How To Identify Persian Rugs and Other Oriental Rugs

Written by C. J. Delabere May

Instruction, rather than discussion, is the keynote of the author's treatment of his subject in this manual, and he makes no apologies, therefore, for confining himself closely to facts, at the expense of theories and the interesting, though more irre­ levant, details of history, of geography, and of travel.
He aims at both simply and speedily placing within the grasp of his readers a· thorough know­ ledge of such facts as are necessary to enable them to identify any typical specimens of the better­ known classes of Oriental rugs, and to classify them, with regard to their type, their age, and their value.

Introduction

A simple and comprehensive system, devised for the identification of specimens submitted to our judgment, might conveniently be arranged to pro­ ceed upon two main lines of investigation, the first being based upon a study of the more general de­ tails of colour and design, and the second, upon an examination of the more particular and technical details of weave and of finish.
Each investigation is in its own way of equal importance, and either may lead us at a glance to the solution of our problem, at times how easily, may be judged, from the following illustrations:
A friend has bought two Persian rugs, and wishes for our opinion regarding them. Rug No.1 is small, the Field is covered with the well­ known 'Herati' pattern, the Border shows a simple floral design, the colours are rich and sub­ dued; we see at once that it is Persian, it could be nothing else, but its local district of origin remains still to be settled. We turn it over face down­ wards (noting, as we do so, the extreme thinness and flexibility of our specimen), so that we may examine the back, which, upon inspection, reveals a close and fine-grained weave, with the weft crossing but once between each row of knots; it is enough, this is one of the famous 'Sehna' rugs from the Sehna district of Persia, there could be no possible mistake about it now.
Rug No.2 displays a central field of faded peach colour, upon which are scattered various small designs worked in yellow, brown, and white, and surrounding a central medallion of rounded form; the colouring is Chinese, the de­ sign a mixture of Chinese and Persian; it is unneces­sary to examine further, at our first glance we knew it; not Persia was its home, but ancient Samarkand in Chinese Turkestan.
Without a knowledge of its technical peculiari­ties of weave we should less surely and less easily have recognised our Sehna, without a study of colour and design we should have been at a loss to identify our Samarkand, and to distinguish it from ilie rugs of China proper.
The story of colours and patterns is fully told, and the variations of weave and of finish discussed in detail, in subsequent chapters devoted to these subjects, and for the moment, satisfied with this mere indication of the lines upon which our learning will progress, we shall pass direct to our first real lesson, which is designed to teach us how best to learn to recognise the rug woven in Persia from every other rug of the East, and will lead, incident­ally, to a short discussion of the principal character­ istics of the remaining five well-defined groups of Oriental rugs, to-day known and recognised.

Persian Rugs Compared with Those of Other Groups

The Eastern rug world of to-day is conveniently regarded as consisting of six main groups or divisions, as follows:

1. China
2. Central Asia
3. Caucasia
4. Persia
5. Turkey
6. India

and it will be both helpful and interesting to the student to have some general knowledge of all these groups, particularly in regard to those characteristics which differentiate them from each other, and especially from the rugs of Persia. The above system of grouping is in the main geographically correct, but we must notice that there are certain exceptions to this (about six in number), instances in which the claims of history and the source of inspiration of the weaver, have been regarded as the factors of paramount importance. Such instances occur when, as here, we include under the heading of China the rugs of Samarkand, and regard as Persian the weavings of Bijars, of Herat, and of Mosul.

Chinese Rugs

These can be dismissed in a few words, and will give but little trouble, since their colours, colour-schemes, and designs resemble those ofno other group, and are so characteristic as to be recognised instantly. Yellows predominate, whilst their reds, peach, plum, and pomegranate, are shades found in no other rugs, and their designs, the Swastika, the Key, the Fret, Emblems, Dragons, Bats, and Butterflies, are here seen, but nowhere else. Medallions when present are rounded, in place pf the usual diamond shape.

