CHINESE RUGS
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG
Monograph Number Two in The Mentor Reading Course
Length, eight feet ten inches.
Width, five feet seven inches.
Thirty hand-tied knots to the square inch.
The student should compare this rug, in all its details, with that reproduced in [Plate I], the property of Mr. Carll Tucker. The two fabrics belong practically to the same school, and are not widely separated in period. They have many points in common. Those in which they do not agree are the more important. For many reasons I am inclined to accord the honors to the other rug on the score of age. This piece ([Plate II]) is in some ways superior in point of color. In treatment, in concept, in artistry, it is not the equal of the rug in [Plate I], and yet to look at, it would by most people be considered more beautiful. This is probably due almost wholly to coloring. Something has been said in the accompanying text regarding the yellowish cast given to Chinese reds, and the manner in which the peach and apricot shades are produced by dyeing loose red over fast yellow. The rug in [Plate I] is an illustration of that trick in dyeing.
This piece ([Plate II]) is the very rare exception. Its ground color is pure and cool. In certain lights it is almost a shell pink. The years do not reveal in it any trace of fundamental yellow. This rug lacks the exquisite simplicity and refinement of the first. It is richer, in design as well as in color, stronger in key, but nevertheless splendidly consistent. In addition to the warmer color of the center, there is a freer use of both light and dark blues, which however are managed with the greatest skill. There is more vagrancy in design, due to a manifest effort at elaboration. The added border stripe bearing the wave or fret pattern is a necessary contribution made in order to balance the stronger center. The same may be said of the small round medallions in the main border, bearing very ancient symbols of longevity.