The Rug Primer

Written by Clifford & Lawton, New York.

Geography furnishes a fairly satisfactory basis for an accurate and comprehensive classification of Oriental rugs—and by geography we mean the geography of to-day, and not the geography of a century ago—which is still affected by so many who pretend to be Oriental experts.
pretend to be Oriental experts. The pile of Oriental rugs consists of rows of knots separately tied to the warp threads and held in place by the filling threads. The pile is almost invariably of loosely-spun wool—in certain exceptional types of camel's hair or goat's hair. The web (warp and filling) of most Turkish, Caucasian and Transcaspian rugs is of wool. In Persian rugs the web, particularly of the finest modern weaves, is often entirely of cotton.
Afghan Rugs are woven not in Afghanistan, as might be expected, but mostly by nomadic tribes of Bokhara. They are coarser in weave and heavier than Bokhara rugs and darker in shade. They come in medium sizes, and at both ends is a selvage either plain red or striped with blue lines.

Agra

A city in India (q.v.), no miles southeast of Delhi and 841 miles by rail northwest of Calcutta, with a population of 188,300. The public buildings and the monuments are magnificent, the most famous being the Taj Mahal (q. v.). Agra rugs have no especial design character, as they are largely made from designs furnished by New York or London, and consequently they appear not only in reproductions of antique Indian, Persian and Turkish rugs, but in modern variations of old designs and in any colors desired.

Ahmedabad

A city in India (q.v.), 290 miles north of Bombay, with a population of 180700.

Akhissar (Axar)

A city in Turkey 100 miles northeast of Smyrna (see map). Formerly most Akhissar Rugs had a mohair pile, but now the product is similar to that of Oushak (q.v.).

Amritsar

A city in India (q. v.), 36 miles from Lahore the capital of the Punjab, with a population of 162548. Amritsar Rugs are firm in texture, and have fast colors. The best are called Pushmina, from the kind of wool of which they are made.

Anatolia

Anatolia is another name for Asia Minor, the part of Asiatic Turkey west of a line drawn from Trebizond to Aleppo (see map). Anatolian might not incorrectly be used to describe any rug woven in Asia Minor. As a matter of fact, Anatolians usually come from the provinces of Angora and Konieh, and are small pieces with mohair pile. The term is also used for job lots, the origin of which is obscure or a matter of indifference. (See also Kurdish Anatolians.)
Anatolian Kis Kelim: Many young women in Anatolia weave as a betrothal gift to their husbands a kis kelim or "bridal tapestry." These kelim s vary from 3x4 to 7x15 feet, the larger being in two pieces sewed together. (See Kelim.)

Angora

A city, capital of the Anatolian province of Angora that is noted for the fine quality of wool produced.

Antique Rugs

Rugs over fifty years old may properly be called antiques. If in good condition they bring prices out of the reach of the ordinary trade. Practically all of the best antiques are in museums or private collections. Many of the large rugs now sold as antiques are modern examples that have been "aged."

Askhabad

A city in Russian Central Asia on the Transcaspian Railway (see map), 343 miles east of Krasnovodsk. It owes its chief importance to the fact that a carriage road 170 miles long connects it with Meshed (q.v.). Tekke Rugs (q.v.) are shipped from Askhabad.

Ardebil

A famous Persian rug, now in the South Kensington Museum, London. It was discovered in Ardebil, a Persian town on the west shore of the Caspian Sea, in the Province of Azerbaijan. According to the inscription woven upon it, the rug was woven by "Maksoud, the Slave of the Holy Place, of Kashan," in 1535. Size, thirty-four feet by seventeen feet six inches, containing 321500000 hand tied knots. Price paid by the museum, $12500. It was woven at Kasham (q.v.).

