Persian rug

“ A carpet, according to Persian notions, must be of fast colours, fine pile, scarcely longer than Utrecht velvet, and ready to last at least a century. A rug can scarcely be said to have reached its prime or artistic mellowness of tint till it has been "down" for ten years. The permanence of the dyes is tested by rubbing the rug with a wet cloth, when the worthless colours at once come off.
Among the real, good old Persian carpets there are very few patterns, though colouring and borders vary considerably. A good carpet, if new, is always stiff; the ends when doubled should meet evenly. ”

“ About two hundred years ago small embroidered rugs were largely made in Persia, chiefly at Ispahan. These were prayer rugs, and on each of them, near one end, was a small embroidered mark to show where the bit of sacred earth from Mecca was to be placed. In obedience to a law in the Koran that the head must be bowed to the ground in prayer, this was touched by the forehead when the prostrations were made, and so the letter of the law was carried out. The custom still prevails. The Persian women who make the finest prayer rugs seldom weave any other kind of rug. ”

“ In the United States good, durable Eastern rugs may be bought for from sixty cents to ten dollars per square foot, and in England for much less. Extremely choice pieces may run up to the thousands. At the Marquand sale in New York City in 1902, a fifteenth century Persian rug (10-10 x 6-1) was sold for $36,000, nearly $550 a square foot. The holy carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil, woven at Kashan in 1536 and now owned by the South Kensington Museum, of London, is valued at $30,000. ”

“ Likewise many of the small designs that are found in other groups of rugs are rarely, if ever, seen in this one; as, for instance, animals, birds, fishes, and human beings are never employed, on account of the religious prejudice of the Sunnite Mohammedans, who prevail in the country. Nor, with very few exceptions, is the Herati design, so characteristic of Persian rugs, nor the pear design, so characteristic of both Persian and Indian rugs, ever seen. ”

“ Persian Carpets.—According to a report by Consul-General Benjamin, of Teheran, the Persian carpets, the manufacture of which constitutes one of the most important features of the industries and commerce of the country, are woven chiefly by the women and children of the peasantry in the villages. A countryman will have a rug made in his own house, and will then take it to the nearest town and sell it for what it will bring. The rooms of the peasantry are small, and hence the rugs are commonly small. Of late years, a larger carpet has been manufactured for the foreign market. ”

“ No family or tribal designs are employed as in the other rug making countries. Each rug being usually the work of one weaver, both in design and execution, it is frequently symbolic of his creed.
During the 16th and 17th centuries the majority of Chinese rugs had a field of solid color or were covered with the trellis design. They also had but few narrow border stripes, either in plain colors or carrying simple geometric designs, but about the middle of the 18th century, they began to show Persian influence, floral patterns being adopted especially for the borders. ”

“ Carpets with much white are prized, as the white becomes primrose, a colour which wears well. Our host has given me a rug of the oldest Persian pattern, on a white ground, very thin and fine. Large patterns and thick wool are comparatively cheap. It is nearly impossible to say what carpets sell at, for if one has been made by a family and poverty presses, it may be sold much under value, or if it is a good one and they can hold on they may force a carpet fancier to give a very high price. From what Abdul Rahim says, the price varies from 13s. ”

“ The old city of Herat was under Persian influence, which accounts for the fine character of its rugs. The modern Herat rug is of excellent quality and durable. The leading design is naturally the Herati, and again one sees the palm leaf with its apexes all pointing in the same direction. The field is generally a deep blue, although sometimes a rich red, and even ivory. Green is apt to be the main color [Pg 62] in the border, and occasionally the butterfly motif is noticed. Some of the modern rugs have medallion centres, in which the wool is generally red or blue, and sometimes green or yellow. ”

“ Among the good antique Persian rugs there are about thirty designs, all having different borders. Each design is the peculiar work of a family or tribe, and is produced continuously, from generation to generation without noticeable change, except in compliance with the demand of a buyer, or by a weaver who carries out some special fancy. Many buyers select the color, design, and size, leaving their orders with an importer or a manufacturer. ”

