CHAPTER IVHAND-MADE CARPETS

Thecharacteristic feature of a carpet, as distinguished from other floor coverings, is the combination of a surface composed almost always of wool with a woven foundation, which may be of various materials.

The main classification of carpets is between those which are made by hand and those which are made by machine; and of both these classes there are many sub-divisions.

Hand-made carpets are the oldest type of the fabric, and, coming from the East, are the historical parents of all modern carpets. This kind of carpet is made to-day in the United Kingdom, on the Continent, and in the East in almost exactly the same manner in which it has been made by the Orientals for several hundred years. The principle is extremely simple. The warp threads, or chain, are wound on two horizontal beams, between which they are stretched vertically. The beams are carried by upright posts on which they can revolve, the space between the posts determining the width of the rug or carpet. The weavers sit side by side in front, the carpet as it is woven being gradually wound on to the lower beam, and the warp correspondingly unwound from the upper beam. The yarn for the pile is cut up into tufts about 2 in. in length, and is knotted round two warp threads, tuft by tuft, according to the paper design, which is attached in front of the weaver. As each row, or part of a row is finished, two weft threads are put in, one in the shed formed between the front and back halves of the chain, and asecond in an alternate shed, which is formed by the weaver pulling forward the back half of the chain temporarily in front of the front half. The second weft is put in straight, the first one loose, zig-zag, or vandyked, so as to fill up the back of the carpet, and to avoid the tendency towards lateral contraction. The weft is beaten down into its place by a heavy fork or beater. This interlocking of warp and weft with the tuft forms the weave of the carpet, and has been imitated more or less in all mechanically woven carpet fabrics.

Fig.1 TURKISH KNOT

There are two different kinds of knot employed, the Ghiordes or Turkish, and the Senne or Persian. In carpets made with the former, the tuft of yarn is knotted round a pair of warp threads in such a manner that the two ends of yarn come between the two warp threads round which the tuft is looped, and consequently two pile ends alternate with every two warp threads. In Persian carpets the tuft is knotted in such a way that one end of the tuft obtrudes between each warp thread. This method of weaving renders possible a closer texture than the Turkish knot; while carpets of suitable design and finer pitch are often woven with a running thread looped round the finger of the weaver, and then cut, instead of by individual tufts. This latter system gives more waste but quicker weaving. With both Turkish and Persian knots the tuft ends do not stand up at right angles to the plane of the fabric, but lie over obliquely towards the starting end of the carpet. This natural slant of the pile, which results in presenting to the eye and the foot of the user of the carpet partly the ends and partly the sides of tufts, is a very characteristic feature of hand-made carpets, and one whichcannot be completely imitated by any class of machine-made fabrics.

Another kind of hand weaving is the tapestry method, wherein the weft colours, wound upon wooden needles, are threaded round and between the warp ends, leaving a flat or slightly ribbed surface, not unlike that of an ingrain carpet. The absence of a tufted pile does not make this a luxurious carpet; but it enables a fine pitch to be employed, and the richest and most delicate effects of design and colour to be obtained. Carpets of this type have long been made at Les Gobelins, Paris, Aubusson, and Beauvais, in France, and Tournai, in Belgium. The work is slow and highly skilled, and the product is naturally very expensive.

There is no better kind of carpet than the carpet made by hand; though this is far from implying that all hand-tufted carpets are superior to all machine-made ones. But there is no method of combining the pile with the foundation so good as the knot; and it cannot be completely imitated by the cleverest power-loom invented. 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. It is possible to produce in one piece carpets of oval, circular, or L-shaped form, or to conform to irregular curves and angles.

Qualities are numerous, but may be said to vary mainly between about 9 and 400 tufts to the squareinch. The average European hand-made carpet will not run to more than from 16 to 30.

As regards materials, the tuft yarn will vary from a heavy woollen for coarse pitches to a fine worsted for the closer, while silk is occasionally employed, producing a carpet of greater lustre, but less resiliency.

The Eastern weavers are fond of using woollen of suitable counts for both warp and weft, though a cotton warp is quite common. Flax or linen, however, is more commonly employed by the European maker; and the combination of strength and softness in this material seem to make it almost ideal for the purpose.