Central Asian

These rugs are very distinctive on account of their characteristic patterns and their peculiar colour scheme, which produces its beautiful effect, not by the usual contrasting of colours, but by the domination of a single one. Their colours, which are rich and subdued, consist principally of varying shades of red, terracottas, maroons, and browns, whilst their patterns (never floral) are formed by some geometrical design, such as a diamond, hexagon, or octagon, repeated in rows throughout the Field.
The central medallion, so commonly encountered in the rugs of other groups, is not met with here.
The weavers employ the 'Sehna' knot, and commonly finish their sides with an 'Overcasting' or 'Double-Overcasting', of two or more cords; whilst of all the rags with long end-webs and fantastic fringes, none are found outside this group.

Caucasian Rugs

The colours ofthese rugs are lighter, brighter, and not always harmonious, whilst their patterns are invariably geometrical, but differ from those of the above group, in that they consist of the massing of various designs, and not the repetition of a single one.
Caucasian weavers exhibit a marked fondness for the use of the 'Latch-Hook' design, and it is seldom that this device is found to be absent from both Field and Border of their rugs.
They are finished with short, uncoloured endwebs, and tied invariably with the 'Ghiordes' knot, additional points which will serve to distinguish them from the rugs of Persia and Central Asia, with which they might possibly otherwise at times be confused.

Persian Rugs

These differ from the preceding groups, in that their designs are not geometrical, but essentially floral. Flowering shrubs, flowers in rows, flowers on stalks, with foliage, flower forms enclosed in some variety of trellis work, or diaper pattern, such are the motives of the weavers of Iran.
On those occasions when such designs are absent from the Field, their place is taken by one of the recognised repetitive patterns of Persia, such as the 'Pear' or 'Herati', but it is a notable and distinctive feature of Persian rugs, that floral forms are only on the very rarest occasions entirely missing from the borders, or the Swaying Vine from all the border stripes. Their colours are rich and subdued, and their colour-schemes owe their effect, largely, to skilful colour contrasting. Cotton will be found to be employed as the material for the 'Warp' threads, in roughly one-half of the districts of Persia, and the presence of a cotton 'Warp' is strongly suggestive evidence of a Persian origin, and particularly so, since in Caucasia, Turkey, and Central Asia wool is the material of choice.

Turkish Rugs

The designs of these rugs, like those of the preceding group, consist essentially of floral motives, but their flower forms are conventional rather than natural, whilst the repetitive patterns of Persia, the 'Herati', the 'Mina Khani' and the 'Pear' are never met with.
In their drawing, heavy angular lines take the place of graceful curves, and, although in the borders conventionalised and degenerated flower and leaf forms are very constant, the 'Swaying Vine' is missing.
The colours are rich and boldly massed, but the pile is comparatively lustreless, and presents a contrast to the silky sheen ofthe old Persian or Central Asian pieces. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this group consists in the fact that the large majority of these rugs are Prayer rugs (at least such is the case amongst the older specimens), and can be recognised immediately, by the presence of the Prayer Arch, whilst in other groups such pieces are rarely encountered, and in the Persian especially so.
Their weavers employ the 'Ghiordes' knot, and exhibit a preference for coloured end-webs of moderate length.

Indian Rugs

Their designs are mainly floral, and the treatment more or less naturalistic, so that, in theory, they resemble the rugs of Persia, though, in actual practice, they differ widely from them.
They are to all intents and purposes modern productions, and bear the stamp ofthe commercial system under which they were woven, in their nondescript patterns, their coarse weave, and heavy pile.
Plainness and lack of elaboration in pattern drawing, large dead spaces of plain colour, these are labour-savers, the hall-marks of modern work. The wool of the pile is notably dull and lustreless, and, since India took both early and eagerly to the use of aniline dyes, no small proportion of these specimens will be found to be suffering from this taint.
To the collector it matters nothing, hard wearing or hard woven though these modern products be, since in them the spirit ofthe East has perished, dead as the Arts of Mogul craftsmen and the lost magic of the potters of Kang-hsi.

Patterns and Designs

These may conveniently be considered under two headings, patterns of the Field, and patterns of the Border; the 'Field' consisting of the square central portion of the rug, and the 'Border' of the narrow stripes enclosing it.
The Border may consist of a single stripe, or of a broad or principal stripe surrounded by comparatively narrow stripes, or it may be composed of a varying number of stripes ofequal width; and for a consideration of these details a later space is reserved, since it is our intention here to deal only with the more important of those designs, which may be recognised, scattered as isolated units throughout the Fields of Eastern rugs, or repeated, to form an all-over, repetitive pattern.

