, and width five feet. B B, the cloth beam, is made of a circular piece of wood, six inches diameter, sufficiently long to reach the width of the loom, with gudgeons in the end. which run into sockets in the frame of the loom; on the one end of the beam is a cast-iron ratchet-wheel, with a latch to keep the cloth when wound up on the· beam from coming back, and so keep the web, when weaving, of a proper tightness. C, the lay, has an under and upper shell, two swords, and rocking-tree; there are grooves in the upper and under shell, to admit the reed which the yarn passes through, which is made of iron splits. D, the heddles, of which there are [7:6:174]three leaves, arc made of brass wire; two of the leaves, where the linen yarn passes through, have eyes about one inch long; the other leaf, where the woollen yarn passes through, has eyes four inches long, on purpose to allow the worsted yarn to be raised that is required to form the pattern. The heddles are connected and worked with the treadles, E E, with cords, by coupers placed on the top of the loom at E, as well as under the heddles. The treadles are about three inches square and six feet long, and are pressed down on the point by the weaver’s foot. F is the linen yarn. G G, the linen yarn beam, is made of the same materials, and in the same way, as the cloth beam, only it has no gudgeons in the end of it, but moves in an aperture the thickness of the beam, which is generally eight inches diameter. H H H, the harness, has a brass mail (with three eyes) for every woollen thread in the web, of which thereare thirteen hundred. Through the middle eye, which is the largest, the worsted yarn is passed. From the undermost of the other two eyes is suspended with twine a small lead weight, sufficient to keep the worsted yarn down in its proper place. Through the upper eye is put the harness twine, and the twine is afterwards passed through a board perforated with holes, and is called a harness board; it is then attached to the tail-cords at 1, by means of fine small twine spun for the purpose. By the proper arranging and tying of the harness to the tail-cords depends in a great measure the correctness of the figure to be put to work. I, the horal box, which is about twenty inches by thirty, has five rows of pulleys, fifty-two in each row; and every pulley is divided by sheet-iron divisions. Over each of these pulleys a tail-cord K K passes, which is tyed to the harness II. To this tail-cord is connected the simple L L; and on this simple, which is made of fine twine, the figure is lashed on with fine cotton thread, as at MM. N N N N is the bobbin-frame. There are four full frames and two half ones; a full frame is eight feet long and four feet broad, divided into eight rows, having thirty-two bobbins in each row, with a small lead weight attached to each bobbin. The frames arc supported at one end by two posts 0000, having holes in them to heighten and lower them at pleasure. The other end of the frame is supported by two posts of the frame of the loom.

Fig. 2, description of Three-ply Imperial Scotch, and Two-ply Kidderminster Carpet Loom. The frame treadles, beams, and lay of this loom are so like fig. 1, that it will require no farther description. The only difference is, that fig. 1 has six posts, whereas fig. 2 has only four; and that fig. 1 is for making cloth three fourths wide, and fig. 2 four fourths wide.

The harness E, however, differs so far from fig. 1, that it has what is called a double neck attached to each of the machines F F. These machines are the same as the French machines used for raising the figures on silk. They are worked by the treadle B, by means of the connecting iron rods at their point.

C ∖ κιwι-Kmghts, a denomination given to gown-men and others of peaceable professions, who, on account of their birth, office, or merits in regard to the public, or the like, have been raised by the prince to the dignity of knighthood. They take the appellation of carpet, because they usually receive their honours from the king’s hands in the court, kneeling on a carpet; and by this they are distinguished from knights created in the camp, or field of battle, on account of their military prowess.