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EARLY ENGLISH RUGEARLY ENGLISH RUGCentre portion of a carpet woven in wool, with a continuous pattern of carnations, and a border of wavy floral design. In the diamond-shaped panel of the centre are the Royal Arms and the letters E R (Elizabeth Regina).Owned by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Verulam.View larger image

Centre portion of a carpet woven in wool, with a continuous pattern of carnations, and a border of wavy floral design. In the diamond-shaped panel of the centre are the Royal Arms and the letters E R (Elizabeth Regina).

Owned by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Verulam.

The Morris Rug.With strong, firm texture, fine vegetable dyes, and with purely artistic designs, the Morris rug bears testimony to-day to the honesty, perseverance, and skill of the man for whom it is named. He himself testifies: "I am an artist or workman with a strong inclination to exercise what capacities I may have—a determination to do nothing shabby if I can help it." Decorative art in many branches is the richer to-day for the influence of Mr. Morris, but it is his rug-making that now claims attention. Mr. Bernhard Quaritch informs me in a letter dated August 31, 1899, that Mr. Morris learned the art of making rugs from a volume of the work entitled "Descriptions des Arts et Metiers." Mr. Morris had his own loom, and not only wove rugs, but dyed the wool for them himself, and instructed pupils, to whom his inspiration was a power. Long and laboriously he worked to achieve the best results, using vegetable dyes only, and he was finally successful. No dyer of the Orient could have been more pleased than was he when his efforts resulted in soft, glowing tints.

In design Mr. Morris excelled. He educated the popular taste by bringing forth the beauties of the simpler forms of the floral and vegetable world; he delighted especially in displaying the acanthus in varied conventional forms. Every rug he designed bearswitness to his enthusiasm for harmony. Too æsthetic, some critics declare him to have been; but no one can deny the importance of his creations, for England needed to be awakened to a knowledge of her own inability to appreciate artistic decoration of the home, especially by means of the productions of the loom. It was this very fact, and his inability to procure artistic furniture such as would satisfy his æsthetic taste, that started Mr. Morris to create those fabrics which he desired.

The art of rug-weaving was first introduced into the West by the Moors when they conquered Spain. With the advance of civilization it proceeded to the land of the Gauls, where during the reign of Henry the Fourth it was brought from Persia. An inventor named Dupont was placed in charge of a workroom by the King, in thePalais du Louvreabout the year 1605. In the year 1621 an apprentice of Dupont's, named Lourdes, was instructed to establish the industry of weaving in a district near Paris, where was theHospice de la Savonnerie, an institution for poor children. The factory was calledLa Savonneriebecause the building had been previously used for the manufacture of soap. Since 1825La Savonneriehas been consolidated with the Gobelins manufactory. In 1664, Colbert, minister to Louis the Fourteenth, founded the establishment at Beauvais which is owned by the French Government, as is also that of the Gobelins, which Colbert bought of the Gobelin family. But it is to the Saracens that France ultimately owes the origin of her famous tapestries, and it is to the Saracens, through France, that Western and Northern Europe trace their obligation.

The industry has attained large proportions in France. At Aubusson alone over two thousand work-men are employed in rug-weaving. A fine specimen of the work done there is a rug of Oriental design made for a collector in New York. The piece-work system is now generally used throughout the weaving districts of France. The manufacturers themselves usually place the rugs on the market. France buys the greater quantity, although many are exported.

Austria-Hungary, Germany, Holland, and Italy have also had some experience in rug-weaving, and even little Switzerland at one time attempted its introduction, but with unsatisfactory results. Belgium, however, was more successful, for Brussels still produces a large number of rugs.

The United States is largely occupied in rug-weaving, and the centre of the Eastern section of this manufacture is Philadelphia. But in various sections of the country there are rug factories, both large and small.

TheAbenákeerug is made at Pequaket, New Hampshire. It is the result of a desire on the part of Mrs. Helen R. Albee to give profitable employment to the women of the rural community where she lives. Her success is now assured, and the reward for much labor and thought has come in a lively demand for the rug.

