GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
In the general market are found over fifty different kinds of rugs, most of which are named after the towns or districts in which they are made, from which they are marketed, or after the people who make them. There is generally also some slight difference in the weave, the material, the color, the design or the finish, which gives each class its distinguishing, technical character. Of late years, however, there has been such an intermingling of races and transmission of ideas from one country to another, that even the expert is often unable to identify a rug with the place in which it was made.
There is occasionally a dealer who has many of his own names which he uses to the extinction of all others and some of the names used in Western countries would not be recognized in the countries from which the rugs come. Under such circumstances classification becomes rather difficult and it is not to be wondered at that authorities sometimes disagree. Importers and dealers in Oriental rugs would find it greatly to their advantage if they had a strict rug nomenclature based on facts and if they discountenanced everything in the trade which tended towards charlatanism or inspired distrust in the minds of buyers.
In the classification to follow we will consider rugs from a geographical stand-point.
To begin, we will consider them in the following order: 1st, Persian; 2nd, Turkish; 3rd, Caucasian; 4th, Turkoman; 5th, Beluchistan; and 6th, Chinese.
No reference will be made to Indian rugs for the reason that, outside of the fact that they are made in India, they can nowadays hardly claim a right to be classed as Oriental products, inasmuch as they are wholly modern creations made merely upon a trade basis, often by machinery, and after designs furnished by American and European designers.
BOKHARA CAMEL BAG HALF
Size 4' × 2'10"
PROPERTY OF MR. J. H. STANTON, AUBURN, N. Y.
(See page [284])
| { | Bakhshis | |||||
| { | Herez | { | Gorevan | |||
| { | { | Serapi (a) | ||||
| { | Azerbijan | { | Kara Dagh (b) | |||
| { | { | Kashan | ||||
| { | { | Souj-Bulak (c) | ||||
| { | { | Tabriz | ||||
| { | ||||||
| { | { | Bijar, Sarakhs, (d) Lule (e) | ||||
| { | Ardelan | { | Kermanshah | |||
| { | { | Senna (c) | ||||
| { | ||||||
| { | { | Feraghan (f) | ||||
| { | { | Hamadan | ||||
| Persian or | { | { | Ispahan | |||
| Iranian | { | Irak-Ajemi | { | Joshaghan (g) | ||
| { | { | Saraband (h) | ||||
| { | { | Saruk | ||||
| { | { | Sultanabad | { | Mahal (i) | ||
| { | { | Muskabad (i) | ||||
| { | ||||||
| { | Farsistan or Fars | { | Niris, Laristan (j) | |||
| { | { | Shiraz | ||||
| { | ||||||
| { | { | Herat (k) | ||||
| { | Khorasan | { | Khorasan proper | |||
| { | { | Meshed | ||||
| { | ||||||
| { | Kirman | { | Kirman | |||
| { | ||||||
| { | Eastern Kurdistan | { | Kurdistan proper. | |||
(a) After the village of Serab.
(b) Mountains.
(c) A Kurdish product, named after a city.
(d) More commonly called Sarakhs, after the city by that name, which is situated on the border line between Persia and Turkestan and within a few miles of Afghanistan. They are so called because the people who make them formerly came from this district.
(e) A corruption of the Persian word "roules," which means a pearl.
(f) A province.
(g) A district. Joshaghan is the English way of spelling it and Djoshaghan the French way of spelling it.
(a) After the village of Serab.
(b) Mountains.
(c) A Kurdish product, named after a city.
(d) More commonly called Sarakhs, after the city by that name, which is situated on the border line between Persia and Turkestan and within a few miles of Afghanistan. They are so called because the people who make them formerly came from this district.
(e) A corruption of the Persian word "roules," which means a pearl.
(f) A province.
(g) A district. Joshaghan is the English way of spelling it and Djoshaghan the French way of spelling it.
(h) A corruption of the word "Sarawan," the name of a district in Persia just south of Feraghan. The name has no connection whatever with the "Saraband Dance."