The Herati Design

Found only in the form of an all-over pattern, and peculiar to the rugs of Persia, it is the favourite device of the weavers of Sehna and Feraghan, common in the rugs of Herat and Kurdistan, and to be found on occasions in specimens from almost every Persian district.
Great variations are to be noted, in the size and elaboration of its drawing, but the true elements of the design, the four crumpled-leaf forms, surrounding a central figure of diamond shape, are at all times easily discernible, to the practised observer.

The Mina Khani

A design peculiar to Persia, it is seen only in the form of an all-over, repetitive pattern, but is less widely distributed than the 'Herati' and far less frequently encountered. Its elements consist of a diamond shaped figure and five flower forms (more or less conventionalised, as the case may be), one at each angle of the diamond and one centrally placed. It is a pattern greatly favoured by Kurdish tribesmen, and comparatively seldom met with in specimens not of their weaving.

The Pear or Cone Design

Repeated to form an all-over pattern, this is perhaps the commonest of all Persian Field designs, and is most frequently encountered in the weavings of Sarabend, Shiraz, Herat, Khorassan, and Sehna, but is not peculiar to any district of Persia.
The Pear device may further be encountered as an isolated unit, in the Field or Border of almost any Persian rug, or, again, in a more geometrical form in a few of the weavings of the Caucasus, and notably those of Baku. As an all-over pattern, it is to be found in an elongated form at times in the rugs of India.

The Rosette

This is merely a conventionalised or degenerated flower form, and is commonly met with in the rugs of Persia and Turkey, and more rarely encountered in the weavings of the Caucasus, and those of Central Asia.

The Eight-Pointed Star

This design, a hall-mark of nomad weaving, is to be encountered at times in the rugs of almost every group, with the exception of China. It is found, however, on occasions, in the rugs of Samarkand as are also the Rosette, the Eight-pointed Star, and the Bi-Cleft Leaf which, the presence of any of these symbols, would help to distinguish from the rugs of China proper.

The Cloud Band

A very ancient device, Mongolian in origin, found sometimes in the Fields or Borders of sixteenth- or seventeenth-century Persian rugs. Occasionally met with in older or modern Sirapis.

The Bi-Cleft Leaf

An old Armenian symbol, which may at times be encountered to-day in the Fields of the weavings of Turkey and Caucasia. Unlikely to be found in a Persian rug.

The Latch-Hook Design

This device might almost be considered the distinguishing mark of the products of the Caucasus, since it is rarely absent, from both Field and Border, of a Caucasian rug, and but infrequently found in the rugs of other groups. It is generally used in series, to fringe some geometrical design, such as a diamond or an octagon. This design is rarely seen in Persian rugs, except in those of Shiraz.

===The Comb===Found present, as an adventitious design, in the Fields or Borders of Caucasian rugs, and more rarely in those of Turkey and Central Asia. Not used in Persia.

The Octagon

Not found in Persian rugs, but common, as adventitious designs, in either Held or Border of those of other groups.

The Diamond

Ditto as above. These adventitious designs are not in favour with, the Persian weaver, doubtless because he prefers flower forms with which to fill his dead spaces.

The Elephant-Foot Pattern

This is merely a coarser form of Octagon, and is peculiar to the Central Asian group, and found for the most part in rugs of a coarse and modern type.

The 'S' Design

These 'S' designs are seen at times in Turkish and Caucasian rugs.

The Swastika (a), The 'T' (b), and The Key (c)

These devices are peculiar to the rugs of China. The Key design is also rarely met with, as a subsidiary stripe pattern, in the Turcoman weavings of Central Asia.

The Henna Flower Design

A purely Persian fancy. Repeated in rows to form an 'all-over' pattern, it is comparatively rarely encountered. A rug bearing this design is almost certain to be a Feraghan.

The Palmette

Associated with the 'Cloud band', this device is a characteristic feature of the antique, so-called Ispahan rugs.

A Persian Leaf Pattern

Designed upon some what the same principle as the 'Herati'; but with straight spear-shaped leaves, and with their bases set towards the central figure. This design usually is coarsely rendered, and a single figure sometimes suffices for the entire Field pattern of a small rug. It is not frequently encountered, and is peculiar to the rugs of Khorassan. The beak-like processes, so characteristic of the Khorassan border stripe, are reproduced here, and are probably leaf forms.

