THE MATERIALS
AS was the case with the earliest shepherd weavers, many nomads living
in unfrequented parts of Asia spin the wool taken from their own flocks,
then colour it with dyes brewed from roots and herbs that they have
personally gathered, and finally weave it according to well-known
patterns into fabrics. But in large, enlightened communities the
manufacture of an Oriental rug involves a division of labour. From the
shepherds the professional dyers obtain the wool, which, after
colouring, they sell to weavers; and these in turn often receive their
patterns from others. A knowledge of these separate steps involving the
industries of producing the different materials and the crafts of
dyeing, weaving, and designing is essential to a full understanding of
any Oriental woven fabric.
The materials that were formerly used in weaving were generally of
animal origin, such as the wool of sheep, goats, and camels. To a more
limited extent silk and cotton also were used, and occasionally hair of
the yak, cow, and even human hair. In later years, when there arose a
western demand for eastern fabrics so that the aim of the weaver was to
produce an article as cheaply as possible, flax, hemp, jute, and larger
quantities of cotton were sometimes substituted. Since all of these
materials are indigenous to the country where they are used, and are
affected by its climate, altitude, humidity, and fertility, they acquire
qualities that frequently give to rugs a distinctly local character.
[Illustration: PLATE 3. KIRMAN RUG]
The wool of sheep constitutes the warp and weft of at least half the
Oriental rugs and the pile of over ninety per cent. To be sure, in Japan
the pile is largely jute and cotton; in a few of the districts of Asia
Minor and Persia it is mercerised cotton or silk; and in districts where
the camel is still a beast of burden its wool and fine hair are often
substituted for other kinds; but throughout all the rug-weaving
countries of the East the wool of the sheep has been and still is
preferred to all other materials for the pile of rugs. This is due not
alone to its warmth, to the facility with which it can be spun and
twisted into knots, but also to the fact that from the remotest times
the inhabitants of these districts, like Abraham of old, have been
shepherds, who followed their calling because over the steppes of
Tartary and the great plateaus that extend through Asia Minor, Persia,
Afghanistan, and Turkestan spread vast pasture lands that seem better
suited than any other parts of the world for the nourishment of sheep
with fine fleeces. In fact, a part of these districts seems to be the
natural habitat of the sheep; for among the crags of some of the lofty
mountain chains of Central Asia, and farther west where Eastern and
Western Turkestan meet in the lofty plateau of Pamir, called the “Roof
of the World,” still wander great bands of magnificent native sheep with
enormous horns and brownish grey wool, from which it is believed sprang
the vast flocks that now browse on every hill and mountain slope of
Western Asia.
Centuries of care have effected an important evolution in this native
stock, for in no other part of the world are there sheep with longer and
more silky fleeces. Nevertheless there are different grades, as the
quality depends in a measure on the climate and pasturage as well as on
the care of the sheep. Thus in the hot, sandy lands the wool shows some
deterioration; but in the cold, dry climates of the many high lands of
Western Asia and in the pastures of particular localities the wool is
long, fine, and lustrous. For instance, in parts of Khorassan, on the
flanks of high mountains near Kirman and Shiraz, on the shores of Lake
Niris in Farsistan, among the rolling uplands of Asia Minor, are
produced uncommonly fine and beautiful fleeces. When, moreover, the
sheep of these localities receive the care that is given by some of the
nomadic tribes, as the Uzbeck Tartars, who not only shelter them but
cover them with blankets, the wool acquires a soft and silky quality
that is unsurpassed. The wool produced in many parts of India, on the
other hand, is poor; for not only are the serrations, on which largely
depends its value for textile purposes, less numerous than in better
varieties, but it is harsh and contains many long hairs that do not well
unite with it and that take up very little dye.
The wool of the goat is much less extensively used, yet appears in some
rugs, not only as warp and weft, but also as pile. The goats of
Kashmir, which live in the cold climate of a table-land three miles above
the ocean level, produce the finest and most beautiful wool; but as it
grows near the skin, and beneath wiry hairs from which it can be removed
only with tedious care, it is too precious to be used excepting for the
most beautiful shawls and choicest carpets. Of next importance and
finest texture is the wool of the Angora goat, known to commerce as
mohair. Formerly there was not much demand for it, but now, on account
of the consideration that it has received in the carpet factories of
recent Sultans, it is found in many of the rugs of Asia Minor. As it
grows to an average length of five to six inches it is easily spun; and
its soft, lustrous sheen gives to the rugs in which it is used a silky
and brilliant appearance. Some of the Bokhara goats, also, yield fine
wool that is used in rugs. Yet, as a rule, yarn made from the fleece of
the goat is not regarded with favour by weavers, since it is apt to be
coarse and to pack closely. Nor does the wool of the goat mix well with
the wool of the sheep. There is, however, a much finer grade growing
next to the skin, which may be removed with a knife when it is exposed
by combing the longer fleece in a direction reverse to that in which it
lies. The tougher grades are preferred to any other material by weavers
of the Afghanistan, Beluchistan, and some Turkoman rugs for selvages at
the sides, as they afford excellent protection against hard usage.