The Abenákee rugs are not woven. They are an evolved form of the much despised New England hooked rug, which was made by drawing strips of old rag through burlap. The thick, soft, velvety Abenákee rugs of the present day are far removed in color, design, and texture from their humble ancestors. These rugs are all wool, hand-dyed in warm tones of terra-cotta, old rose, old pink, tans, dull yellows, rich old blues, olive and sage greens, and old ivory. They are made to order usually, to match in their ground color some special color in the room where they are to be placed, and the borders are made in harmonious tones. Therange of design is wide, from Oriental to Occidental—from Japanese to North American Indian. But all suggestions, so soon as received, are modified and removed as far as possible from direct imitation of any foreign rugs. Mrs. Albee has aimed, not to reproduce Oriental effects, but to have the designs original and distinctive. Fortunately, for years previous to the establishment of this industry, she had studied the principles of design and their application to various textiles, and the knowledge which she thus acquired has proved most valuable.

The designs are bold and effective, but fineness of detail is precluded by the strips of material, each of which is a quarter of an inch wide. The color is arranged in broad masses.

TheNew England HookedorRagrug has for its foundation a strip of burlap or sacking. Through this, strips of cloth are hooked, which form loops, and this surface may be sheared or not, as the maker desires. There is such an absence of attractiveness in the old-time rag rug, that several women of taste and experience in art methods have sought the improvement of this industry. The results have been excellent, so that, ugly as the original rug is, it is esteemed as being the progenitor of the more artistic Abenákee, Sabatos, and Onteora rugs.

TheSabatosrug is a product of the little mountain village of Center Lovell, Maine, started in 1900 by Mrs. Douglas Volk of New York. She has now about a dozen women engaged in the work, this number including the spinners, dyers, and weavers.

The Sabatos rug is durable, harmonious in color and design, and is distinctly a home product. The wool of which it is made is sheared from the flocks of sheep in the vicinity. The shearing takes place annually in June; the wool is then carded, spun, and dyed. The threads of hand-spun wool are worked through a hand-woven webbing, and securely knotted or tied with a specially devised knot. The designs thus far are mainly adaptations from the native American Indian motives, which are simple and characteristic, furnishing a chance for broad color effects.

A special point is made of the dyes employed, those of vegetable origin ruling, and only those dyes which from experience have been found to be practically fast are used,—such for instance as genuine old Indigo blue, madder root, and butternut.

Berea College, Kentucky, is endeavoring to encourage the weaving of rag rugs of a superior order. So far, the industry which was started in 1905, is in a primitive state, the natives preferring to weave cotton and wool coverlets, the designs of which they broughtacross the mountains with them from Virginia in the early settlement of Kentucky. Floor rugs they consider troublesome. The weaving is carried on in the homes throughout the mountains of that region known as "Appalachian America"; it is really a survival of the old Colonial industry. The rugs are woven of strips of new ticking, and are especially designed for bath-rooms, children's nurseries, and porches. The coloring is done with the vegetable dyes and native barks and roots. The color schemes are the simple ones of a primitive people.

Navajo Rugs.The Navajo Indian Reservation covers about eleven thousand square miles, about six hundred and fifty of which are in the northwest corner of New Mexico, and the remainder in the northeast portion of Arizona. The region is well adapted for the raising of sheep, and every family possesses flocks, which are driven from place to place for pasture. The Navajos, however, never go to any great distance for this, but keep generally within a radius of fifty or sixty miles from home. This tribe weaves a rug that is useful, unique, durable, and when at its best, impervious to rain. Among the tribes, and in some Western homes, they are used as blankets, but it has become a fashion in many of the best houses in the Eastern States to use them entirely as rugs, couch coverings, andportières.