The Central Medallion

This is merely a panel or reserve, introduced into the design of the Field for decorative effect, and is not therefore strictly speaking itself a pattern, but rather an adjunct to a pattern. These medallions may vary considerably in size and importance, and may be classified according to their shape, as rounded, oval, lozenge (diamond-shaped), or geometrical, ie. hexagonal or octagonal. In Persian rugs it is rare to find any but the oval or lozenge variety employed, and these may be with or without pendants, lobed or plain, and with stepped or plain sides.
Two special variations of the central medallion call for separate mention, and these are the 'concentric' medallions peculiar to Gorevans and the 'chain' medallion, so commonly seen in Hamadans and Shirazis. The former arrangement consists of a series of medallions enclosed, the one within the other, and having a common centre, the latter, of a series of medallions placed end to end and continuous with one another, their centres lying upon the same axis.

The Diaper (Honeycomb or Lattice)

To this class of design belong all those patterns in which the Field of the rug is divided into a number of small compartments of similar size and shape, by intersecting bands of trellis or lattice work. The diaper is classified according to the shape of these compartments, as octagonal, hexagonal, diamond, etc. The compartments themselves are seldom empty, but are occupied by some small design which is likely to be floral in character if the rug is Persian, but geometrical if the pieces Caucasian.
Diaper designs are rarely encountered in the weavings of Turkey or Central Asia.

Details of Weave and Finish

The structure of an Eastern rug is very simple, composed as it is of four elements only: the Warp, the Weft, the Knots, and the Pile; and this scheme of structure is never departed from, though the treatment of the elements themselves may, and does, vary considerably with the country and district of manufacture.
The constancy of these district variations and their persistence, unchanged by contact with adjoining neighbourhoods, is a notable feature of these products, and is largely due, no doubt, to the fact that his system of weaving is learnt by the weaver in childhood, and becoming, at an early age, an almost automatic process, is therefore unlikely to be departed from in later life.
It is their very constancy -that makes a knowledge of these variations of the highest importance to any who would master the study of Persian rugs, and alone makes possible, in many difficult cases, an accuracy of localisation impossible to be obtained by any other method of investigation.

The Warp

This is the term applied to the stout longitudinal threads, which stretch from end to end of the rug, and appear free in the end-webs and fringes. These form the foundation of the rug, the knots being tied upon them, and the weft threaded around them.

The Weft

These are the transverse threads which traverse the rug from side to side, passing in front of, and behind, alternate warp threads. They are hidden from view in front by the pile, but are easily distinguished upon the back aspect of the rug as they pass across it between each row of knots.
It should be noted that in the body of the rug the warp is thus almost entirely obscured from view, being hidden by the pile and the weft in front, and covered by the weft and the knots behind. A glance at Figure 18 should materially aid us to form a clear conception of these arrangements of weft and of warp.

The Knots

These are hardly knots, in the true sense of the word, but rather twists of yarn, kept in place merely by the pressure ofneighbouring warp threads at the sides, and the weft above and below.
Each knot is tied upon two adjacent threads of the warp, and appears on the back aspect of the rug as consisting of two equal halves (the exceptions to this being noted under the discussion on Warp arrangement), the warp itself being thus divided up by this means into a series of twin pairs of threads.
Knots of two types only are employed by Eastern weavers, namely, the Ghiordes or Turkish, and the Sehna or Persian, and these differ but slightly in their method of tying, this difference being easily appreciated from a careful study of the accompanying diagrams.
It will be noticed as characteristic ofthe Ghiordes knot that its two ends (the extremities of which form the pile) emerge together in a single tuft from between the two threads upon which the knot is tied, whilst in the case of the Sehna, these ends emerge separately, one from between the two warp threads, and one from outside them.
A true appreciation of this simple detail will enable us at all times to distinguish our two knots by the application of the following practical test which will suffice for all we need. We take the tuft, otherwise the pile, of a single knot and attempt carefully to separate the two ends forming it so as to expose to view a portion of one of the warp threads upon which it is tied. In the case of a Sehna knot we shall easily be able to accomplish our object, but in the case ofa Ghiordes all our efforts will prove unavailing, and will merely serve to twist it the tighter round its warp threads. It is very desirable to be able to effect this distinction, and we suggest the following alternative method in case our readers may prefer it. On a careful examination of what might well be termed the collar of the knot the whole tuft of pile will be seen to emerge from under it if it be a Ghiordes, but part of the tuft only if it be a Sehna and the remainder from beside it, and to the right or left of the collar as the case may be.