(i) Terms used for the different grades of rugs from the Sultanabad district.
(j) Laristan is a province in the Kirman district just south of Niris.
(k) Named after the city of Herat, which is not situated in Khorasan at all, but is across the Persian border in Afghanistan. They take this name for two reasons: first, because they are woven by people who formerly lived in Herat, but who, owing to political disturbances, settled in Khorasan; and second, because they are marketed at Herat.
(h) A corruption of the word "Sarawan," the name of a district in Persia just south of Feraghan. The name has no connection whatever with the "Saraband Dance."
(i) Terms used for the different grades of rugs from the Sultanabad district.
(j) Laristan is a province in the Kirman district just south of Niris.
(k) Named after the city of Herat, which is not situated in Khorasan at all, but is across the Persian border in Afghanistan. They take this name for two reasons: first, because they are woven by people who formerly lived in Herat, but who, owing to political disturbances, settled in Khorasan; and second, because they are marketed at Herat.
| { | Angora | { | Kir Shehr | |||
| { | ||||||
| { | Brousa | { | Oushak | |||
| { | ||||||
| { | { | Karaman | ||||
| { | { | Konieh proper | ||||
| { | Anatolian | { | Konieh | { | Mujur | |
| { | { | { | Ladik (a) | |||
| { | { | { | Yuruk (b) | |||
| { | { | |||||
| { | { | { | Ak-Hissar | |||
| { | { | { | Anatolian proper | |||
| { | { | { | Bergama | |||
| Turkish | { | { | Smyrna | { | Ghiordes | |
| { | { | Kulah | ||||
| { | { | Meles (c) | ||||
| { | { | Makri | ||||
| { | { | Smyrna proper | ||||
| { | ||||||
| { | Kurdistan | { | Mosul | { | Mosul proper | |
(a) A corruption of the word "Laodicea."
(b) The word "Yuruk" means mountaineer.
(c) A corruption of the word "Milassa."
(a) A corruption of the word "Laodicea."
(b) The word "Yuruk" means mountaineer.
(c) A corruption of the word "Milassa."
| { | Daghestan proper | |||||
| { | Caucasia | { | Daghestan | { | Derbend | |
| { | { | Kabistan (a) | ||||
| { | { | Tchetchen, Chichi, Tzitzi (b) | ||||
| { | ||||||
| { | { | Baku proper | ||||
| Caucasian | { | { | Baku | { | Shemakha, Soumak (c) | |
| { | { | { | Kashmir (d) | |||
| { | { | { | Shirvan (e) | |||
| { | { | |||||
| { | Transcaucasia | { | Elizabethpol | { | Genghis, Ganja (f) | |
| { | { | Karabagh (e) | ||||
| { | Erivan | { | Kazak (g) | |||
(a) Should be Kubistan or Kuban, as they are made at Kuba.
(b) Named after a tribe of people who inhabit the mountains north of Daghestan.
(c) A corruption of the word "Shemakha."
(d) Sometimes called Kashmir from the resemblance of the under side to that of Cashmere shawls.
(e) A province.
(f) Named after a tribe of Turkomans who live in the vicinity of Elizabethpol. Sometimes called Ganja, after the ancient name of Elizabethpol.
(g) Named after a tribe of Nomads inhabiting the hills around Lake Goktcha.
(a) Should be Kubistan or Kuban, as they are made at Kuba.
(b) Named after a tribe of people who inhabit the mountains north of Daghestan.
(c) A corruption of the word "Shemakha."
(d) Sometimes called Kashmir from the resemblance of the under side to that of Cashmere shawls.
(e) A province.
(f) Named after a tribe of Turkomans who live in the vicinity of Elizabethpol. Sometimes called Ganja, after the ancient name of Elizabethpol.