NAVAJO RUGNAVAJO RUGSize, 3.9 × 4.9The field of this Navajo Rug is in a natural shade of grayish white. Six large diamond forms in black, with reddish edges and white centres, rest on the field. The centres contain a tiny red line, and there are smaller diamonds—seven in number—four having red centres and the remainder black, and at one end are two small figures. The border is in stripes of red, black, and an addition of white. The rug is a fine sample of the American Indian weaving, and its simplicity places it in striking and pleasing contrast to many of the modern productions of the Navajos.View larger image

Size, 3.9 × 4.9

The field of this Navajo Rug is in a natural shade of grayish white. Six large diamond forms in black, with reddish edges and white centres, rest on the field. The centres contain a tiny red line, and there are smaller diamonds—seven in number—four having red centres and the remainder black, and at one end are two small figures. The border is in stripes of red, black, and an addition of white. The rug is a fine sample of the American Indian weaving, and its simplicity places it in striking and pleasing contrast to many of the modern productions of the Navajos.

It is believed that the Spaniards, when they arrived in that section of North America inhabited by the Pueblo tribe of Indians, communicated to them the industry of weaving these rugs, and that the Pueblos taught it to the Navajos. Thus it appears that the weaving of the Navajo rug was a result of the Moors' invasion of Europe. The sheep, which are raised by thousands, were also introduced by the Spaniards. The wool is not washed until after the shearing. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century the Navajos began to use the shears of the white man; previously they procured the wool by cutting it off the body of the animal with a knife, and pulling it from the legs.

The native dyes are red, yellow, and black, and the natural colors of the wool are black, gray, and white. The dyes of the white man are now much used. Formerly there was a beautiful blue, which has given way to the indigo. A scarlet cloth called Bayeta was once much used in the weaving of these rugs, but Germantown yarn and other inventions of the white man have largely superseded the old-time materials and methods.

The spindle is of the crudest form, and sometimes the wool is simply picked out from the mass, and rolled into the yarn or thread on the hand.

The looms are fashioned after the most primitiveones of the Orient, and the weaver sits on the ground and weaves upward. Women do most of the weaving, but occasionally a dusky-faced man may be seen at the loom. It takes about a month to weave a rug six feet ten inches by five feet seven inches.

The designs in the Navajo rugs are many, and mostly in angles and straight lines, the serrated diamond design being common, as is the swastika or fylfot. The weaver makes up her own designs as she goes along, occasionally only tracing it in the sand.

There is a symbolism attached to many forms in these rugs. The square with four knit corners represents the four quarters of heaven and the four winds. A tau cross is a symbol of protection and safety, and a prayer to the Great Spirit. A spiral form represents the purified soul, and a double spiral is a symbol of the soul's struggle. A wave mark represents the sea, over which the people came from a far country. Black is the symbol of water, regarded as the mother or spirit. Red is the symbol of fire, and is regarded as the father.

The native costume of the women of the Navajo tribe consists of two small rugs in dark blue or black, with a bright stripe at each end. They are of the same size, and sewed together at the sides, except where a place is left open for the arms. Formerly the Indiansreserved their hand-made rugs for their own use, but now that there is so great a demand for the work of their hands, they sell those rugs, and content themselves with blankets of factory make.

Old Navajo rugs, like Oriental ones, are growing scarcer every year, and naturally are becoming more valuable and desirable. The fine textures, perfect workmanship, and glowing colors are seen at their best in productions of the past.

We are occasionally indebted to an Oriental scholar for a translation of an inscription on a rug; often these inscriptions show the religious belief of the maker.

One fine rug in a museum in Austria has the following inscription: "Allah! No God exists besides Him, the Living, the Eternal. Nothing causes Him to slumber or to sleep. To Him belongs everything in heaven and on earth. Who can intercede with Him without His permission? He knows what is before and what is behind, and only so much of His wisdom can be grasped as He permits. His throne fills heaven and earth, and the support of both to Him is easy. He is the High One, the Exalted!"

A rug of Persian weave owned by Baron Nathaniel Rothschild has, worked in the oval cartouches, an inscription translated by Professor F. Bayer as follows:

1."Honored mayst thou be in the world,Among the clever and wise.2. May no sorrow be allotted thee by an unfavoring Heaven,And may no care torment thy heart.3. May earth be all to thee that thou wouldst have it, and destiny prove thy friend.May high Heaven be thy protector.4. May thy rising star enlighten the world,And the falling stars of thine enemies be extinguished.5. May every act of thine prosper,And may every year and every day be to thee Spring-time."