The Pile

This element is very simple, and consists merely of the free ends of the yarn composing the knots trimmed by the weaver to the requisite length.
The Warp: This element admitsof three methods of treatment which are as follows:
1. The warp threads He all in the same plane.
2. Alternate warp threads are depressed.
3. Alternate warp threads are completely buried.
1. In this case all warp threads appear equally prominent at the back of the rug, since all lie at the same level and in the same plane.
This is the common practice, and is the method employed by all weavers other than Persian, whilst it is the arrangement followed in the rugs of certain districts of Persia itself, as, for example, the weavings of Sehna, Shiraz, Sarabend, Feraghan, Hamadan, Karadagh, and Kurdistan, Gorevan (sometimes), and Mosul.
2. When this method is employed the warp threads no longer lie all at the same level, since in the weaving, alternate threads are drawn forward, and therefore appear depressed below the level of the remainder, upon the back aspect of the rug.
A practice with a few Turkish exceptions peculiar to Persia, it is distinctive of the weavings of Gorevan, Herez, Joshaghan, Niris, Sirapi, and Kurdistan (sometimes).
3. In this method of weaving the alternate warp threads are drawn forward and under the remaining threads so as to be completely buried by them, and therefore invisible at the back of the rug.
By this means it will be noted a double foundation is secured, and such rugs are never thin (like, for example, a Sehna), however fine the weave or short the nap. It is a practice confined to Persia, and is the plan adopted by the weavers of Kashan, Sarouk, Kirman, Kermanshah, Bijar, Tabriz, Sarabend, Khorassan, and Herat.
It is worthy, perhaps, of passing notice that of all the fine-grained, close-woven rugs of Persia only one, namely, the Sehna, is to be found outside this group.
The Weft: In the large majority of Persian rugs it is customary to find that the weft crosses twice that is to say, crosses and recrosses between each row of knots, and the following should therefore be noted since they are exceptions to the general rule. In Sehnas and Hamadans the weft crosses but once only, in Mosul and Kurdish weavings it may cross either once, or more usually twice, whilst in the rugs of Herat and Khorassan the number of the crossings varies from two to three or more, at intervals, in the same specimen, a unique feature not found anywhere else. Comparisons of colour, appearance, and material may also prove of value for purposes of identification, since the single weft of the Hamadan would be coarse, whilst that of the Sehna would be fine; the weft of the Mosul or Kurdish would be wool (coarse), that of the Hamadan or Sehna cotton. The very fine blue weft of the Kashan, almost hidden between the close-pressed rows of knots, or the pink-dyed, coarseish woollen weft of the more loosely woven Shiraz, are features typical of these specimens; whilst outside the Persian group, the fine reddish-brown weft of the Bergamo (Turkish) and the equally fine greyish-brown of die Royal Bokhara (Central Asia) are distinctive of these rugs.
The Knots: These, as we have already seen, are of two varieties, namely, the Ghiordes and the Sehna.
The Sehna knot is always employed in the rugs of the Central Asian group, and is used in Persia, also in the rugs of certain of its districts, namely, those of Kirman, Kashan, Sarouk, Kermanshah, Sehna, Sarabend, Meshed, Shiraz, Feraghan, and Khorassan.
The Ghiordes knot is in use throughout Turkey and the Caucasus, and is found in the following Persian weavings: namely, those of Gorevan, Hamadan, Bijars, Joshaghan, Tabriz, Shiraz (but less frequently than the Sehna), Mosul, Niris, Karadagh, Kurdistan, and Herat.
The Pile or Nap: A study of the material employed and its quality, whilst providing us with valuable evidence as to the age and excellence of a rug, will contribute but little in the majority of cases towards its identification.
Few rugs possess an individuality of pile sufficient to aid us materially in this research, but some show features sufficiently marked to be worthy perhaps of a passing notice. Attention has already been directed towards the peculiarly dull and lustreless character of this element in the Indian group; and proceeding directly to a consideration of the rugs of Persia we shall here encounter one or two interesting minor details. It is a characteristic of the older Hamadans, and one which serves to distinguish them from the more modern products of this district as well as from other Persian weavings, that the pile is largely composed of camel's hair; an unusual feature, rarely found elsewhere.
The nap is notably silky in the rugs of Herat and Khorassan, and in the older Shirazis, while it is unusually velvety in specimens of Kashan, Sarouk, and Sehna.
It is remarkably closely trimmed in the weavings of Tabriz, Kashan, Sarouk, and Sehna; and outside the Persian group in the Royal Bokharas of Central Asia.
The 'weave' is the general term applied to the resulting aggregate of the above details, and depends upon the weaver's treatment of them, but particularly upon the technique of the knot.
The weave may be of coarse, medium, or fine grain, according to the coarseness of the yarn with which it is tied, and it may be either close or loose in texture, a question governed largely by the treatment of the knots, whether these be drawn tight and hammered down, or the reverse procedure adopted. It can be easily understood that coarseness (stoutness) of weave does not preclude closeness, or fineness necessarily denote it, and a comparison of the number of knots to the inch a fair criterion though it be for the modern commercial products and the fetish though it is of dealers is by no means the surest key to a proper appreciation of the standard of merit and excellence of workmanship of many of the older weavings.
All considerations are of value to the student that will assist him in his learning by enabling him to divide his subject into parts, and the question of weave will be found particularly useful for this purpose, since it enables us to subdivide the total unwieldy mass of Persian rugs into small groups.
Group 1: Weave offine grain and close texture: Kashan, Sarouk, Sehna, Tabriz, and Sarabend.
Group 2: Weave of medium grain and close texture: Joshaghan, Kermanshah, Khorassan, and Meshed.
Group 3: Weave of coarse grain and close texture: Bijar, Mosul, Hamadan, Kurdistan, Herat, and Feraghan.
Group 4: Weave of loose texture and fine grain: nil.
Group 5: Weave of loose texture and medium grain: Shiraz, Niris, and Karadagh.
Group 6: Weave of loose texture and coarse grain: Gorevan and Herez.