(g) Named after a tribe of Nomads inhabiting the hills around Lake Goktcha.
| { | Khiva Bokhara | |||
| { | Turkestan | { | Beshir Bokhara | |
| { | { | Tekke Bokhara (a) | ||
| { | { | Yomud Bokhara (b) | ||
| Turkestan or | { | |||
| Turkoman | { | Eastern Turkestan | { | Kashgar |
| { | { | Yarkand | ||
| { | ||||
| { | Russian Turkestan | { | Samarkand | |
| Beluchistan | { | Beluchistan proper (c) | ||
(a) Made by the Tekke-Turkomans who inhabit the plains to the west of the Oxus.
(a) Made by the Tekke-Turkomans who inhabit the plains to the west of the Oxus.
(b) The name of a tribe of Turkomans who inhabit the western end of Turkestan.
(c) Although these rugs are made in a region far distant from Turkestan, they are so similar to the Turkoman class that they are classified as such by several authorities.
Genghis, of the Caucasian class, being made by a tribe of Turkomans in the Caucasus and resembling closely the Turkoman productions, are classified as such by several prominent writers.
(b) The name of a tribe of Turkomans who inhabit the western end of Turkestan.
(c) Although these rugs are made in a region far distant from Turkestan, they are so similar to the Turkoman class that they are classified as such by several authorities.
Genghis, of the Caucasian class, being made by a tribe of Turkomans in the Caucasus and resembling closely the Turkoman productions, are classified as such by several prominent writers.
SARUK RUG
Size 6' 4" × 4' 1"
FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE AUTHOR
Knot: Senna. Fourteen to the inch horizontally and seventeen to the inch vertically, making two hundred and thirty-eight to the square inch.
The design is characteristic but the colors are unusual for a Saruk. There is a central pole medallion within another medallion. The predominating color of the former is an old rose with figures in light and dark blue, white and yellow, especially the latter. The outside medallion has an old ivory background and is strewn with beautiful undulating vines covered with flowers of various colors, those at one end being principally in old rose while at the other end a rich red seems to predominate. Each corner of the field outside of the medallion has a rich blue background with scroll figures and large flowers, differing considerably in color at the two ends. There are four border strips, the outside one being of plain ivory. The main border consists of alternate white and old rose floral forms connected by a meandering line upon a dark blue background and on both sides of this main border stripe is the reciprocal trefoil in red, blue and white.
(See page [200])
THE PERSIAN CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION
From the earliest time to the present the Persian has excelled all others in the designing of flowers and in color decoration, therefore the Persian textiles have always shown complex floral designs and harmonious arrangement of colors. Unlike the Turkish fabrics, they almost invariably have a full straight fringe at each end which is composed of loose warp threads.
In Persia both the Senna and the Ghiordes knots are used, and the latter has been adopted in some localities where the former alone was once in vogue.
The weavers of Persia are usually composed of women and children of both sexes. The latter, however, do not take up the work at nearly so early an age as they do in Asia Minor. In Persia they seldom begin earlier than ten years of age, while in Asia Minor thousands of little children from four to six years of age may be seen working at the loom. The usual pay in Persia is fifteen tomans ($0.91) a year for the first two years of their apprenticeship. This amounts to about $13.65 of our money. After the expiration of two years they are paid at the rate of one toman for every 30,000 stitches.
The Persian government has endeavored to uphold the quality of its rugs in the face of demoralizing influences, but alas, Persia too is getting the commercial spirit and aniline dyes are being smuggled into and secretly used all over the country.
One correspondent in Teheran says, "Good rugs are hard to get and are very expensive. There are quantities of the commercial variety, but those can be bought in London as cheap as in Persia." During the recent revolution quite a number of the palaces were sold out by their owners at auction. At these sales the good rugs were quickly picked up at fabulous prices by European residents in Teheran.
There are no rug factories in Persia, but there are several establishments owned by foreigners, especially at Sultanabad and Tabriz, where the wool is dyed and given out to the weavers to take home and weave according to the designs and specifications furnished.
INSPECTING RUGS AT ISPAHAN
PERSIAN VILLAGERS NEAR HAMADAN