OF ORIENTAL CARPETS, SADDLE-BAGS, PILLOWS, etc.
However a man may justify himself for collecting rugs, regardless of his
success, of his needs, or of his income, there would seem to be no danger
of any one making a specialty of buying carpets. Except to millionaires or
for clubs and palaces, space would absolutely prohibit, if the housewife
did not. The nearest that the enthusiast might approach to such an
ambition would be in the accumulation of hall strips; which has its own
temptations, quite within the possible.
And yet the term "carpet" is an elastic phrase, and any piece which
exceeds six or seven feet in width and of greater length, is entitled by
courtesy to be named a carpet. It may be said that a rug, like a baby,
ceases to be a rug at an uncertain size, and then becomes a carpet. But
carpets in the larger dimensions, ten by twelve feet or more, as
ordinarily understood, are only herein considered. They are really
articles of utility first and always, and must answer to certain measured
requirements. Such is the accepted theory and practice. The buyer is wont
to think that the merit or beauty of a carpet is of secondary
consideration if only it fit the room. Here is a heresy. It is far better
that the room should be made to fit or adapt itself to the perfect carpet.
If you would buy one, the best that you can do is to choose wisely. They
are all of modern make, with very few exceptions. If you have one that is
antique, you yourself have made it so, or you have inherited a ragged and
neglected example of bygone years. The modern carpets, nevertheless, those
still made to-day, are many of them superb pieces, far outclassing
any small rugs of the same weaving.
[Illustration:
PLATE XI.
ANTIQUE ANATOLIAN PILLOWS
FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE AUTHOR
Sizes: 1.10 x 2.10, and 2.1 x 2.11]
The Kirmanshahs would come first, of course; closely woven, beautiful and
soft in colour, delicate and artistic in their designs, they are the most
perfect floor coverings for the salon, reception or music room. If they
were only real! But very, very few of them are. They have all been treated
with chemicals, and their beauty of complexion is just as artificial as
any rouged and bepowdered courtesan's. Unless you have one out of ten
thousand, it has not come from a palace, but from a scientific laboratory.
Many of the Tabriz carpets lie under the same suspicion, and those of soft
tones, claiming to be antiques, may be wisely questioned. But new ones
come in clean, rich colourings, in fine designs, and are textile
masterpieces.
The Kurdistan carpets of to-day are by far the best of all. They are more
loosely woven, but they are so much the heavier, and that is to be
desired in a carpet. And they are honest. Their colours are beautiful,
varied, strong, and true. It is claimed for the Kurdistans that some of
their dyes are still well-guarded secrets; and it is true history of some
years ago that many a bloody feud and murder grew out of cherished
Kurdistan secrets of dyeing. Their designs are bold and striking, with
grand centre medallion and corners, and a field artistically adorned.
Money cannot buy anything better than a fine new Kurdistan; and thirty or
forty years of wear should leave it better still.
Next to be chosen would be the Gorovans. They also show brave figuring
with a strong centre medallion, characteristic zigzag corners, and angular
ornamentations which are most gracefully carried out. Their colouring is
usually in fine blues and reds.
Modern Feraghans come in large carpet sizes, and some antique ones are
still to be had. But the Kurdistans and Gorovans far surpass them in two
important particulars. The Feraghans appear only in their own peculiar,
small-figured designs, which are without strength or character on a large
floor space. Besides that, being more closely cut than the others, if they
do not soon wear out, they soon wear down, and begin to show the suspicion
of their warp and their loss of tone and colour. They are beautiful
carpets, nevertheless, and will practically last a lifetime. But the
heavier they are, the better.
There are few other modern Persian carpets in large sizes which come in
appreciable numbers for classification. There is a rather indefinite order
of Gulistans, under which title many good nondescripts are sold.
There are also current Sultanabads, in very large sizes, well woven, on
old models, to meet present uses.
Most other carpets are of Turkish weaving, whatever their names, and come
under the general title of Smyrnas. Smyrna is the centre of distribution
for a great variety of cheap and coarsely woven carpets; but poor in
quality as these may be, they should not be confused with the American
machine product also known as a "Smyrna." In the same class come the
Oushaks, Hamadans, etc. There is nothing more to be said for them than to
testify that they will wear better than a Brussels carpet, and give some
distinction to a modest dining-room.