Goat’s hair is also sometimes used in these rugs for warp. Unless mixed
with wool it is very rarely used for weft, as it is not sufficiently
pliable.
Of more frequent use than the wool of the goat is the wool of the camel
which grows close to the skin beneath the long hair. In the tropical
countries, as in Soudan, the camel has no wool, but in more northern
latitudes it yields a crop which increases in quantity and improves in
quality as the climate grows colder. Thus in Arabia, Asia Minor, and in
most of Persia and Turkestan the yield is small, in the table-lands of
Eastern Persia and Afghanistan it is much larger, and on the lofty
plateaus of Turkestan and Chinese Tartary as much as ten pounds of wool
is obtained yearly from each beast. The clip is taken at the usual
moulting season during the spring of the year. The wool of the older
camels is coarse and dark, what is taken from the young is finer and
lighter, and the most silky and valuable of all is what is obtained from
the unborn. The best grade has been more highly esteemed than the wool
of any other animal, and rugs in which it constitutes the pile are more
valuable than those in which the wool of sheep is used. It is seldom
woven in modern rugs, but dyed wool or goats’ hair of similar colour is
often substituted for it.
The wool or underhair of the yak is used only among the mountain tribes
of Tartary, and is never found in any of the choicer grades of rugs.
Occasionally the hair of the horse or cow is employed to a limited
extent in the pile of nomadic rugs, where it may be distinguished by its
coarse and wiry character. In old rugs of which the pile is much worn
cows’ hair will now and then protrude like the hairs of small bristle
brushes. Only very rarely is human hair seen in a rug.
Natural colours of the several kinds of wool, which have made it
possible to dispense with their dyeing, have always been taken advantage
of by weavers. The only black yarn on which the wear of time has left no
impress is from the fleece of the proverbially despised black sheep.
Shades of white, ivory, brown, grey, rufus, and even a plum are obtained
from different varieties. Likewise a wide range of rich chestnut colours
are furnished by the camel.
It is but natural that the nomad should depend on the wool of his flocks
and herds for warp, weft, and pile; but people of fixed habitations have
employed other kinds of material also. Where the sensuous luxury of the
East called for magnificent carpets, they were often woven almost
entirely of silk, which was easily obtained, as silkworms thrive on the
mulberry trees that grow wild on the plains of Central and Southwestern
Asia. Silk rugs are still woven in a few cities of Asia Minor and
Persia. For the cheaper grades of rugs flax, hemp, and jute have been
sparingly used; and during recent years cotton has been widely adopted,
particularly in Persian, Indian, and Chinese rugs, on account of its
cheapness as compared with wool. It is, however, almost entirely as warp
and weft and rarely as pile that it is used. Though much less durable
than wool, its white colour is far less likely to darken with age; yet
there is a poorer variety which, after being thoroughly wet, acquires a
dark colour.
In the preparation of these different textile materials wool requires
the greatest care. In some parts of the Orient it is not washed, and the
lustrous hues of the pile are attributed to the fact that it is dyed in
its naturally greasy state; but in other parts the grease and dirt are
carefully removed. This cleansing is a craft that has been transmitted
from parent to child, and is practised according to different methods
in different parts of the country. One of the chief essentials is an
abundance of clear running water free from alkali; for when the water is
hard, as is often the case in the more arid parts of the country, it
loses some of its cleansing properties, and potash or other chemicals
are required to counter-act this unfavourable quality. After the wool
has been thoroughly washed it is carefully dried in the sun and open
air.
The next important step is the proper sorting, picking, and combing. The
sorting consists of the separation of black and light wool, or of an
inferior from a better grade; and the picking consists of the removal of
burrs or foreign particles. The object of combing is to effect an
orderly arrangement of the wool so that it is ready for spinning. One
method, corresponding to carding, is to draw the wool repeatedly between
rows of upright spikes set in a wooden frame until every matted particle
has been separated and all the fibres are disentangled. The older
method, still employed in nearly every part of the Orient, consists of
“teasing” with the cord of a heavy bow, which is suspended or held
firmly by the left hand over the wool, while with the right hand the
cord is made to vibrate either by striking it with a wooden instrument
or plucking it, so that the fibres of wool are separated and assorted by
the vibrations.