European hand-tufted carpets may be considered as upon a different footing from Asiatic. Indeed, the carpet dealer would hardly regard the two—at any rate in pre-war days, would hardlyhaveregarded them—as mutually competitive. The main localities for this branch of the industry are Maffersdorf, in Austria, Holland, Donegal, Carlisle, and Wilton. But, although in each of these places carpets of characteristic Eastern design and colouring are produced, their staple trade has always lain rather along the lines of specialities. They have catered rather for architects, decorators, individuals, or public bodies, who were inspired by some particular idea, and who could afford to pay for it, than for the ordinary consumer. To make standard carpets for stock, unless it were some crimson Yapraks, would be quite exceptional. The reason for this, and the relation of European and Asiatic hand-made carpets will be alluded to later.

At any rate the fact remains, that the European hand-tufted carpet trade, though it has been responsible for some superb productions in a variety of styles—and in this connection due credit must be given to the enemy maker alluded to—yet it never attained aposition of importance adequate to its undoubted merits.

It is quite impossible to deal effectively in a limited space with so large a subject as that of Oriental carpets and rugs. Books have been written on the historical and artistic aspects alone. Some brief notes must suffice. It is interesting to recall that the inhabitants of Persia and Asia Minor, who were the earliest makers of carpets, were nomads. They wove their tents, decorated with tribal signs and symbols, and they wove the curtains or kelims for greater comfort and ornament. Rugs and carpets followed in natural sequence. The primary object of these was to cover the raised bank of earth at the end of the tent on which the chief sat. Other rugs and mats were placed round the tent for the use of the family or of visitors. Besides these, there were the prayer rugs for their special purpose, which were carefully stored when not required for use.

When the dwelling-place developed from a tent to a house, a raised seat of honour covered by a rug took the place of the bank of earth; and divans on each side of the room, for which long rugs or runners were required, accommodated the family and callers.

Weaving was, and still is, largely a family affair, in the East. The women and girls sit in front of the loom and work under the supervision of the matriarch. Obviously the degrees of skill employed will vary; and this leads to some of the irregularities in Eastern carpets, which, however, are regarded rather as beauties than as blemishes by the Western buyer.

It is not to be implied, however, that all Oriental carpets are still the product of family or tribal industry. Western methods have penetrated even into the “unchanging East”: organisation of the industryhas been set up; and carpet dealers and importers’ syndicates in New York, London, and Paris have their agents in the East, and even control their own factories, to which they send their orders. This may be thought to detract from the romance of the Oriental carpet, but it does not appear to have affected adversely the progress of the industry or the merit of its products; and there is no reason why it should, so long as the Western buyers are men of taste and experience, and do not seek to impose uncongenial ideas upon the Eastern worker, which might tend to the destruction of individuality and local feeling.

It is a common fallacy, that the yarns of Oriental carpets are dyed solely with vegetable dyes, and that those dyes are intrinsically superior to aniline and alizarine dyes, such as are employed for yarns for machine-made fabrics. The latter have been used for many years now by European carpet manufacturers, not because they are cheaper than vegetable dyes, but because they are easier to use, more accurate for matching purposes, and faster to light. There are, of course, good and bad synthetic dyes, but the best are immeasurably superior to dyes made from plants, barks, and berries. This fact has long been recognised by those who control the production of Oriental carpets, for the yarns for which aniline and alizarine dyes are now extensively employed.

The subject of dyeing naturally leads on to that of doctoring or “faking,” which is commonly adopted with a large proportion of Eastern carpets. The object is twofold: to soften the original brightness of the colours, or to give an appearance of age; and to obtain a gloss which the wool does not naturally possess. This is generally done by the collectors or agents, and not by the people who weave the carpets. It is oftenknown by the innocent name ofwashing, and consists in treating the surface with some chemical such as chlorine water, or glycerine, followed by ironing with a hot iron. It can hardly be supposed that this treatment does not detract to some extent from the life of the carpet; but this consideration appears to be outweighed by that of the more attractive appearance.

It has been stated that it is not an uncommon practice to expose a carpet to use in the bazaar or street with the object of enhancing its commercial value by giving it an artificial appearance of age. It is to be hoped, however, that this very insanitary method of faking is rare; but those who wilfully give preference to a carpet because it is dirty and faded, and apparently old, do not deserve too much sympathy.