The Details of Finish

The Finish of the Ends: This usually consists of a web continued by a fringe, the web being composed of the interwoven threads of the warp and weft, and the fringe consisting merely of the subsequent continuation of the free warp ends. The end-web may be long or short, coloured or plain, according to the local traditions of the weaver. In old specimens it will be not infrequently noticed that all trace of end finish has completely disappeared, destroyed by time and wear.
The Finish of the Sides: The weft having traversed the rug is made to encircle a stout cord lying beside it, and recrossing is wrapped around a similar cord on the other side, this process continuing until both are covered from end to end by the weft. This method we shall describe as 'weftovercasting'. A thread of coloured yarn may now be wound around the cords previously covered (overcast) by the weft, giving us a method of finish which we shall term 'double-overcasting'. In place of one heavy cord at each side two or more may be employed, which methods we shall designate two-cord, three-cord, etc., overcasting, or double-overcasting, as the case may be.
The term 'selvage' is reserved for the method employed, when no heavy side cords are used, and the simple warp and weft are prolonged outwards beyond the pile, to form side webs similar in structure to the end webs. This is the general practice throughout the Central Asian group, with the exception of the Bokhara but is not elsewhere employed except on rare occasions in the weavings of the Caucasus.

Persian Rugs and Their Type Analysis

Hitherto, we have mainly concerned ourselves with the acquisition of a general knowledge of the rugs of Persia and their various types, and it remains for us still to acquire that particular knowledge of detail, which alone can supply the connection between our general knowledge and its practical application.
Below will be found a separate and detailed analysis of the characteristics of each of the better-known classes of Persian rugs, with comments upon their special or peculiar features, whose significance will be readily understood and appreciated in virtue of our recently gained knowledge. For the sake of convenience of reference the rugs will be discussed in alphabetical order.

