Prevailing Colors.—Red, green, blue, cream, and yellow.
Designs.—This class of rug nearly always comes in the prayer form. There is generally a cross panel above the prayer niche and the field is, as a rule, filled with designs.
Sizes.—From two and a half to five feet wide by four to seven long.
Prices.—Rather high on account of their scarcity. From $2.00 to $10.00 a square foot.
Remarks.—This class of rugs is so rare that it is not mentioned by any of the American or English authors.
THE EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATED
Owner's Description.—This rug comes from the town of Maden, in the Kir Shehr district of Konieh province. Mudjar, a better known rug producing town, is within twenty miles. It has the remarkable wool and dye qualities that make the production of Kir Shehr. This rug is so very bright that the assertion that it is fifty to seventy-five years old might be disputed, but the unequal color erosion, the remarkable bald shine of the back, and the well marked thinning of the pile where the knees of the devotee rested while at his devotion, evidence its antiquity. The panel of lavender above the prayer arch is notable, as is the pigeon blood ruby of the field. While this rug has evidently done duty for many years, it was probably folded away after use at prayer, and given little exposure to sunlight.
LADIK
Why So Named.—A corruption of the word Laodicea, the name of a most primitive old town of 500 population in the midst of a mound of ruins near Konieh, where they are made.