Scr RATE TL a EN penal te 
‘This example of the Tekke Bokhara is very effective in paneled ‘one 
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, 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
. 
December, 1911 
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 is suggested by the 
reed mouth organ, painting 
by the brush and cylinder, 
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 
than the latter, but decid- 
edly firmer than the former. 
The Mir Serebend runner here illus- 
trated is 2 ft. 8 in. by 9 ft. 6 mn., 
and is well worth its cost of $100 
