434 
and are the sort often used by dealers in this country 
as advertising attractions, being sold at cost, usually in 
such instances without taking freight or handling ex- 
pense into consideration. ‘The one illustrated is twenty 
by thirty-two inches and wholesales for ninety-eight cents. 
It is an Oriental rug, but that is its chief claim to virtue. 
I have often wondered what people do with rugs of this 
sort after they get them home, for they are certainly 
neither beautiful nor durable. 
Cashmere rugs are a dif- 
ferent story. Here we have 
an opportunity to become en- 
thusiastic over a rug of mod- s 
erate cost. I regard Cash- 
meres as the best value of- 
fered in Oriental rugs to-day. 
They are exceedingly durable, 
hold their shape and color, 
and harmonize with furnish- 
ings of the average everyday 
type.. The Cashmere rug 
illustrated here is four by six 
feet and sells for $25. It 
has not the lustrous velvety 
pile that characterizes such 
antiques as those to be seen 
at the Metropolitan Museum. 
Indeed, it has no pile at all, 
being woven by twisting the 
weft over successive pairs of 
warp threads in a characteris- 
tic way all its own that pro- 
duces a surface resembling 
flat embroidery on canvas. 
But the texture is not uninter- 
esting, especially when one 
understands what it is and 
does not regard it as a worn- 
down pile. Cashmeres are 
made in the Caucasus (in 
southern Russia), a territory 
formerly a part of Persia, 
and get their name from the 
resemblance of their shaggy 
backs to those of the once 
famous Cashmere shawls. In 
the accompanying illustration 
the upper end of the Cash- 
mere rug has been turned 
over and down in order to 
show the texture of the back 
and the fringe. The loose 
threads are those left by the 
passage of the bobbin from 
block to block of the same 
color, as in real tapestry and in " 
loom-figured Cashmere shawls, 
which are also real tapestry. 
Kelims are another type 
of Oriental fabric with flat 
surface. In weave they are 
not like Cashmere rugs but 
like real tapestry, and where blocks of different colors meet 
parallel with the warp, there are open slits, as in the product 
of the Gobelins and of Aubusson. The loose threads on 
the back are usually clipped close. Kelims need to be lined 
with heavy canvas for use on the floor, and will then give 
good service. The texture is exceedingly interesting, being 
a pronounced rep. The designs are geometrical and very 
simple. The Shirvan Kelim illustrated is eight feet and four 
render good service. 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
The Kelim is a finely woven rug. The weave is much like that of 
real tapestry, presenting a flat surface. 
The Shirvan Kelim here illustrated is 8 ft. 
4 in. by 3 ft. 6 in., and costs only $25 
December, 1911 
inches by three feet and six inches, selling for $25. It is 
not as heavy in style as the Bokharas, and can be used in 
rooms that are more or less Colonial in type. The Sehna 
Kelims are of finer weave and pattern and much more ex- 
pressive. [he Anatolian Kis Kelims are carelessly woven, 
and the larger sizes consist of two pieces sewed together 
lengthwise, but seldom coming out even at both ends. 
Kelims also make splendid table covers and portiéres, espe- 
cially with Oriental rugs on 
the floor, and in rooms that 
i have Oriental or simple walls 
} and ceilings in woodwork and 
| plaster. 
Hamadan runners are ex- 
cellent and among the most 
trustworthy types in the 
market of the rugs woven 
in western Persia. The pile 
of the wide outer border with- 
out pattern is entirely of camels 
hair. Camels hair also appears 
in the ground wherever the 
design calls for its pleasing 
tawny or light-coffee color. 
| The size of the rug before us 
fis three feet six inches by sev- 
» enteen feet and three inches, 
so long that the photographer 
was able to get only part of 
it into the picture, and in or- 
der to show the pattern more 
clearly took it at an angle 
taat exaggerates the perspec- 
tive of the foreground. A rug 
like this sells for about one 
hundred dollars, but there are 
in the shops many Hamadans 
of somewhat less excellent 
quality for a smaller price. 
A word here about runners 
from the decorative point of 
view. Runners—meaning rugs 
that are very narrow for their 
length—are less expensive 
than square rugs of the same 
quality and area, especially in 
the large sizes. Moreover, 
two small rugs and a runner 
often look much better on the 
floor of a room than a single 
large rug. And thenew ame 
other rooms that look best 
with one small rug and two 
runners, and others with small 
ay rugs only. Not that I would 
if decry the large Oriental rug 
fi of high quality. Far from it. 
There are Saruks and Kir- 
mans and Mesheds woven to- 
day that in every respect equal 
the ancient rugs, and that are 
worthy to adorn the floors or 
even the walls of the most magnificent palaces. But the 
tendency to equip interiors with room-size rugs that cover 
the floor except for an eighteen to thirty inch border, should 
be discouraged. It is quite as bad taste as entirely conceal- 
ing the floor beneath a strong figured domestic sewed-to- 
gether carpeting and it costs much more. Small rugs are 
better quality for the same price, are easier to take care 
of and last longer, and can be rearranged and transferred 
They need to be lined to 