When the wool has thus been prepared, it is wound about the distaff and
then spun into yarn. In many parts of the Orient the common
spinning-wheel has been introduced and adopted for both wool and cotton;
in other parts are crudely made spinning-wheels of different design and
about the height of a man. The natives of districts more remote from
civilisation still cling to the primeval spindle, which sometimes
consists of no more than a rounded stick half an inch in diameter and a
foot in length with a ball of clay at one end. Many of the nomadic
tribes of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia use in place of it a small stone of
convenient shape, to which is tied a strip of linen a few inches in
length. A few fibres of wool are attached to the end of the linen by
twisting them about it, and a few more fibres are similarly attached to
these when the stone is suspended and twirled. As the fibres become
closely twisted together more fibres are added until on account of the
length of the thread thus formed the stone reaches the ground. The
thread is then wound about the stone and secured by a couple of loops so
as to leave a piece only a few inches in length, to which more wool is
attached in continuing the spinning. When a large ball of thread has
been spun, it is removed from the stone and the process begun again.
[Illustration: PLATE 4. SHIRAZ RUG]
One advantage of these simple devices is that they can easily be carried
anywhere. Even to-day a not unusual sight is a half barbaric shepherd
following his flock, while he spins with simple distaff and spindle or
stone, as did his ancestors thousands of years ago. On the end of the
distaff, that rests beneath his left arm, is the ball of wool from which
he selects and twists the fibres, while he deftly turns the short
spindle or twirls the stone with thumb and forefinger of the right hand.
The threads spun by professional spinners on spinning-wheels are of
small diameter and are the most regular in size and texture, those spun
with the small spindle are of larger diameter and less regular, and
those spun by twirling a stone are made of the coarsest diameter in
order to insure sufficient stoutness, since they are the most irregular
in size and texture; yet yarn so made is the most highly valued by all
weavers.
Only very rarely, indeed, is one of these single threads used for yarn,
since it would be apt to part. Two of them, therefore, are twisted
together to form a double thread. A simple device used by many nomadic
tribes for this purpose consists of two short sticks crossing at right
angles, and another piece with end like a crochet needle perpendicular
to them. The threads which are attached to this piece pass through a
hole at the intersection of the crossed sticks and are twisted by
twirling them. It is very seldom that three single threads are twisted
to make a triple thread, and when such is the case it is the work of a
professional spinner who uses a large spinning-wheel, and never the work
of a nomad. For the weft of many rugs, and for the pile of a few rugs
such as Sarouks and Kashans, a double thread alone is used; whilst for
the pile of most rugs the double thread is again doubled, trebled, or
quadrupled, so as to form yarn of two, three, or four ply, and even yarn
of six ply is sometimes used. A distinction also exists in the manner of
twisting together double threads to make yarn of two or more ply, since
according to the custom of different tribes they may be twisted so
loosely that in the length of an inch they do not describe more than a
single revolution or so tightly as to describe several.
Until the introduction of the modern spinning-wheel wool was spun in the
Orient exactly as it was ages ago. It is this almost incredible
disposition to adhere as with religious fanaticism to methods
transmitted from father to son and to resist as pernicious every
attempt at innovation that makes a precise analysis of rugs possible.
Accordingly, the evenness or unevenness of single threads, the looseness
or tightness with which double threads are twisted together to form yarn
of different ply, as well as the number of the ply used, are a few of
the important indices for distinguishing between rugs of different
districts.
Even after the yarn is spun it is not always ready for the dyer, and in
order that it may properly absorb the dye it is often washed and
rewashed. In some parts of the Orient it is first soaked in warm water
and carefully rinsed in cold water. It is then placed in a copper pot or
vat containing boiling water to which has been added carbonate or
sulphate of soda and potash, and stirred for about an hour. After this
thorough cleansing it is again washed very carefully in soft water and
thoroughly dried in the sun.
The wonderful sheen of many old rugs is due almost entirely to the
materials of which they are made. This material, as a rule, is
unsurpassed by similar products of any other part of the world, and is
prepared by patient races who know little of the value of time. The
simple labour required is in itself prosaic enough, yet without a doubt
the earlier spinners and weavers, while following their flocks with
minds free from all conventions and limitations of art, discerned the
elemental forces of nature in all their freshness and power, and from
them drew inspiration that bore fruit in the exquisite colouring and
delicate tracery of the woven carpets.
[Illustration: PLATE 5. NIRIS RUG]