In the Industrial Museum at Berlin there is a rug with this inscription: "There is no Deity but God, and Mahomet is His Prophet."

On a Persian silk rug is a line from the Koran: "All perisheth but His face."

Another rug has: "God is greatest! He is great!"

Often a marking in a corner of a rug is simply the name of the maker, and the date.

The Holy Carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil, now in the South Kensington Museum, at London, has the following interesting inscription woven in black characters in the light cream cartouche at the top of the carpet. Translated it reads:

"I have no refuge in the world other than thy threshold.My head has no protection other than this porchway.The work of the slave of this Holy Place,Maksoud of KashanIn the year 946."

(The year 946 of the Hegira corresponds toA. D.1568.)

All Oriental rugs have designs, and every design is symbolical. To the connoisseur, as well as to the owners of rugs, it is vastly interesting to understand the meaning attached to these symbols by the Orientals. Every one is familiar with the tree design in some of its various forms, and with the stiff little birds and the many odd and strange-looking animals which frequently are seen on an Eastern fabric of the loom. Yet each unique figure has a meaning, and it is a fascinating, as well as an apparently endless task, to find the hidden significance of these symbols. If one goes no further, he should at least become familiar with the designs on his own rugs, and know, if possible, what they typify.

The rug itself symbolizes Eternity and Space, and the filling or plan is the symbol of the world—beautiful, but fleeting and limited.

ANTIQUE PERSIAN RUGANTIQUE PERSIAN RUGThis rug dates from about 1500 A. D., and is of wool, with animal and floral forms.From a photograph loaned by Dr. Bode, of Berlin.View larger image

This rug dates from about 1500 A. D., and is of wool, with animal and floral forms.

From a photograph loaned by Dr. Bode, of Berlin.

BatHappiness.Buddhist SceptreSuccess in literary labors.Chi-lin(a kind of doe)Nobleness; gentleness.Cloud-bandThe Deity.Cock and hen on an artificial rock-workPleasures of country life.CraneImmortality.CrowEvil.DeerOfficial emolument.DragonThe imperial emblem, signifying increase and imperial grandeur.Dragon with five claws on each of its four feetExclusive emblem of the Emperor.Dragon and PhœnixNewly wedded pair.DuckConjugal affection.GooseDomestic felicity.GourdHappiness.LionVictory.MagpieGood luck.Old man leaning on a staffLong life.OwlDread.PeachOld age.PhœnixThe Emblem of the Empress.StorkLong life.TortoiseLong life.Tree of Life with seven branches on a short stemSeven days of Creation.Young stagsLong life.

AspsIntelligence.Bat with a ring in its clawsDuration.BeeImmortality.BeetleEarthly life and the development of man in the future state.BlossomLife.BoatSerene spirit gliding upon the waters.BullSource of life.ButterflySoul.CartoucheEternity.CrescentCelestial virgin.CrocodileBeneficent Deity.DoveLove; mourning of a widow.EagleCreation; preservation; destruction; power.EggLife.Eye of OsirisEye of the Eternal Judge over all.Feather of an OstrichTruth; justice. (The ostrich itself does not appear In Egyptian art.)Feathers of rare birdsSovereignty.FrogRenewed birth.HawkPower.IbisUsefulness; the heart.LizardDivine wisdom.LotusThe Sun; creation; resurrection.Nile KeyLife.Palm treeImmortality; longevity.PapyrusFood for mind and body.Pine coneFire.PomegranateLife.RosetteA lotus motive.Sail of a vesselBreath; the belief that the soul is inactive and worthless until revived by the breath of the mind.ScarabæusImmortality; resurrection; a ruling providence.Solar disk with serpentsRoyalty.SphinxBeneficent Being.Staff in the hands of the godsPurity.SunDeity; life.ViperPower.WheelDeity.ZigzagWater.

AssHumility; austerity.Banian or Burr TreeDeity (because of its outstretched branches and overshadowing beneficence).ButterflyBeneficence of Summer.Fylfot cross of BuddhismAuspiciousness.Knot and flower designDivine bounty and power.SerpentDesire.

Pine treesLong life.StorksLong life.TortoisesLong life.

