WASHING KARAKUL SKINS I BOKHARA 



Karakul lambskins are commonly seen in the United States and Western Europe in the 

 form of overcoat collars, overcoats and wraps, and, more rarely, muffs, neck pieces, and caps. 

 The skins are divided into several classes : Persian lamb, broadtail, Astrakhan, Shiraz, 

 Bokharan, and Karakul lamb. The term Astrakhan is best known, and once included all 

 sorts, from the flat, glossy broadtail, rippling beneath the hand like watered silk, to the heavy 

 skins of cheaper grade whose curl is loose and coarse. 





A WAREHOUSE OF KARAKUL SKINS: CITY OF BOKHARA 



In Baku, in the spring of 1918, a good Karakul skin was worth two hundred rubles. 

 The rich Tatars use this skin for their papachs and officers used the lighter grades for trim- 

 ming their military overcoats, which were lined with sheepskin. Tn the Orient priceless 

 treasures are obscured behind mud walls, and furs that are the envy of the followers of 

 fashion are handled in the same impersonal way the bank cashier handles money. 



