MELES
Synonyms.—Melhaz, Melace, Milas, Carian, Karian.
Why So Named.—A corruption of the word Milassa, the name of a town a few miles southwest of Smyrna, where they are marketed.
Where Made.—In some of the seacoast towns south of Smyrna and on many of the scattered islands in the Gulf of Makri.
Knot.—Ghiordes. Number vertically five to ten; number horizontally four to nine; number to square inch twenty to ninety.
Warp.—Wool, often colored at the end.
Woof.—Cotton or wool, most frequently the former.
Nap.—Coarse, loose, lustrous wool, generally cut short.
Sides.—Selvaged. This selvage is formed by the woof threads when they are wool and added on when the woof threads are cotton.
Ends.—Web of varying length at each end with fringe of loose warp threads.
ANTIQUE MELES RUG
Size 6' × 4'
PROPERTY OF MRS. LIEBER WHITTIC
Border.—Generally six or more border stripes; the wider one usually carries flowers in profile.
Prevailing Colors.—The antiques are noted for their rich golden yellow combined with blues, reds, and greens.
Dyes.—Generally good. Some of the modern pieces are dyed with brilliant chemical dyes.
Designs.—Mostly Caucasian in character. The latch hook is prominent. Besides the usual prayer designs, perpendicular stripes of yellow, red, and blue, with zigzag lines running through them, are characteristic designs of the Meles. Many small detached figures.
Sizes.—Usually small and almost square. Three to four by four to five feet.
Prices.—Antiques are rare and few of the modern pieces reach the United States. From $1.50 to $3.00 per square foot.
Remarks.—They are similar to the so-called Anatolian, but are lighter in color and woven better. In some respects they resemble the Bergama. Getting scarce as few new ones are woven.
THE EXAMPLES ILLUSTRATED
Owner's Description.—This rug comes from a city of great antiquity in Southwestern Asia Minor, near the coast, opposite the island of Rhodes.
The design and coloring are archaic in simplicity and suggest the interests of a people dwelling by the sea. Observe the turtle figures interspersed between the curves of vine in the panels; also the fin-like appearance of the leaf-forms attached to the vine, the line of fish-hook heads bordering the panels and wave design on either side of same. The striped character of the field is a feature to be noted in this rug, also the introduction of an exceptional design in the fourth stripe.
The border is seen to be very inconspicuous and of remarkably few stripes for a product of the Anatolian country. The simple nature of the small detached floral forms indicates an early origin, before the enriching influence of the Persian invasion.
Brilliant colors were chosen for use in the rug, though of such mellow tone as to be in excellent, subdued harmony. The predominating colors are golden canary-yellow, madder red, and green, with blue, violet and white as secondary tones.
The shades in which these colors appear are quite indescribable, doubtless on account of careless methods of dyeing or the chances of home-made mixtures. Thus the green is of a bluish cast, the blue is mottled with lighter shades (a well-known characteristic of this variety of rug) and the violet, which, as the most typical and exclusive of Meles colors, should be pure in tone, is of dingy look, apparently having succeeded brown in the dye-pot.
All the colors have remained absolutely fast, despite the long exposure of time. The kaleidoscopic effect which has been noted as a quality in many old Meles rug patterns, may be easily detected in this specimen.
Stanton Rug.—A much finer weave than the average rug of this class and a very attractive design. Note the peculiar shape of the field which is notched in instead of out, as in the majority of hearth rugs. The yellow and the plum colors in the main border stripe are seldom found in any other class of rugs.
MELES RUG
Size 3'3" × 4'7"
PROPERTY OF MR. J. H. STANTON, AUBURN, N.Y.