Bijars

These rugs are comparatively easy to recognise, since they alone (with the exception of Herats) present the combination of a stout (coarse) weave and a Ghiordes knot with the 'buried thread' system of warp treatment. Their colours, chiefly reds and blues, are often boldly massed and tend to remind us at times of the rugs of Turkey.
Field Patterns: Not distinctive. Seldom elaborate. A central medallion is a frequently encountered feature.
Borders: Simple in character and consisting usually of three 'stripes' only. Patterns not distinctive.<be> Warp (Wool): Alternate warp threads are 'doubled under' thus producing a double foundation.
Weft: Wool (dyed red or plain) crosses twice between each row of knots.
Knot: Ghiordes.
Weave: Coarse and close.
Pile: On rare occasions this is composed in part of camel's hair.

Feraghans

The Feraghan is one of the few rugs in which we find the Sehna knot combined with a weave of coarse grain.
Their weavers, too, are remarkable for the consistent use of certain designs, the 'Herati' being on most occasions the chosen Field pattern, and the so-called 'Turtle' that of the principal Border stripe.
The inmost Border stripe bears almost invariably a reciprocal 'saw-tooth' pattern, and a further constant feature of these rugs is the presence of four small triangular corners to the Field, each being marked off from the remainder of the Field by a serrated edge.
Field Patterns: Almost invariably the 'Herati', but rarely a repeated 'Henna flower', or some form of 'Diaper' pattern. In many of tlie older specimens, the design is in old rose-pink, and so closely and finely drawn as almost to obscure the dark-blue ground upon which it is woven. A central medallion is common in the moderns, but is found on occasions in the old rugs also.
Borders: Characteristic and elaborate, presenting commonly seven stripes. The main stripe is wide and well marked, and displays as a rule the so-called 'Turtle' design, whilst in many of the older and finer specimens, its ground colour is a green, of a peculiar and light grass shade. The inner stripe, as akeady stated, bears almost invariably some form of 'saw-tooth' pattern.
Warp (Cotton): All threads lie in the same plane, and therefore each is equally prominent on the back of the rug.
Weft: Crosses twice between each row of knots.
Knot: Selma. It is often stated that the Ghiordes knot also is employed at times by these weavers, but the author himself has never seen a genuine Feraghan tied with this knot, and believes all such pieces to be nondescript copies of uncertain origin.
Weave: Coarse grain and close texture.
Pile: Short in the old specimens, but of medium length in the more modern. Of fine quality, silky, and lustrous.

Gorevans

Easily recognised by their concentric, diamond-shaped, central medallions, with stepped sides, and their consistent use of the 'Turtle' pattern, in the principal Border stripe. Their colours, too, shades of terracotta, apricot, and blue, are peculiarly distinctive, and once seen are difficult to forget.
Field Patterns: Concentric medallions with stepped sides, occupy the centre of the Field, whilst throughout the remainder are scattered degenerated leaf and flower forms, on heavy angular stalks; the style of the drawing reminding us greatly ofthat seen on antique Turkish rugs.
Borders: Stripes usually three to five in number. The main stripe is wide and well marked, and usually displays a slight modification of the 'Turtle' design of the Feraghans.
Warp (Cotton): Alternate warp threads are slightly depressed, but sometimes all are equally prominent.
Weft: Crosses twice.
Knot: Ghiordes.
Weave: Coarse grain and loose texture.
Size: These weavings come only in carpet size and are rarely found as small rugs.
Finish: The end-webs may be coloured, a feature found in but few Persian rugs.

Hamadans

Typical specimens of these are perhaps the easiest of all Persian rugs to recognise at sight, on account of the large proportions of camel's hair to be found in the pile, and the broad and conspicuous outer edging, also of plain camel's hair, which are the hall-marks of the older pieces. A close examination distinguishes them from all others with even greater certainty, since it reveals in these rugs a weft of coarse cotton, which crosses but once only, between each row of knots.
Field Patterns: 'Trellis' work and 'Diaper' patterns (the so-called 'mirror' design is merely a complex diaper) are common. The central medallion is frequently met with, and the 'chain medallion' is a popular motive.
Borders: Simple. Usually three to five stripes. Patterns not distinctive.
Warp (Cotton): All threads lie in the same plane.
Weft: A single coarse thread of cotton crosses once only between each row of knots.
Knot: Ghiordes.
Pile: Largely composed of camel's hair.
Weave: Coarse grain and close texture.
Edging: This broad outer edging of plain camel's hair, frequently as wide as the total Border, is a most distinctive and striking feature.

