File:American homes and gardens (1911) (17537511273).jpg

Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesgar81911newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York : Munn and Co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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436 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS December, 1911 > iir^ii lil 1 mi il «#im*i 1 iiuilpii>ilii;»«»jiilj^iMi^ji»ijiWli"llll;t.lj"*J»; ■ f»«tf»t»«*,»*36**&v&JPv^« «* VV?s. r^/3L ■***•*"■ -2? iL ';'5j' £ ^ > K ^3* fcu: ^j>^gn>Mu.*f m SfiM Vc ' .. ■■ '< • ' 1 "'B'7iji Star 1 his example of the Tekke Bokhara is very effective in paneled rooms The field is in tones of rose on blue-black. The rug sells for $100 and is well worth it. The field of Serebends is apt to consist of the so-called cone, or pear, or palm leaf motif often repeated, with stems of alternate rows point- ing in opposite directions. A much thinner rug than the Serebend, indeed the thin- est of all Oriental or domestic rugs, but none the less in- teresting for all that, is the Sehna. The weave is exceed- ingly fine, with sometimes as many as 400 knots to the inch, and the weft is not infrequently of silk that in com- bination with the fine cotton warp and the "Sehna" knot makes possible the fine texture. Sehnas pucker and curl most disagreeably and require constant care to keep them in good condition. But the genuine ones have a surface and silken sheen of extraordinary beauty and the designs are remarkable for their delicacy. They sometimes have a center medallion with figured corners on a plain field, but more often an all-over intricate repeat, always with several narrow borders. Among rugs not illustrated for lack of space are Daghestans, Cabistans, Shirvans and Kazaks from the Russian Caucasus. The designs are straight-line and geo- metrical to a degree, especially in Daghestans, where the intricately patterned surface suggests a mosaic. Even the animal figures so common in Cabistans are in straight lines like the drawings of American Indians and primitive peo- ples generally. All of these rugs come in small sizes only, Daghestans having a tendency toward square shapes and Cabistans often running very long for their width. Kazaks have a very deep, soft, loose pile and rich coloring. Shirvans are of coarser weave and pattern and duller coloring than Daghestans, in which white, grays and ivory and thin bright colors predominate. Shirvans have a long, rough, natural-gray fringe. Daghestans and Kazaks have a short woolen fringe, while the warp of Cabistans is often of cotton. These Caucasians were among the first Oriental rugs brought to America, and are very appropriate for use in the average American home that has more or less of a Colonial character. The Chinese rug illustrated here is five feet by nine and sells for $1,500. It resembles none of the rugs we have been talking about. Indeed, Chinese rugs are in a class by themselves, as regards design, and even more so as regards coloring. The two colors that the Chinese most affect are yellow and blue. By yellow I mean here the beautiful golden tones of yellow, and by blue the wonderful dark and light blues that the Chinese have such a knack for producing— the makers of porcelain as well as the weavers. The rug before us has a cotton warp with woolen pile of average depth and fineness. But the ground is a sal- mon pink as soft as the down-covered tones of a ripe peach. Against it the figures are wonderfully set in blue and lemon. The borders are both in yellow on dark blue, the inner ones showing the simple fret design, the outer one the swastika fret. Apparently the rug was woven for some Chinese poten- tate of high culture and scholastic attainments. The ob- jects that lie in the field of the rug are symbolic of art, literature or religion. Music reed m< by the poetry by the writer's hand screen with book and scrolls, chess by the chess board. There are incense stands and stands for flow- ers and fruits. Also a tem- ple banner, a spear, a wine pot, a fan of state, a sounding stone of jade, etc. But whoever the rug was woven for has long since passed on and yet it has come into the hands of those who, through an in- terest developed through a study of the art of Ori- ental rugs, perhaps prizes this one as much as the old- time Confucian for whom it must have been woven. This rug came from eastern China, from the country tributary to Pekin. Rugs markedly Chinese in char- acter also came from Rus- sian central Asia, from the old city of Samarcand, on the trans-Caspian railway. Samarcand rugs are inter- mediate in weave, between the Chinese and the Per- sian, being looser and softer I., 1 he Mir berebend runner here ulus- than the latter, but decid- trated is 2 ft. 8 in. by 9 ft. 6 in., edly firmer than the former, and is well worth its cost of $100
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