Dyes.—Nearly always of the best.
Designs.—The Bergama designs are somewhat characteristic. The Bergama weavers are inventors of patterns rather than copyists. Medallions frequent, with a well covered field. Sometimes the checker-board pattern. Figures generally bold and large in proportion to size of the rug.
BERGAMA RUG
PROPERTY OF A. U. DILLEY & CO.
Sizes.—Usually nearly square. One and one-half to four by two to six feet. Antiques usually run smaller than the modern ones.
Prices.—Rather high. From $2.00 to $10.00 per square foot.
Remarks.—Very scarce.
THE EXAMPLES ILLUSTRATED
Bergama Rug.—The unusual medallion in this piece is characteristic of the Bergama only. In its centre is the octagon and eight-pointed star of the Medes, a motif which is found more or less in nearly all classes of rugs, but in none more frequently than in the Bergama.
The main border stripe is composed of lily blossoms in profile and in full.
Bergama Prayer Rug (see page [46]).—Knot: Ghiordes. Number to the inch, horizontally seven; vertically seven; to the square inch, seventy-seven.
Bergama prayer rugs are not often seen in this country and this particular piece is a very uncommon and choice one. The designs are unusual, the colors the best and the nap has the hammered-brass appearance so common in many of the old Bergamas.
The prayer field is of a beautiful terracotta; the space just above the niche is in light and dark blue; the panels carry most peculiar geometrical designs in white, yellow, blue and brown, the upper one on a ground of terracotta and the lower one on a ground of old rose. The main border stripe carries a variety of nameless geometrical designs in red, yellow, blue, brown and drab upon a white background. The outer border stripe consists of an eight-petaled flower alternating with a motif which might have been intended for the wine glass, so frequently found in the Caucasian fabrics.