R. S. Brinton

“ The hand-tufted carpet possesses an individuality, even in its faults, which no product of a machine can attain, and which, after all, is an attribute to a work of art. More of the soul of the worker has passed into it than the clashing metal of a power loom will permit to filter into its product.
Hand-made carpets have a further advantage in their adaptability to requirements. A single carpet, for instance, can be made to any specified shape, size, design, colour, and quality. ”

“ From one point of view, this was all to the good; for the birthplace of the carpet was the Orient, and old Eastern carpets are classics, just as the works of Homer, Vergil, Handel, or Velasquez are classics. Competition among manufacturers was keen; and close and beautiful reproductions of the best antique Oriental carpets were offered to the public, distinguished in design, soft in colouring, and lending themselves readily to harmonious schemes of decoration. ”

“ For the manufacturer has to be governed to a great extent by the tastes and inclinations of his customers, the carpet dealers, and cannot afford to be too enterprising in initiating novelties, while the carpet dealer, in his turn is, as a rule, rather a follower than a leader of the public taste. The commercial standard has, therefore, been to some extent a hampering influence upon the progress of carpet design towards perfection, but it is certainly less so than in the past. ”

“ Flowers, though not meant to be trodden under foot, are round about our feet; and they make a double appeal to the carpet designer of intrinsic beauty, and of fitness for ground decoration. A green ground carpet with pink roses, as near as may be to life, represents no doubt something of the aspiration of the dweller in town for the country ”

“ MATERIALS Carpet manufacture is a complicated matter, and involves the use both of various ingenious machines and of a diversity of materials, such as wool, cotton, jute, twine, oil, paper, wire, colours, size, etc. We need only concern ourselves, however, with the more important of these materials, which are yarns made of wool, in the form of worsted or woollen, which are almost invariably used for the surface of a carpet; and yarns made of other fibres, which are used for warp and weft. ”

“ Where the practical test of the trade being a luxury trade comes, is in the matter of renewals. It is here that the Carpet Industry is sensitive to the periodical changes in commercial prosperity, which seem to be inherent in modern civilisation. Generally speaking, when trade is bad the Carpet Industry is the first to suffer; and when there is a recovery it is some time before it feels the benefit. It seems that, with the first pinch of adversity, the carpet consumer decides upon a policy of economy that excludes the purchase of carpets, whatever else may or may not be bought. ”

“ From whatever source, however, the carpet manufacturer obtains his ideas for a design, it is by his expert staff, or by a professional carpet designer, that the ideas must be reduced to a practical form. And the technical preparation of designs for carpets is as full of difficulty as it is of interest. As has been indicated, the various makes of carpet differ from each other in many respects, including that of pitch, or number of threads or rows per inch. They all, however, have this in common, that, anatomically so to speak, as regards design, they are reducible to squares of colour. ”

“ Still, when all is said, with all its limitations, a good Brussels is an excellent carpet. It has a clean surface which does not harbour dust, and if the same can also be said of the Ingrain carpet, Brussels has the extra resiliency afforded by the looped pile. If its colours are few, they are enough to give thousands of effective variations, suitable for almost any kind of design; and the comparative closeness of its pitch makes its patterns neat and adaptable. A well-made Brussels carpet will wear many years. ”

“ The designer, therefore, may not represent the curved outline of a leaf, for instance, with a bold sweep of his brush, but must paint it carefully, square by square, leaving actually an outline, which is more or less jagged according to the coarseness or fineness of the pitch. Here, at once we recognise a limitation which is apt to be irksome to the untrained designer of carpets. And what applies to form applies also to colour. There is no imperceptible graduation of shade to be achieved. Each particular square has to be of one colour and no more. ”

“ Depth of pile, however, is not the highest desideratum in a Wilton carpet; and the most notable development of recent years in the fabric has been in the direction of a fine, closely woven fabric with no excessive wool surface. These fine Wiltons are made 256 pitch, 12 or 13 shots per inch, and are generally 2-shot, with chain, stuffer, and weft of cotton. Neither depth of pile nor weight is aimed at, but fineness and smoothness of surface and artistic effect; and their great popularity in spite of the present high price seems to indicate that they have justified themselves. ”

“ Then there is the consideration of the repeat, with the mysteries of the straight match, reverse, drop and half drop; of the width of the fabric, body and border; and of the various adjustments of design required for carpets of different sizes, whether breadth goods, Chlidema squares, medallions, or seamless. Last, there is the real artistic imagination that is required; the art of seeing from one repeat how a complete carpet will look, of estimating the difference in appearance between the flat colour on the paper and the richness of the wool ”

“ As previously indicated, various Associations exist in the Carpet Trade; but it may be admitted that there is scope for better organisation as regards consideration of matters that affect the Industry as a whole. If it is to be on a firm foundation, there should be a more complete recognition of the fact that the interests of all units of the trade are identical. Further, in any new scheme of combination the position of Labour will have to be recognised, and its co-operation cordially welcomed. ”

“ For those who are content with a single colour on the floor in their scheme of furnishing, and who do not object to the sensitiveness of a plain carpet to “shading,” and, indeed, to the recording of individual footprints, no fabric is better than a plain Wilton. But it should be borne in mind that a plain carpet has that defect. Wool fibre is elastic, but not infinitely so. A plain carpet, however well and carefully woven, cannot be expected to retain its virgin smoothness and level colour for long under wear. ”