CHAPTER III
THE MATERIALS
S 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.
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.
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.
Plate 5. Niris Rug