Prevailing Colors.—Usually rather crude. Madder red predominates.
Dyes.—As a rule good.
Designs.—The pear pattern is commonly employed and when used it suggests the crown jewel, being an assemblage of points rather than of lines and more minutely worked out than are the smaller forms so common to the Saraband. No regularity of design, but quite similar to the Shiraz. Often a pronounced striped effect. Alternating rows of geometrical and floral designs.
Prices.—From $1.50 to $3.00 per square foot.
Remarks.—Strong and durable. Few reach America. They seem more like products of Turkestan than of Southern Persia.
THE EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATED
This particular design consisting of rows of pears with stems of alternate rows turned in the opposite direction is quite common in rugs of this class. The main border stripe in this piece also consists of the pear motif on each side of which is a barber-pole stripe.
SHIRAZ
Synonym.—Mecca, so called because they were so frequently taken by the shriners to the holy city of Mecca.