There are varieties of Asiatic carpets far too numerous to be mentioned here. They differ widely in origin, design, colour, and quality, each town or district having its characteristic pattern and ornament, which is followed with more or less persistence. The finest carpets, both in pattern and quality, are the Persian, the worst are some of the Indian, which are coarse in texture and devoid of artistic merit. In between are the standard Turkeys, which are in great and steady demand all over Europe.

Reference has been made to the very different position occupied by Asiatic and European, or at any rate British hand-tufted carpets. Practically identical in manufacture, they are in different categories commercially. The Eastern carpet trade is a large one, healthy, well organised, and profitable. The British hand-tufted industry is artificial, and maintains a precarious existence.

It may not be considered quite outside the scope of this chapter to examine the reason for this position.The question is in reality purely an economic one. British hand-tufted carpets cannot be manufactured on a basis of cost that enables them to compete in price with the imported Eastern carpet. The question of design and colour may be ignored for the moment; quality for quality, the domestic product cannot meet its Oriental competitor on equal terms in the market, despite the fact that it comes straight from the manufacturer, while the other has probably had to bear collectors’ and wholesale dealers’ profits.

The reason lies, of course, in the different standard of living. The cost of the raw materials is not substantially different in Great Britain and in Asia Minor. But the British carpet has got to pay for steam-heating, gas and water, and electric light, and a more liberal standard of diet, than suffices the frugal Armenian or Kurd. The women and girls who weave Eastern carpets are not protected by factory inspectors and welfare superintendents.

And the difference in cost of production due to these very different conditions is very considerable; while in view of the increase of wages during the war, and the steadily advancing standard of comfort among British artisans, it seems likely to be even more in the future.

Under these circumstances, it is justifiable to ask whether it is fair and wise to allow this competition to continue. During the war the import of Oriental carpets has been prohibited, and it cannot be claimed that the results have been disastrous. The stock of Oriental carpets existing in the country when the prohibition was initiated has changed hands at steadily increasing prices. In other words, the people who wanted the carpets keenly enough have got them, and have had to pay handsomely for them. Why should not this prohibition, or alternatively a highimport duty, be maintained? No one would suffer except the Turk, about whose financial welfare we need not perturb ourselves, and possibly the semi-European middleman and agent. Thebona fidedealer in Oriental carpets, located in Great Britain, would be able to convert his capital and his technical knowledge towards the building up of a big British hand-tufted industry; and in a few years we should see in private houses, hotels, and clubs, instead of the Asiatic product, for which our money has been sent out of the country, real British hand-made carpets, which would have been manufactured under ideal conditions, and for good wages. And there is no reason in the world why such carpets should not equal or surpass in quality and artistic merit the finest productions of the East.

CHAPTER VBRUSSELS

Ofmachine-made carpets, that which naturally demands the first mention is the Brussels carpet, which was the first kind to be woven in this country by the aid of a Jacquard, a pattern-selecting mechanism to which allusion will be made later. Brussels is a loop-pile fabric, consisting of a strong woven foundation, composed of linen, jute, and cotton yarns, together with that portion of the worsted yarn which is not utilised on the surface to form the pattern. The pattern itself is formed on the surface by differently coloured looped threads of worsted yarns.

The character of the fabric lends itself to patterns well-defined in design and colour. The smooth, gently-ribbed surface gives a clean and neat, but not a luxurious effect; and the carpet is generally more suitable for small and medium-sized rooms and simple furnishing schemes, than for bold or ambitious effects. The number of shades available is also limited.

The processes of manufacture are comparatively few and simple.

The yarn is received from the spinner in grease, that is, still containing the oil that was put into the wool for the purpose of spinning, and in skeins. Worsted spinners supply a large variety of counts and twists of yarn for Brussels and Wilton carpets, which need not be particularised. As a normal Brussels yarn we may take 16s, 2 × 3; a thread sharply twisted in the doubling, and loosely in the re-doubling, running about100 yards to the ounce. The yarn should be spun from wool of a moderately long staple.

In the dye-house it is first scoured, to get rid of the oil, which would interfere with the dyeing, and then dyed. From the dye-vat the yarn is taken to the hydro-extractor, or wince, where a large proportion of the moisture is eliminated by centrifugal force. The skeins of dyed yarn are then dried, either by being hung on poles and exposed to a current of warm air, or by being passed through a mechanical dryer, which normally consists of a large chamber of wood and iron, through which the yarn is carried by an apron, or pair of aprons, while exposed to streams of hot air propelled by fans.