Herats

They alone, with the rugs of Bijars, combine the features of a coarse weave, and a Ghiordes knot with the 'buried thread' system of warp treatment. In addition, the weavers employ a principal Border stripe of a most characteristic and distinctive pattern. A small rug is rarely a Herat, since these come as large square rugs of carpet size.
Field Patterns: Commonly the 'Herati' design or the 'pear'. The 'pear' pattern, when used here, presents one unusual feature, in that the stalks are made to face all one way, instead of facing in opposite directions, in alternate rows.
Borders: The pattern of the main stripe is a very characteristic one, and once seen is not easily mistaken.
Weft: The treatment of the weft also presents a most unusual feature, since for a space the weft crosses twice between each row of knots, but for the next interval of several rows or more, it will be found crossing three times, and so on, with these alternations continuing throughout the structure.
Knot: Ghiordes.
Weave: Coarse grain and close texture.
Pile: Unusually silky.
Size: Come usually in carpet size only as large square rugs.
Warp: Cotton, rarely Wool. Alternate threads are buried.

Ispahans

Few rugs are woven there to-day, or have been since the removal of the capital from Ispahan to Shiraz in 1760, nor are their characteristics sufficiently distinctive to warrant a separate type analysis for these. The tradition of a former greatness still, however, lingers in the East, so that the Persian rug merchant of to-day prefers this name to almost any for his wares. Incidentally my readers will find that 'Kashan' is another of those terms so frequently to the tip of his tongue and with which he is inclined at times to take unwarrantable liberties. The so-called Ispahans fifteenth- to seventeenth-century antiques were more probably woven at Herat, and specimens of these are still to be found upon the market to-day, although their contemporaries, the Animal carpets, Garden carpets, and other masterpieces of that golden age of Persian art, have long since disappeared from private hands into museums and collections of national importance.
These Ispahans, though rare pieces, are still to be met with, and still to be bought, at a price, and, accordingly, it behoves the present-day collector to have some practical knowledge of their distinguishing characteristics, which are as follows:
Patterns: Very distinctive. Foliage and flower forms on graceful curling stems, combined with a prominent use of the 'Palmette' and 'cloud band' motives. The Palmettes are always obvious, but the 'cloud bands' may be replaced by leaf forms which are long, curling, and serrated, and very graceful.
Colours: Field ground ofa deep rose-pink, with patterns in emerald green, and a small quantity of yellow, blue, and white. Principal Border stripe laid in emerald or olive green.

Joshaghans

Perhaps most easily identified by the negative process ofexcluding other types, since these rugs are lacking, in any very characteristic or distinctive features. They are, however, fine specimens of Persian workmanship, well woven, of rich, deep mellow colouring, and with a pile of unusual lustre.
Field Patterns: Generally of the usual floral types. Frequently a trellis-work or diaper pattern, more rarely, the 'Herati' or the 'pear'.
Borders: Not distinctive. Stripes usually three in number.
Warp: Alternate threads depressed. Rarely all are level.
Weft: Crosses twice between each row of knots.
Knot: Ghiordes.
Weave: Medium fine grain and close texture.

Karadagh

In no other Persian rugs are Caucasian designs so likely to apt>ear, or even on occasions displace, the floral motives of Iran, either in Field or Border.
Field Patterns: A 'Diaper* or 'row' pattern is common, 'Herati' and 'pear' seen at times.
Borders: Not distinctive.
Warp (Wool): All threads level at the back of the rug.
Weft: Crosses twice between each row of knots.
Knot: Ghiordes.
Weave: Medium coarse grain and close texture.
Finish: Sides, a two or three-cord 'doubleovercasting'. A simple double-overcasting (one cord) is the general rule for Persian rugs and may be taken as holding good in all cases where nothing to the contrary is stated in the Type Analysis.

Kashans

In fineness of grain and closeness of texture these rugs are surpassed by no other products of the looms of Persia. With their characteristic designs, their dark, rich colouring, and their notably short and velvety nap, they present a type by no means difficult of identification.
Field Patterns: