Plate C.—Prayer Arches of Persian, Caucasian, and Central Asiatic Rugs
No. 1, Antique silk. No. 2, Kermanshah. No. 3, Khorassan. No. 4, Sarouk. No. 5, Persian, XVI Century. No. 6, Kashan. No. 7, Feraghan. No. 8, Shiraz. No. 9, Daghestan, Kabistan, Shirvan, Chichi, Kazak, Karabagh. No. 10, Kazak. No. 11, Shirvan. No. 12, Karabagh (not usual). No. 13, Beluchistan. No. 14, Bokhara, Tekke. No. 15, Khiva. No. 16, Beshire.
The patterns of prayer rugs are not only pleasing, but have a peculiar importance, as weavers of certain sections of the country adhere so strictly to time-honoured traditions that the shape of the arch, or mihrab, which is the principal feature, often denotes the class, as well as the group, to which they belong. Some of these arches are illustrated in Plates [C] and [D] (Pages 61 and 63), from which it will be seen that in Persian rugs they are formed by gracefully curving lines, but that in rugs of other groups, with the exception of a very few old Ghiordes pieces, they are geometric. The peculiarities of the arches of the several classes, also, are observable; as those of the Beluchistans, which are rectilinear and relatively high, and those of the Bokharas, which are tent-shaped, flat, and small. In the Caucasian group they have a marked resemblance to one another and also to those of the Turkoman rugs, but are larger than the latter. Again, the arch of almost all Asia Minor rugs rises higher than those of any others, excepting the Persian, and extends from one side of the field to the other. In many of them a panel is placed above the spandrel, and occasionally a second panel is placed beneath the field. Above the niche of some Asia Minor and Caucasian prayer rugs is woven a small rhomboidal figure, where the suppliant plants the pebble or bit of earth that he has brought from Mecca; and at the sides of a few arches are crude figures, where are placed the hands during the act of worship. More than one arch is the exception; but now and then are seen two and even four, one above the other, or several parallel to one another. These and other special features associated with prayer rugs will be considered more fully in subsequent chapters.
The smaller designs that appear in rugs and compose the general pattern are distinguished as geometric and floral ornamentation. The former is adopted in those countries where the population is principally nomadic; and the latter is the accepted style in countries where exist numerous towns and cities in which the arts have been cultivated and where a large percentage of the population have enjoyed an advanced state of society. Thus in Caucasia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, and Beluchistan geometric designs are characteristic of the rugs; but in China, India, Persia, and part of Asia Minor floral designs prevail. Sir George Birdwood, an eminent authority on Oriental rugs, has made the statement that the geometric designs are found among the lower Turanian and the floral among the higher Aryan. But it seems most probable that the adoption of the geometric or floral style of ornamentation is due not so much to racial distinctions as to the state to which the textile art had advanced among the different peoples and to the waves of influence that at times spread over the countries. Thus the early rugs of Asia Minor had patterns that were more geometric than those of later times, and during the period when the Mongols ruled in Persia geometric patterns were more frequently employed in the rugs of that country than subsequently.
Plate D.—Prayer Arches of Asia Minor Rugs