From the drying room or drying machine, the yarn passes to the winding room, to be wound on to bobbins. The winding frame consists of a series of pulleys set on a shaft. Opposite each pulley or drum is a swift on which the skein is adjusted, the end of the yarn from the skein being led on to the body of the empty bobbin, which is held against and rotated by the pulley, the face of the pulley being a little less than the space between the flanges of the bobbin. This bobbin, called the creel bobbin, because it goes into the creel frames of the loom, has a face of 2¾ in. and a flange diameter of 3½ in.

The creel bobbins, each of which when fully wound will contain about 1/3 lb. of yarn, are then taken to the creel frames at the back of the loom. For a best five-frame Brussels carpet, five sets of 256 or 260 bobbins will be required. These five sets are placed in each of the five creel frames, each bobbin being free to revolve slowly on a creel peg, and so release its yarn as required. Each of the 1,280 or 1,300 ends of yarn is led through to the front of the loom, being threaded first individually through an eyelet in the harness, and then, along withthe other ends of yarn that belong with it, through a reed of the sley.

The body and back of the carpet is provided for normally by two warp beams, the chain and the stuffer. The chain consists of twice as many ends of cotton as there are reeds in the sley. Thus, if the pitch is 256, there will be 256 reeds, or reed spaces in the 27 in. width of the sley (in practice the sley is made a little wider than the carpet is to be woven); and there will be 512 ends of cotton chain in the same width, two to each reed space. The stuffer beam consists normally of as many ends as there are reed spaces. The stuffer warp is of jute, bump, or cotton yarn.

The object of the chain is to form, in combination with the weft, the woven base of the fabric; all the rest is either surface or back. The weave is effected by the chain ends being threaded through eyelets mounted on two heald-frames or gears, which rise alternately in such a way as to allow the shuttle, carrying the weft, to be shot through the shed or opening thus formed.

The purpose of the stuffer, or dead warp, is merely to give body or weight to the fabric, and it is not essential if there is enough body provided by the rest of the warp. The stuffer ends are also carried on eyelets in a gear frame, but are not divided like the chain, and remain practically in the middle of the fabric.

Both chain and stuffer beams lie between the creel frames and the main part of the loom. Their slow unwinding is operated automatically while the loom is running.

The harness consists of a set of 1,300 cords, carrying the mails or eyelets through which the worsted is threaded, kept taut by a weight at their lower ends, and connected with the Jacquard mechanism above. The Jacquard (the invention of Joseph Marie Jacquard,of Lyons) is an ingenious device for selecting and raising the threads required to form the pattern. The Jacquard principle in various forms is in use throughout the textile trades, and need not be described in detail here. The essential feature of it is the combination of perforated paper or card with needles or pegs in such a way that the blank (or, it may be, the perforation) in the card causes the harness carrying a certain thread, or set of threads, to rise as required.

The operation of the Brussels loom may now be described. The ends of worsted yarn from the creel bobbins having been drawn through the eyes in the harness, and the chain and stuffer ends through the eyes in the healds, all are drawn through the sley in such a way that there will be in each reed-space five ends of worsted, two of cotton chain, and one of stuffer warp. All ends are now made fast to the breast roller at the front of the loom, and kept taut by weighting the warp beams, and by hanging small hooked weights on to each thread of worsted close to the bobbin in the creel frame.

Fig. 2LONGITUDINAL SECTION THROUGH HEALDS, HARNESS, SLEY, AND FABRICA, Stuffer warp; B, Worsted warps; C, Chain; J, Comberboard; K, Mail; L, Lingo; H, Healds; 1 to 6, Harness

When the loom is running, the Jacquard lifts one worsted thread in each reed, thus forming a shed, under which the wire is introduced from the side. Immediately below the wire now lies the body of the fabric, consisting of the four frames of worsted in each course, which are not required to form the pattern, the stuffer warp, and one half of the cotton chain. Below the body of the fabric is a lower shed formed by the other half of the cotton chain, and through this the shuttle passes, carrying the weft, at the same time as the wire is being inserted. Then the lathe, which has been lying back to allow the passing of the shuttle and the entrance of the wire, comes forward with the sley, and beats up the wire and the last shot of weft against the breast-plate of theloom and the last part of the woven fabric. At the same time the Jacquard allows the harness carrying the ends selected for the last lash to drop back on to a level with the others, and the gears carrying the cotton chain begin to change. Next, the lathe goes back again; one half of the chain is brought up to form a shed, under which and over the rest of the threads the shuttle passes back, thus effectively tying in the worsted threads which are looped over the wire. Meanwhile the last wire of the set (of about 30) which has moved forward as the fabric is woven, is drawn out by a hook, and carried back for insertion under the next shed of worsted. A number of wires is used so as to avoid the risk of the loops being pulled flat by the weight on the yarn or the strain of the harness or sley.

