86 
House b° Garden 
BeaGAL-ORieaiAL Rugs 
V/oven from Imported Oriental Yarns 
FERAGHAN. REPRODUCTION 
A tribute to what American resourceful' 
ness plus taste plus \nowledge can do. 
F ine oriental rugs can be possessed by 
anyone with the taste tor them plus 
the price. BengahOriental rugs can be 
owned by those of moderate means who 
have the taste for them—price is not es¬ 
sential but taste is. 
BengabOriental rugs are woven 
in one piece—seamless 
[Did you ever see an Orien' 
tal rug that was seamed?] 
Bengal-Oriental fringes are 
the warps of the rug 
[Did you ever see an Oriental 
rug with artificial fringe?] 
Look for this label sewn on the back of every Bengal-Oriental rug 
Vd'rite for 
“Backgrounds of Oriental Beauty” 
hy Alice Van Leer Carricfi 
JAMES M. SHOEMAKER CO., Inc. 
16-18 West 39TH Street ;; :: :: New York 
A farmhouse near Reading, Pa., in which the quoins, purely 
decorative, represent a structural style of the locality. They 
define the corners and lend the walls contrasting colors 
THE WHEREFORE OF Q^UOINS 
{Continued from page 66) 
altogether for appearances and one of 
their foremost duties is to create sharp 
contrast of light and shadow by their 
deep division lines. Solely for appear¬ 
ance’s sake, too, are the wooden quoins on 
the First Baptist Church at Providence, 
Rhode Island. 
Quoins are essentially, in their origin, 
a masonry' feature. In wooden construc¬ 
tion there is no place for them, so far as 
any structural purpose is concerned. 
Considering them as an architectural 
convention, however, there is no insin¬ 
cerity in using them with a wooden 
building any more than there is insincerity 
in using friezes or pilasters. 
ALL SORTS of BOKHARAS 
{Continued f 
brownish tones, and black are the pre¬ 
vailing colors; the general effect is 
superbly rich, magnificent, and sombre. 
Small clear spaces of white are alway's 
present, and the pattern is outlined some¬ 
times in shades of orange, sometimes in 
creamy white. 
The design has individuality'; Beluchies, 
it is claimed, came originally' from Arabia 
or from Syria; certainly' they' have not 
borrowed from their neighbors—Kirman, 
Khorassen, or Afghan—though more than 
a trace of Indian feeling is in their work. 
The geometric devices of octagons and 
great hexagons are at once loose and 
conventional; curious tree forms appear 
and now and again some stiffened Persian 
device is incorporated. Enormous ejuan- 
tities of Bcluchistans are produced; the 
weaving is e.xcellent, camel’s hair is 
added to the wool; the pile is rather long 
and beautifully lustrous. In America 
these fabrics are called “Belooz”. 
Afghan Bokharas, or Khivas as they 
are sometimes named, have in the fullest 
measure that barbaric quality' which mod¬ 
ern taste esteems so highly'. The design is 
full of force and energy', and its almost 
impressionistic effect does not in the 
least suggest the ornamental chess-board 
of the finer “Bokhara” pieces. There are 
none of the sharp hard dividing lines, and 
the great octagons, animal forms, and 
free loose geometric devices are flung on, 
as it were, with the virile energy one might 
e.xpect from the inhabitants of the wild 
hills and mountain passes. The octagons 
are set closely', side by side, nearly touch¬ 
ing, and in the East this arrangement is 
called Fil-pa—or Elephant’s Eoot, from 
its likeness to the track of an elephant. 
Two shades of red prevail; one, darkened 
with indigo to a brown tinge, and another 
literally a blood red; sometimes the red 
takes on a yellowish tawny' tinge. These 
carfiets are woven somewhat coarsely, 
with the pile long and very' bright. 
The rugs which are woven actually' in 
'■£>;« page 75) 
Bokhara itself are neither very numerous 
nor e.xceptionally fine. The blend of 
nationalities that go to make up its popu¬ 
lation and the troubled history of the 
province have given to Bokhara carpets 
something of a hybrid quality. Persian 
influence appears in the floral devices, 
geometrically' stiffened according to Turk¬ 
oman tradition; other devices have been 
imported from Mongolian looms. With 
the characteristic red coloring, yellow is 
freely used in the borders, and the key is 
pitched somewhat higher than in the 
sombre Turkoman-Bokharas. Ersaris and 
Bokharas have a strong resemblance and 
are often classed together. The diamond 
shape cut into “steps” is a common de¬ 
vice. As for antiques, these are rare 
among Central Asian rugs; most have 
been subjected to hard use, and there are 
practically none now extant made before 
the i8th Century, and not many of these. 
Such as remain are valuable and treas¬ 
ured. In their dark beauty they' have been 
ajrtly described as the Rembrandts of the 
Eastern looms. 
Because of their pronounced style and 
harsh, strong coloring, Bokharas should be 
used by themselves. They do not go well 
with other Oriental rugs and carjiets. 
They suit the “serious” room and accord 
with dignified ejuiet surroundings. They 
arc better in the library, for example, or 
the study', than in an elegant or a pretty 
drawing room. With rough plastered 
walls or walls paneled in natural wood 
they are quite satisfactory. The deep 
rich reds and browns of a Bokhara suit 
them for rooms in which oak and walnut 
furniture is used. And, because their pat¬ 
terns are so pronounced, it is advisable to 
subdue the patterns in other parts of the 
room, making the rugs a pattern feature. 
It may also be noted that these rugs are 
broad in proportion to their length, and 
on that account are easier to deal with 
than some of the long and narrow 
Persians. 
