SILK RUGS
Silk rugs were first made in China and afterwards in Anatolia and Northern Persia, where silk is produced in great quantities. They were formerly made for mosques, for royalty, or for very rich people, expert weavers being hired for the occasion and the material being furnished by the one who ordered the work done.
Fine silk rugs are unsurpassed in beauty, rich, exquisite coloring, and rare sheen, but they have never been practical as floor coverings; first, because they require such luxurious surroundings, and second, because the wearing quality of silk does not compare with that of wool.
The genuine Persian silk rugs are getting scarce and almost priceless. Strange as it may seem, few of these pieces have been sought by either the museums or collectors of America.
| MERVE GHILEEM Size 10' × 2'8" | KURDISH GHILEEM Size 15'4" × 2'6" |
| PROPERTY OF MR. JOSEPH SHEHADI | |
Those made at Kashan in Northern Persia are the best of the present day products. As a rule they are made entirely of silk having a narrow web and a fringe of loose warp threads at each end and with beautiful shades of red, rose, turquoise, old ivory, and green.
In Persia they sell for from $10.00 to $15.00 per square foot and in the United States for from $15.00 to several hundred dollars a square foot.
A much cheaper and a purely commercial product comes from Kaisarieh or Cæsarea, in Asia Minor. These, as a rule, have a cotton warp and weft and are copied after the old Persian and Ghiordes designs, especially the so-called "Mosque design" with the hanging lamp. These rugs are undesirable in color, dyes and workmanship and are invariably worth much less than the prices asked for them. The great majority of them can be detected by the direction in which the pile runs, it being inclined towards the top instead of towards the bottom.