Descending EagleBad luck.EagleLight; height.Flying EagleGood luck.HoundsFame; ever increasing honor.LeopardsFame; ever increasing honor.LionPower; victory.PeacockFire; light.PhœnixImmortality.Standing EagleGood luck.SunLight.SwordForce.Tree of healthImmortality.Tree of lifeKnowledge; truth.

The Coat of Arms of Persia is the Lion holding a sword in his paw, and with the Sun at his back.

CrescentIncreasing power.

The Turkish Coat of Arms is the Crescent and the Star. These heavenly bodies are supposed to signify growth.

AnemoneGood fortune.BatMaternity.BirdSpirit.BoarWinter.ButterflyEthereal soul.CircleEternity; perpetual continuity.Cypress treeTree of life; immortality; perfect and renewed life.DogDestruction; vigilance.ElephantPatient endurance; self-restraint.EvergreensImmortality.Fir ConeAn existence terminated but united--the union of the tribes against the dominion of Rome.FlyDestroying attribute.HareFertility.HeartMan morally.HippopotamusDestroying power.HogDeep meditation.JugKnowledge.LilyPurity.OliveConsecration to immortality.OwlWisdom.OxPatience; gentleness.PeacockResurrection (because of the annual renewing of its plumage, and from a belief in the incorruptibility of its flesh).PhœnixGood luck; herald of prosperity; birth of great men.PigUniversal kindness.RamSpiritual leadership.ReedRoyalty.RhinocerosReligious recluse.ScorpionInvincible knowledge.SerpentLife; immortality.SpearDestructive power.SpiderSlave of passion.SquirrelAverter of evil.StarsDivinity.SwastikaGood fortune.TurtleConstancy.WheelUniverse.WingsSpontaneous motion.WolfDestroying power.

AkhissarWhite Citadel.BagdadAbode of Peace.BakuPlace of Winds.BeluchistanLand of the Beluchis.BhagulporeTiger City.BokharaTreasury of Sciences; the Noble.DeccanThe South Land.DerbentFortified Gate.FarsLand of the Farsi or Persians.Fu-ChauHappy City.GilanThe Marshes.GulistanThe Rose Garden.HaiderabadGate of Salvation.HeratThe Pearl of Khorassan; the Gate of India.IslamabadAbode of Islam.IspahanPlace of Horses.JerusalemHeir of Peace.KandaharKey of India.KarabaghCountry of the Sun.Kara DaghBlack Mountains.KelatCastle.KhorassanLand of the Sun.KwatahCitadel.MeccaThe Heart of Islam; the Holy City.MeshedTomb of a Martyr.MirzaporeCity of the Emir.Ning-poPeaceful Wave.PeshawarAdvanced Fortress.SamarkandThe Head of Islam.Shang-haiApproaching the Sea.SrinagarCity of the Sun.TabrizPinnacle of Islam.TeheranThe Pure.YezdCity of Light; City of Worship.

Owing to the variety of ways in which the names of Oriental localities are spelled when transliterated, it is extremely difficult to establish a standard of spelling. Many curious examples of this occur both on maps and in dictionaries. It is certainly confusing to open an atlas that is supposed to be an authority, and find that the name one seeks differs in spelling from that used in the atlas first consulted. Then by looking into dictionaries it is found that each of these has a different way of spelling the word sought. Then turning to a guide book of the country there will probably be found not only another combination of the letters, but also a conflict between the descriptive matter in the book and the map accompanying it. When books of travel are consulted, the embarrassment is still further increased.

After having accepted a mode of spelling geographical names for use in this volume, I propose in the pages that follow to assist the reader to locate the places mentioned, by assigning them to their respective countries, so that at a glance he may identify them. This classification will also be a key to the map.

View larger image

Occasionally the name of a place has been inserted which is not rug-producing, but only a mart for the selling of rugs. This has seemed advisable as the names are intimately associated with the rug industry.

Afghanistan

Beluchistan

Chinese Empire

Province of East Turkestan

India

Japan

Persia

Russian Empire

Central Asia

Turkey in Asia

Africa

France

Greece

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