Chains and stuffers are generally coloured and sized, the yarn being slowly wound from bobbins or cheeses on a frame or stand, passing through a trough of coloured starching material, over a steam-heated cylinder, or a series of pipes, on to an iron flanged beam. The weft, which is normally of linen yarn, is also generally coloured and sized, and is used whilst still damp. The colouring certainly adds to the appearance of the carpet, and the sizing adds stiffness and handling, though, apart from this, and from the fact that it is expected by the dealer, it is doubtful whether it is of any advantage, except in the cheaper grades, where less yarn is used.

Brussels and Wilton carpets are described as being of five, four, or three frames, according to the number of sets of creel bobbins carrying worsted warp threads. Each frame will generally be composed of threads all of one colour; but an enhanced colour effect is often obtained by one or more of the frames being “planted.” This means that worsted threads of two or more colours are arranged side by side in the same frame in groups,in accordance with the design. If, for instance, the design contains a rose, for the petals of which a frame of pink yarn is to be used, then the colourist or weaver, by a judicious selection and arrangement of bobbins, can add to the colour effect by shading the petals from light to dark; or, again, a flower may be coloured blue in one part of the design and gold in another. Skilfully used, this device makes a three-frame look like a four, or a five-frame like a six, but it must be used with discretion and with due regard to the design, or disfiguring and tell-tale stripes will ensue.

Fig. 3SECTION OF FIVE-FRAME BRUSSELS CARPETA A, Chain; B, Pile warp; C, Stuffer warp

Best Brussels has been taken as an example in describing the process of manufacture, but a good many other qualities are, or at least have been, made. Best is 256 pitch, beaten up 9 to the inch, but extra qualities are made up to 11 per inch, which gives an excellently close and even surface. Finer than this in pitch or beat-up it has not been found practicable to go. Lower qualities are made in 236 and 214 pitch, and even down to 180, with beat-ups running down to 6½ or 6 per inch, and a framage of three or two. In the coarsest qualities, however, there is always the tendency to “grin,” that is, for the weft and body of the carpet to be exposed between the loops of the pile, unless the coarseness is compensated by the employment of a thicker pile yarnor a higher wire. This is, in fact, the case with a class of Brussels that has been manufactured extensively by some makers in recent years, where the yarn is spun from low wool or cow-hair, and is a good deal heavier than the ordinary Brussels worsted counts. This fabric is almost entirely confined to plains and stripes, though occasionally two frames are used, and a simple pattern effect produced. It is a good wearing carpet, and suitable for offices and modest purses.

Fig. 4SECTION OF THREE-FRAME BRUSSELS CARPETA, Chain; B, Pile warp; C, Stutter warp; E, Weft

The fact is, however, that the demand for all qualities of Brussels carpeting has fallen off steadily during the past few years; and the reasons for this are strong and would seem likely to be permanent. Brussels has suffered from the competition of Axminster on the one hand, and Tapestry on the other. Brussels is, unfortunately, an uneconomic fabric in its manufacture, inasmuch as, in a five-frame for instance, for every length of worsted that appears on the surface, four times as much is hidden in the body of the fabric, and, except in so far as it acts as filling, is wasted. A Tapestry carpet, as will be explained later, avoids thiswaste, and can therefore be produced with an equally good surface as Brussels, and at a lower cost. We ignore for the moment the characteristic defect of Tapestry carpets.

The cheaper Axminster, again, and to some extent the cheaper Chenille Axminster as well, have largely superseded Brussels, owing to the fact that they can be sold at almost the same price, while offering a more luxurious effect with their cut pile surface and their larger range of colours.

