88 
The Garden Magazine, October, 1923 
HANDWOVEN RUG FOR THE COUNTRY HOUSE 
“Cherry Blossom’’ pattern, a candid and very conven¬ 
tionalized rendering of the old Oriental motif, in shades of 
yellow on a natural linen ground, enlivened by notes of 
burnt orange and a strong border of black. Designed 
and executed at the Davenport Looms, New Hope, Pa. 
ing time an occasion for national rejoicing. Quite naturally, then, the artistic self- 
expression of such peoples finds its outlet in floral forms,* fruits, birds, trees and all 
that has to do with a garden—happy inhabitants as they are of lands where the Wis¬ 
taria flings out five-foot sprays of perfume and color literally by the thousand (see 
page 103 this issue) and Primroses perch at the very edge of snows (Sept. Garden 
Magazine, page 39). 
Curiously enough, the Romans—popularly supposed the epitome of sumptuous 
grandeur—were for some time unacquainted with silks and so content to go about 
in the lesser splendor of wool or linen, as were the Egyptians of that early period 
and, more suitably, the Greeks with whose inherent austerity these simple fabrics 
seem wholly in keeping. By the 3rd century A. D., however, the knowledge of silks 
came at last to Rome, having percolated slowly from China via India, Persia,and Syria. 
T HE Persians in particular proved themselves very apt pupils and already in the 
reign of Prince Chosroes Anurshirwan (A. D. 531-579) had achieved a conspicu¬ 
ous perfection in the realm of textile design, which in the many decades since has held 
unflagging rank and so delights the connoisseur. In “the marvellous facility of in¬ 
vention displayed in the Persian carpets, there is to be found that sense of ‘enjoyment 
in the doing,’ which is characteristic of most great art—there is no sign of fatigue or 
labour in them” and, continues Herbert Cole appreciatively (“Heraldry and Floral 
Forms as Used in Decoration,” pages 148, 150), their beauty of patterning “is a tri¬ 
umphant issue from the severest test of pattern design.” 
But despite his skilful and lavish bestrewing of floral forms, the Persian craftsman, 
one feels, loved nature abstractly in a sort of second-hand manner for the pretty stories 
*As the characteristic motifs of all Oriental design, whatever the medium, were given in some detail in a 
previous article on “Fruit and Flower Motifs in Pottery and Porcelain” (October Garden Magazine, 1922, 
pages 90-94) it seems needless to repeat them here. 
FOR LIVING-ROOM OR BOUDOIR 
Soft tones, livable and not tiring, of blue-gray, 
coral, green, yellow, etc., on an ecru ground make 
this handblocked linen a particularly pleasing one 
for rooms much used. In dignified reminiscence of 
the statelier days which were its inspiration this 
pattern is called “ Somerfield Court ’’ by its creator, 
Mr. Harry Wearne 
A BIT OF AMERICAN “PEASANT ART” 
The Hollyhock is an old friend and favorite motif 
of the mountain women who make these hooked 
rugs, and the pattern here shown is known to have 
been handed on for three generations at least; the 
work of grandmother, mother, and daughter being 
fundamentally similar but displaying distinct in¬ 
dividual impress and variation. This “second 
generation” rug, reproduced by courtesy of Mrs. 
Anna M. Laise Phillips in whose studio all three 
were seen, is about sixty years old 
