Type Characteristics. Colours, principally red, blue, and green. Knot, Ghiordes. Knots to inch horizontally four to eight; perpendicularly, four to nine. A half knot, as it appears at back, is longer than wide. The rows of knots are not closely pressed down. Warp, wool. Each of the two threads encircled by a knot is equally prominent at back, or one is slightly depressed below the other. Weft, wool of medium diameter and generally dyed red. A thread of weft crosses twice between every two rows of knots. Pile, wool, clipped long. Border, usually of three stripes. Sides, generally a double overcasting, occasionally a selvage. Both ends, generally a web coloured red and a warp fringe. Texture, very loose. Weave at back is of moderately coarse grain. Length, carpet sizes. Usual width, two thirds to four fifths length.
Ak-hissar.—Almost seventy-five miles by rail from Smyrna and a short distance to the west of Ghiordes is the Turkish town of Ak-Hissar, the White Citadel. Even before the building of the railroad rugs were woven in this district; and in recent years the work-house system has been established, and large quantities, that bear some resemblance to the modern products of Kulah and Oushak, have been exported.
Demirdji.—Half a century ago the town of Demirdji was almost uninhabited; but as a result of the Occidental demand for Oriental rugs and the disappearance of old pieces, it has grown to be an important manufacturing centre. Many of its weavers learned their trade at the historic Ghiordes, which is about twenty-five miles distant; but the fabrics are more closely woven and the wool is more carefully selected than is the case with the modern Ghiordes.
Kutayah.—On the main railroad that will eventually connect the Bosphorus with the Euphrates is the town of Kutayah. As it is on the edge of the Anatolian plateau, wool and goat’s hair have been for a long period important articles in its trade. Both of them are now used in the local manufacture of rugs, which in a measure resemble the products of Oushak.
Smyrna.—The location of Smyrna on a magnificent harbour and its connection by rail with all the important rug districts of the interior, have made it the principal centre for the export trade in Asia Minor rugs. Many of the people are also largely engaged in the industry of weaving, but almost all weavers are now in the employ of large companies who furnish the materials and patterns. As a result, the Smyrna rugs are mere copies of well-known types of other Turkish pieces, or, as is generally the case, of stereotyped patterns that have been evolved to meet the requirements of European and American tastes. Many of the rugs, to be sure, are well woven and serviceable, but they lack individuality of character.
Melez.—About seventy-five miles to the south of Smyrna and twenty from the Mediterranean Sea is the town of Melassa, or Melez. It is now little known, but was once the market place of an important rug-producing district, which included a large part of the classic province of Caria. Accordingly, the pieces that came from there were sometimes called Carian, but are more generally known as Melez.
Plate 40. Kabistan Rug
On their face they show a close relationship to the Anatolians, and also, though in a less degree, to many other Asia Minor rugs; yet as is to be expected of the products from one corner of the country, they have a distinct individuality in both pattern and colour. Occasionally an old piece is seen, in which the border is very narrow and the whole field is covered with parallel stripes on which are systematically arranged geometric and semi-floral forms; but as a rule the fields are not much wider, and often less wide, than each of the adjacent borders. Within this central space are frequently arranged prominent designs, which are widely different from the designs of any other rugs, and are suggestive of Chinese ornament, but were doubtless derived from floral or tree forms (Plate [O], Fig. 12, Page 291). Moreover, projecting in regular order from the alternate sides of the narrow border stripe, next to the field, are sometimes seen thumb-like figures, that fit against one another like the cogs of a wheel (Plate [H], Fig. 15, opp. Page 194). Each of these features, though not always present, is peculiar to this class.