There are some dealers, moreover, who aver that the manufacturers of the cheaper qualities of Brussels have themselves to blame for the decreased demand, because these qualities were not satisfactory in wear, and in particular were liable to “sprout.” Sprouting is the tendency of the loops in the pile of a Brussels carpet to be pulled out through such external agencies as a chair leg, a boot nail, a rubber heel, or the claw of a dog or cat; though, indeed, complaints seem often to have been framed as if on the assumption that sprouting was a natural property of the carpet similar to that of its vegetable namesake. Still, the maker has had to admit that cheaper qualities are more liable to the disease than better ones, and perhaps his best retort has been that he was long borne down in price and pressed to make cheaper qualities, and that those who demand them must not complain too much if they do not get all they expect.

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; andthe comparative closeness of its pitch makes its patterns neat and adaptable. A well-made Brussels carpet will wear many years.

Reverting to the processes of manufacture, the roll of carpet goes from the loom to the measuring table, where it is measured by hand or machine before passing to the finishing or “picking” room. Here it is first dried by passing over a steam-heated cylinder, or, in some places, by being looped over a series of rails in a warm chamber. Then the back of the carpet is picked; that is, the superfluous material, if any, is removed and defects remedied. The roll is then passed through a shearing machine, provided with a rapidly revolving shaft set with spiral blades, where the surface is brushed and very lightly shorn, to remove loose and projecting fibres. The surface of the carpet then is inspected by the pickers, who mend any faults left from the weaving. Their work is supervised and checked by the passers. At this stage, some manufacturers pass their Brussels carpets, particularly the cheaper qualities, through a pressing machine, in which heavy pressure on the looped pile is exerted by rollers, the object being to obtain better cover, and to prevent grinning. It is questionable, however, whether the process is of any real benefit to the carpet, as it tends to impair the handle of the fabric and the resiliency of the pile. The final stage in the finishing department is the rolling and measuring, which is done mechanically, after which the roll is ticketed, papered, and corded, and passes on its journey to the packing room, carpet room, or warehouse, as the case may be.

A digression seems necessary here on the subject of breadth carpets, Cairo or Chlidema squares. Originally, carpeting was only made in body or filling 27 in. wide, and border 22½ or 18 in. wide, and in rolls orpieces of about 50 yards; and if a bordered carpet was required, 15 ft. by 12 ft., the dealer would cut it up from the pieces, using, say, four breadths of filling each 12 ft. long, and enough border, ½ yd. wide, to go all round, with mitred joints at the corners. There were several objections to this method, which is, of course, still necessarily employed in bordered carpets of unusual sizes. It involves a thick and awkward seam at the mitres, where the border has to be cut and turned under; it is wasteful, as odd-shaped bits of border are bound to be left over; and it is inartistic, inasmuch as the figures in the border never match perfectly at the mitre. Lastly, in Wiltons and in some Axminsters, it causes false shading, because, the pile naturally leaning a little in one direction, and not being perfectly vertical, the border will only tone perfectly with the body on one side of the carpet. On the three other sides the light will strike the pile at a different angle from that at which it strikes the pile of the body, and give a different effect.

In 1863, a carpet was manufactured at Kidderminster for presentation to the late King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, on the occasion of his marriage. In view of the natural desire to produce an article worthy of the event and of the industry, it was recognised that no trouble and expense should be spared; and a carpet was designed and woven in such a way as to obviate the defects enumerated above. The carpet was exhibited publicly and aroused much admiration.

It is curious, however, to note that it was not until about twenty years later that the new principle began to be generally adopted by carpet manufacturers. The delay in utilising the idea was no doubt due to recognition of the heavy expense involved in additional designing and card stamping, and of the loss of production,and also to the absence of any severe competition from Oriental and other seamless carpets.

The device consisted simply in designing and stamping not two but five parts of the whole carpet: the filling, the border at each side including the corner piece, and the border at top and bottom. When, as is almost invariably the case, the width of the border is less than 27 in., the difference between the width and 27 in. is stamped in body, so that, for example, an outside breadth containing 18 in. of border and 9 in. of body is woven in a 27 in. loom. This breadth, of course, also contains at each end the corner piece, and 9 in. of the end border. The inner breadths of the carpet will have 18 in. of border at each end, and filling in between, woven so as to match on to the filling and border of the breadths on each side. If will be readily seen that in this manner the different breadths of a carpet can be woven consecutively on the same loom, and that a harmonious effect as regards both design and surface can be ensured. (See Figs. 5 and 5A.)