It is a far cry from carpets to saddle-bags, and yet these latter are of
greater importance and interest to the collector. More valuable pieces of
Oriental weaving are to be found among the diminutives than in the grand
_opera_ of textiles.
Beginning at the bottom, we find plenty of the little pairs of bags,
twelve or eighteen inches square. They are donkey bags, carried back of
the saddle, and generally appear in Shirvan make or, most commonly, in
Shiraz weaving. The Shiraz often have considerable beauty and sheen and
dark rich colouring. But these very small pieces have little real utility
or available artistic beauty. They never lie well, and only litter up the
floor. They belittle a well-arranged room as would a frail and useless
gilt chair. They are recommended for pillows, but we Occidental infidels
associate rugs too closely with the foot to find them easy to the head.
They are also advised for use as hassocks. But the hassock long ago
disappeared, with or under the "what-not," or behind "the horse-hair
sofa."
Other bags, used on horse and camel, come in more important sizes, as
large as two feet by six feet or more. Exquisite specimens of Bokharas are
found among these; artistic, antique pieces, woven as fine as needlework.
A number of these seem to have come suddenly on the market in some
mysterious way; and they are of every size within their small limits;
because, as an Oriental has suggested, there are _pony_ camels also.
Another mystery about those camel bags would seem to be that some are
beautifully straight and therefore most to be desired, while others are so
curved as to be impossible of use unless around the foot of a pillar. Here
is a case differing from that of the ordinary crooked rug, because these
bags were originally made straight and true. Overloading and overpacking
have only sagged down the middle. I dare not say that the more the curve,
the greater the age and the more the value; but it may be that curved
Bokhara saddle-bags, passed by, by the Levite, are prizes to be picked up
by the good Samaritan, and may be easily restored to normal rectitude.
But the term "saddle-bag," whether for this animal or that, is confusing
and altogether too generally used. It must be borne in mind that a bag was
and is an article of universal utility to the Oriental. For all purposes
of travel, journeying, or visiting, it corresponds to our valise or
portmanteau of to-day; or, in aptest comparison, to our "carpet-bag" of
fifty years ago. And, according to the taste and means of their owners,
these Persian, Armenian, or Turkish carpet-bags varied in size and beauty.
A few rare old Caucasian small rugs can only be accounted for as valued
personal rug-bags of their period.
Among these smaller pieces are alone to be found the most valuable of all
the collector's spoil, the small Sehnas. Very rarely they come in pairs,
about two feet by three feet, and therefore could not have been used as
bags for any purpose. They are pillows; and pillows of course play their
important part in the _menage_ of the East. Besides the exquisite Sehnas,
the finest of the Anatolian mats, as they are generally called, were used
for pillows and not saddle-bags. The warp generally proves their purpose.
When the warp runs vertically to the larger side, and ends in a fringe,
that specimen was of course some sort of a saddle-bag. When the selvedge
is at the shorter end you have the pillow.
Among the other beautiful miniature specimens of textile art, which are
still occasionally offered, are saddle-cloths. They appear mostly in
beautiful Sehnas, and occasionally in fine old Feraghans and other Persian
weaves. They are marred, however, for beautiful floor coverings by the
necessary angular cut in them, through which the straps of the saddle
passed. This is often skilfully filled in, in the case of choice
specimens. But the blot remains. Their irregular shape also condemns them
for the most part with the many admirable but irreclaimable crooked rugs.
These saddle-bags are frequently used for table coverings or for mural
adornment. But in our modern house decoration rarely does a rug look well
upon the wall. The Persians hang them instead of pictures, which is well.
But they do not mix them with pictures on the wall, which is better, and
shows good taste on the part of the Persians. A rug appears best upon the
floor.
The collector of small pieces to-day will do well to buy every bag or
pillow of Bokhara or Beluchistan which may please his fancy. They are to
be had now at modest prices, but unless all signs fail, they will soon
become as rare as any of the other miniatures. You will look in vain for
them with the vanished Anatolians and diamond Sehnas.