“ All Persian and Caucasian rugs are tied with the Ghiordes knot. (3) Most of the finest Persian rugs have cotton warp and woof, and are tied with the Senna knot. (4) The Kurdistan is the only one of the Persian classification which ever has a dyed warp, but many of them have a dyed woof. (6) The Turkish and Caucasian rugs, as a rule, have a wool warp and woof. (7) The Persians nearly all have narrow webs, with the exception of the Niris and the Shiraz, which have wide ones. (8) All Turkish rugs have narrow webs, with the exception of the Karaman, the Ladik and the Bergama, which have wide ones. ”

“ Types of the more austere design occur in carpets from Afghanistan, Turkestan, Bokhara and Asia Minor, N.W. India and even Morocco, the other types of freer design being almost special to Persian rugs and carpets. ”

“ And, according to the taste and means of their owners, these Persian, Armenian, or Turkish carpet-bags varied in size and beauty. A few rare old Caucasian small rugs can only be accounted for as valued personal rug-bags of their period.
Among these smaller pieces are alone to be found the most valuable of all the collector’s spoil, the small Sehnas. Very rarely they come in pairs, about two feet by three feet, and therefore could not have been used as bags for any purpose. They are pillows; and pillows of course play their important part in the ménage of the East. ”

“ The reader watches the pattern grow, and, detecting a false stitch, raps the offender with the stick he holds for the purpose. The carpets are valued both for the fineness of the stitches and the quality of the wool, the ordinary "fine old Persian, or Tabriz, rug" of Western auction-rooms costing eleven and twelve rupees a square yard in Amritsar; while a copy of a precious old wine-red Bokhara rug they were then weaving of fine pashmina or shawl wool was worth fifty rupees a square yard. ”

“ These people follow no particular pattern or colour scheme of their own, but to a large extent copy those of a few well-known Persian classes; yet in other respects their rugs have a noticeable individuality. They are woven with a Ghiordes knot and so loosely that if the rug be observed from the front, as it is bent backward in a plane parallel to the direction125 of the weft, the foundation threads of warp and weft, which are of cotton, will show distinctly between the knots. Each of the two threads of warp encircled by a single knot are equally prominent at the back. ”

“ As the demand for silk rugs is comparatively small, they are seldom woven on speculation. When made to order in Persia, they cost from ten dollars to fifteen dollars per square foot; thus the usual price of a silk rug of Persian make is from two hundred dollars up to thousands of dollars. Those made in Turkey can be bought much cheaper. ”

“ They are strong and coarse, with close weave, long nap, and bold patterns, that suggest Caucasian influence devoid of artistic feeling. In some of them is a large central diamond or lozenge surrounded by latch-hooks, as well as floral forms so conventionalised as to be purely geometric; now and then Arabic symbols and letters are scattered over the field. Moreover, the colours lack the delicate shades of Persian rugs, but possess rich, strong hues obtained from native dyes that applied to the excellent wool give it a warm, lustrous appearance. Brown is very largely used. ”

“ Higher prices, resulting from the constantly increasing Western demand for Persian rugs, have stimulated the native weavers to more persistent efforts. Those who are too poor to purchase wool and dyes24 are supplied by the companies. Others, who are more dependent, are paid regular wages. Thus it happens that not only large numbers of looms are constantly at work in the city, but a hundred hamlets and villages that lie within a day’s journey produce rugs that are marketed there. ”

“ Four kinds of carpets are made, large ones and small ones or rugs, the ghileems, and the umad, or felt carpets. Most of the carpets intended for the covering of floors, of whatever size, are produced in the central province of Irak and in the districts of Sarravend, Garrouste, and Malahir, and are known by the generic name of pharaghan. They are more solid and massive than other Persian carpets, and arc adapted for rooms of large size. Large Persian carpets, which deviate from the usual shape, are made to order, and for an increased price. There are numerous varieties of Persian rugs. ”