Armenia

The northeast corner of Turkey in Asia—the territory bounded on the west by Anatolia (q.v.), on the north by Russia, on the east by Persia, on the south by Mesopotamia (q.v.). The area is one and one-half times that of New York State, the population one-third as much. In the wider sense it also embraces the southern part of Transcaucasia (acquired by Russia from Persia in 1828 and from Turkey in 1878) and the northwest corner of Persia. Southern Armenia is also called Kurdistan (q.v.). The principal city of Turkish Armenia is Erzerum, and the highest point (17000 feet) in Armenia is Mount Ararat (where some of the pious believe they can still see the remains of Noah's Ark), situated where the frontiers of Russia, Persia and Turkey meet.
Most of the Armenians belong to the Armenian Church (the first national Christian church, founded in 312 a.d.), with a patriarch at Constantinople, who is nominally under the Catholikos, residing in Russian Armenia, and appointed by the Russian Government.
The Kurds of Armenia are employed by the Sultan as police, and have been charged by the Christian world generally with responsibility for the Armenian massacres of 1895 and 1896.
The rugs woven in Turkish Armenia belong some to the Caucasian (q.v.) type, some to the Kurdish (q.v.) type.

Bagdad

A city in Mesopotamia (q.v.) on the Tigris, four days by steamer from the Persian Gulf and 220 miles southwest of Kermanshah in Persia (see map). It has a population of 150000, and the long-awaited arrival of the German railway that is to connect it via Konieh with Constantinople will greatly increase its importance. Bagdad's ancient fame is celebrated in "The Arabian Nights." Until the Suez Canal was opened the commerce from India to Europe passed through it. It is still a market for the products of Western Persia. In the year ending June 30, 1903, the value of the rugs declared for export to the United States was $149086. The few rugs woven in the vicinity are of the Kurdish (q.v.) type.

Baku

Baku is a port on the Caspian, in the heart of the Russian petroleum district. Many Caucasian rugs are shipped from here. (See Caucasus.)

Beluchistan

The country bounded by Persia on the west, Afghanistan on the north and India on the east. The government of the larger part of Beluchistan is administered by native chiefs subject to the Khan of Kelat, who is advised by a British political agent, representing the Governor-General of India. The districts of Quetta and Bolan in the northeast are administered by British officials; the territory east of Quetta is now treated as part of British India. The area of Beluchistan is two and two-thirds that of New York State. The population 800000, which is about one-ninth as much. Almost all of Beluchistan is mountain or desert, and inland transportation is by camel.

Belouche Rugs

Rugs woven in Beluchistan are called Belouches, after the tribes that inhabit it and the adjacent part of Persia. These rugs come mostly in small sizes, and a large part of the field usually has a pile of camel's hair.<be>

Bergamo

A city in Turkey, forty miles north of Smyrna (see map). Its magnificence in Roman days is attested by history and by extensive ruins.

Bergamo Rugs

are made entirely of wool, with high pile ; broad, red side selvages ; long, braided fringes; and medallion in a well-covered field. The predominating colors are red, green and yellow. They come in small and medium sizes, mostly square.

Bibikabad

A village in Persia, not far from Hamadan (q.v.), weaving rugs of a similar type.

Bijar

A town in western Persia (see map), in the province of Kurdistan. Bijar rugs woven by Kurdish tribes resemble Sarakhsrugs (q.v.), and like them are often called Lules (q.v.). They are too thick and heavy to be rolled, and both warp and filling are of wool.

Bokhara

A city in Russia, on the Transcaspian Railway (q.v.), 700 miles by rail east of Krasnovodsk. It is the capital of the Khanate of Bokhara, a principality dependent on and merged into the Russian Empire since 1868. The Khanate has an area about three times that of New York State and a population less than half. Agriculture and grazing are principal occupations.

Bokhara Rugs

are widely known and easily recognized. The field has horizontal rows of octagonal figures separated by smaller diamond-shaped figures, and in color is a rich red with blue and white predominating in the figures. Bokharas come in small and medium sizes and are renowned for close texture, superior wool, excellent dye and phenomenal durability.
Formerly Bokhara was used as a general term to designate all rugs from the district now traversed by the Transcaspian Railway—Tekke, Sarik, Afghan, Khiva, Yomud—and the names Tekke Bokhara, Khiva Bokhara, Yomud Bokhara, are still commonly employed. The price of all these rugs advanced sharply toward the end of the year 1903.

Burujird

A village in Persia, south of Hamadan (q.v.), weaving rugs of similar type.

Bushire

A city 120 miles west of Shiraz. It is the chief port on the Persian gulf and the chief emporium of British and Indian trade with southern Persia.

Camel's Hair

is used undyed in the pile of Hamadan, Belouche and other Oriental rugs.