DESIGNS AND THEIR SYMBOLISM
The soul of the Oriental is in his design, which is invariably well composed of skilfully conventionalized figures and superbly rich, harmonious colorings of which one never tires, while that of the European has a stiff set pattern which soon fails to attract.
The transmission of ancient patterns has been going on from century to century, the old designs and colorings being copied by the weavers from one generation to another and many of those used at the present time are doubtless the same that were used in the time of Abraham.
Each district, tribe or family had its characteristic patterns and color combinations which were regarded as its individual inheritance and were never copied by other districts, tribes or families. So it is possible for the expert to tell the locality from which an antique rug came, but the source of the modern one is not quite as accurately determined on account of the changes in designs brought about by the influence of immigration, travel and conquest. A design may be borrowed by a neighboring province and gradually undergo changes according to the taste of the adopting people until its original form is completely lost. The patterns have also become limited in number, so that to-day the entire output of Persian fabrics comprises only about thirty original designs, but of these the varieties of form, arrangement and combination are very large. Turkey and India have even, in some instances, adopted European designs. The Nomad products are perhaps the freest of all from outside influences.
In the way of characterization we might state that the Persian designs are usually floral, while the Turkish designs are for the most part a mixture of the floral and the geometrical, the former being much less natural than those of the Persians. Caucasian and Turkoman designs are nearly always geometrical. Occasionally they are floral but of a rectilineal nature and never connected with wavy lines as in the Persian. The Kurdish designs are more like the Persian, while the Chinese consist largely of dragons, monsters, and animals of all sorts. It is curious to note how the Persians make many patterns out of one design by employing various methods of coloring. Even when the same colors are used there is always a great dissimilarity between the different makes of the same design.
SYMBOLIC PERSIAN SILK RUG
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(See page [316])