“ The designs in Persian rugs are generally floral; and in some districts, especially Fars, the women weavers invent the designs, varying them every two or three years. The Mohammedan religion does not allow any direct representation of animal forms ”

“ Rugs fell into comparative disuse, and the manufacture deteriorated until about 1850, when, thanks to the demand in Europe, the industry revived. To-day it is in a flourishing condition and the most important source of Persia's income.
Persians, from the Shah to the peasant, sit upon rugs when eating, with cushions placed behind them. It is only the lowest beggar who has no rug. The rugs used by the Persians themselves are rather small, the larger ones being exported to foreign countries. ”

“ The pile surface was not made by tying small tufts of wool upon the warp thread. The Chinese seem to have been the first to have made rugs in this way. Persia acquired the art from Babylon many centuries before Christ, since which time she has held the foremost place as a rug weaving nation.
There is no more fascinating study than that of Oriental rugs and there are few hobbies that claim so absorbing a devotion. To the connoisseur it proves a veritable enchantment: to the busy man a mental salvation. He reads from his rugs the life history of both a bygone and a living people. ”

“ The rugs made by the wandering tribes of South-east and South-west Persia are quaint and interesting. The Persian Beluch rugs are somewhat minute and irregular in design, deep in colour, with occasional discords of tones, but they recommend themselves by being so strongly made that it is almost impossible to wear them out. They are generally small, being woven inside their tents by the women.
In Northern Persia Turcoman carpets—the most adaptable of all for European houses—are seldom to be found now, as they are generally bought up for Russia. ”

“ The Persians having been an industrious and civilized people for many centuries, and a large proportion of them having been accustomed to the nomadic and pastoral life, it is a natural inference that love of gain and the demand from the growing towns for articles of beauty and luxury gave the wandering tribes the opportunity to utilize their wool by supplying the demand for rugs. Encouraged as it was under the reign of Shah Abbas, the industry prospered. Various kings of Persia cultivated certain branches of art and industry, but Shah Abbas especially gave a decided impetus to rug-weaving. ”

“ The namâds, or felt carpets, are made by forming a frame of the thickness required, or by excavating a space in the ground-floor of a size and depth corresponding with those of the intended fabric. The hair is laid in this and beaten out with mallets, and a design of colored threads is then beaten into the upper surface. Silk rugs are peculiar to Persia, and are rare and expensive, although rugs of the finer types, with silken fringes and sometimes with a woof of silk in the body of the rug, are not uncommon. ”

“ The rugs are made in a primitive fashion by the peasant women and girls, who work at the looms in their own homes when not engaged in field labor or domestic duties. They also do the washing, dyeing, and spinning of the wool. The introduction of rug-weaving into Syria took place about the beginning of the nineteenth century, when a number of families emigrated from Brusa to villages of Syria, where they taught their art. For many years excellent rugs were woven, Haidamur especially taking the lead [Pg 112] in superiority of quality, design, and durability. ”

“ For instance, the Ming Rugs of China with silver threads and the so-called Garden Carpets of Iran represent types rather than localities. Likewise the Hunting Carpets of Persia, the Holbein Carpets of Asia Minor, and the Dragon Carpets of Armenia, represent, as far as we know, the textile craft of no well-defined district of limited area, as is the case of modern rugs, but rather rare types. Such pieces are valuable, not alone on account of their age, but also because they represent these rare types.
A rug is also valued for its artistic beauty. ”

“ A silk fringe often finishes the top. One collector in Constantinople has many very fine and rare specimens. He began to collect Ghiordes rugs years ago, before the value of the rug became generally known. The modern rugs are very coarse, and have no resemblance to the old ones.
Hereke rugs receive their name from the village about forty miles from Constantinople, on the Gulf of Ismid, where the Sultan has established the imperial factories and a school of art. About four hundred young women, mostly Greeks, are here actively employed in weaving rugs in silk and wool. ”