Fig. 5 & 5aCHLIDEMA SQUARE

The system has one or two minor limitations. The width of the carpet must be some multiple of 2 ft. 3 in., and the matching of the side borders with the corner pieces can only be perfect at certain lengths. Again, the line of the seam is not concealed by coinciding with the inner edge of the border; and, finally, these breadth squares are more troublesome and expensive to make and handle at every stage than piece goods. Indeed, manufacturers would be justified in charging a larger difference of price between squares and pieces of the same quality than many of them do.

In spite of the expense and loss of production involved, the device proved on the whole a real boon both to the maker and consumer of carpets, and was sooner or later adopted by practically all manufacturers employing3-4 wide looms. It placed those who utilised it in a better position to compete with Eastern carpets, and it has thereby contributed in no small degree to the artistic development of the carpet trade. Indeed, it may almost be said to have saved the life of the narrow loom, in view of the remarkable evolution and consequent competition of the wide loom, to which further reference will be made later.

In recent years it has been turned to a notable development in the art of carpet making; the production of medallion breadth squares. This involves the exercise of the greatest ingenuity and skill on the part of the designer, heavy expense in respect of card-cutting, and the greatest care in weaving and finishing. When completed, a medallion square is a triumph of technique. The number of sizes available is obviously limited; but a carpet of each size is absolutely perfect in design, matching everywhere, as well as if made laboriously by hand, instead of being the product of machinery and brains.

Coming back once more to the final stages of finishing, though the roll of carpeting, body, border, or stair, is complete and ready for the market when it is rolled and papered, this is not the case with the breadth square, which has so far been treated in the same way. The square, or series of squares, which are still in a continuous roll, are cut up into their proper lengths, matched, and sorted. They are then passed to the sewing room, to be made up into complete carpets. Hand sewing has been superseded in most factories by mechanical sewing, by hand or electric power, for which Messrs. Singer supply a very efficient machine. In the larger power machine made by this house, the breadths to be sewn together are clipped face to face with flush edges, and stretched in the frame of themachine in such a way that the moving part of the mechanism runs along over the two edges and sews them together. The ends of the carpet, top and bottom, are then turned over and hemmed by hand or machine. The carpet is then fastened to the floor, face downwards, and the seams are damped and then pressed with a heavy heated iron. If these operations have been properly performed, and if the edges of the breadths are good, the seams of the carpet will be barely visible. The carpet is then finished, though some manufacturers prefer to stretch their carpets by attaching them tightly to a frame, and leaving them for some hours.

From the sewing room the carpets pass to the stock room or the packing room.

CHAPTER VIWILTON

Wiltoncarpeting is similar in manufacture in many respects to Brussels. The loom is practically the same for both fabrics, convertible from one to the other without much difficulty or expense. The preparation of yarns for worsted pile, chain, stuffer, and weft is substantially identical, while most of what has been said with regard to weaving and finishing operations applies no less to Brussels than to Wilton.

The essential differences are two—a major and a minor one. In the first place, the loops of worsted yarns are cut, so that the character of the surface is velvety instead of smooth and ribbed. This is effected by the use of a narrow wire ending in a knife blade, which blade stands outside the fabric when the wire is inserted, but severs the loops of worsted when the wire is withdrawn.

The second difference, which, however, does not apply to all grades of Wilton carpet, is that for the sake of holding down the pile more securely, there are three shots of weft to each row of pile, instead of two. This is effected by an adjustment of the gear and harness motions, in such a way that the lash or shed of worsted selected to form the pattern does not rise alternately with the shed of the chain, but once in every three picks of the shuttle or beats of the sley.

The cutting of the yarn, resulting as it does in exposing to view the ends instead of the sides of the wool fibre, gives a richer and softer surface effect both in appearance and in feel, while the treble weft shot makes a better weave and a firmer fabric. Generally also Wilton carpeting is woven closer, with more rows tothe inch, than Brussels, which necessitates, incidentally, the use of thinner wires.

The standard best or Super Wilton carpet is 256 pitch, with a beat-up of 10 to the inch, woven with a wire about 3/16 in. high; a linen weft is used, and a stuffer of bump. Five frames of worsted are generally employed. This is an excellent carpet for dining and drawing rooms, theatres, show rooms, and restaurants, and will wear well. Several better qualities are made, however; and the fabric lends itself readily to fine and luxurious effects. Wires are used occasionally as high as 3/8 in. or more.

Fig. 6SECTION OF FIVE-FRAME WILTONA, Chain; B, Pile warp; C, Stuffer warp

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. At the present time most manufacturers of Wilton produce a fine Wilton quality of this nature.

Among the better qualities of Wilton, mention must be made of Saxonies, the name given to Wiltons woven with a heavy, sharply twisted twofold Saxony worsted yarn, which possesses exceptional wearing qualities.

Below Super Wilton come the medium qualities, made in 236 pitch, 10 to the inch, in five, four, and three frames; artistic and serviceable carpets suitable for studies, bed-rooms, and what may be called general use; while they are also in great demand for Cinema theatres.

The cheaper grades of Wilton are made in 214 pitch with three frames or less. Their manufacture has been limited during the war by the restricted supplies of worsted yarn; and even before that time they suffered from the competition of woollen Wiltons, of which mention will be made. The limitation of colours on the one hand, and the comparative poverty of the fabric on the other, restricted the demand to those for whom the question of price was important; and now that price-cutting has passed away in an era of high values and shortage of material, these qualities are out of favour.

Woollen Wiltons, or Wilton fabrics whose pile is made of a sharply twisted woollen yarn, instead of worsted, require special mention. They are of comparatively recent growth, and probably originated in the effort of the Jacquard loom manufacturer to meet the competition of Imperial Axminster, dating from the time when the price of the latter fabric was round about 4s., and woollen yarn was correspondingly cheap. It was necessarily rather an uphill fight for the Jacquard loom, because the Axminster possessed the initial advantages of a greatly superior range of colours, and of greater economy in manufacture owing to the yarn being all on the surface.

The price of woollen Wiltons therefore had to beappreciably lower, and the qualities cut as much as they would stand. Working on this basis, however, the woollen Wiltons did justify their existence. Made mainly in 214 pitch, with three frames of yarn or less, and beaten up from 8½ to 7½ per inch, they achieved unambitious but ingenious and saleable effects, and if the cover and consequent wear was not all that could have been desired, yet they served a purpose.

But it must not be implied that the only woollen Wiltons were, or are, the cheap grades. The suitability of woollen yarn for use in a Wilton loom to produce a soft and even luxurious fabric with an Oriental effect has long been recognised; and admirable qualities have been woven in 256 and 236 pitch with four or five frames of yarn and with fairly high wires. Indeed, some of these can be regarded as more successfully imitating the Eastern carpet in texture than even the finer worsted Wiltons.

Wilton carpeting lends itself particularly well to single shade effects: plain Wiltons have been woven in a variety of qualities with both worsted and woollen yarn for many years; and, indeed, the demand has shown signs of a steady increase. 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. Wear on a carpet is never evenly distributed: the feet tread down some places more than others; the pile is depressed unequally, with the result that, in a plain carpet, thelight, falling at different angles upon the fibres causes light and dark patches to appear. This is called shading, and is often wrongly attributed to defective manufacture, or to the presence of some foreign substance like oil. Shading actually occurs equally in figured Wiltons; but it is rarely the subject of complaint, simply because it is concealed by the design and colours.

Subject to this limitation, then, plain carpets, and plain Wiltons in particular, are all right for those who like them. The manufacturer does not regard them with great enthusiasm, for, though in some respects they are easier to make than figured goods, yet they are exacting if they are to be turned out perfectly. Moreover, they are more subject to competition, and do not afford scope for artistic skill in design and colour combination.

As has been indicated, Wilton carpeting, like Brussels, has, in comparison with some of its competitors, two main limitations; one economic and one artistic. For every square or tuft of yarn showing on the surface, there are, roughly, from two to four parts uneconomically used in the body of the fabric, and the number of shades that can be used to work one over the other to form the pattern is limited to five, or, exceptionally, to six. These limitations, however, are not serious ones; and the Wilton carpet, in its higher grades, is regarded by many as the best of all machine-made carpets. It is certainly the finest; and closeness of texture, broadly speaking, means both finer effects and better wear. The higher grades of Wilton are made, as has been stated, in pitch and beat-up which give from 95 to 123 points to the square inch; so that in the matter both of texture and of delicacy of design, effects can be produced in Wilton which surpass those of any other carpet fabric, with the exception of the finest Persians.

Back to Index Next