This antique Anatolian mat, 3 ft. 3 in. by This Daghestan, 2 ft. 6 in. by 1 ft. 11 in., makes Here is a modern Anatolian mat, 2 ft. 10 in. by 
1 ft. 9 in., could be had for about $8 a most acceptable gift, costing about $8 1 ft. 10 in., that would probably cost $6 
Oriental Rugs for $50 and Less 
A SPLENDID FIELD FOR THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPER—HOW TO KNOW THE 
VARIOUS TYPES, WHERE THEY COME FROM, AND THEIR CARE IN USE 
by George Leland Hunter 
H AVE you ever received or given an Oriental rug as a Christ¬ 
mas gift? Probably not, for the reason that there is a 
widespread misconception that there is no such thing as an inex¬ 
pensive Oriental rug. Of course you cannot buy a large rug for 
little money, but there is always a place in any house for a 
small one, and two or three of these will furnish a floor very 
acceptably 
It would be hard to find any more wel¬ 
come gift. Then, tco, there is such an air 
of permanence about an Oriental, and in 
the selection of a design you can express 
to an exceptional degree your appreciation 
and understanding of the recipient’s taste. 
Everyone knows, of course, that vege¬ 
table dyes are better on wool than aniline 
dyes, and that the color superiority of 
Oriental rugs is due to the use of only 
vegetable dyes, as is the case with Euro¬ 
pean hand-woven tapestries. However, 
everyone does not know that before wool 
will take aniline dyes well, the natural oil 
of the wool has to be scoured out of it, 
leaving it dead and dull as in many 
European and American products. Some¬ 
times after dying an application of oil is 
given such dead-wool rugs to produce a 
lustre, but this lustre at best is only tem¬ 
porary, and does not compensate for the 
fact that the wearing qualities of the wool, 
in such cases, are gone beyond restoration. In the Orient they 
do not scour and bleach the life out of the wool. Instead they 
give it a gentle washing that removes little of the natural oil, 
which secures life to the rug. 
This living wool they dye with vegetable dyes that are not as 
fast as aniline dyes, and which run somewhat when wet, but that 
do, in the course of years, cooperate with 
the substance of the wool without destroy¬ 
ing it. The process known as “washing” 
removes the loose dye and silvers the sur¬ 
face of the rug. Skilful washing improves 
a rug while bad washing kills it, just as 
“scouring” kills wool, before it is woven. 
Among Oriental rugs commonly sold 
unwashed are those known as Anatolian 
mats, two of which we illustrate. Both 
weave and wool are coarse, and the colors 
are crude. But one may improve upon 
these colors by washing such rugs carefully 
with Castile soap and rainwater, taking 
care to get the “loose dye” out without 
permitting the stain to penetrate where 
not desired. 
A friend of mine who had a rug of 
extraordinary color ugliness said he made 
it beautiful by leaving it out on the roof 
all winter in the snow. I should hesitate 
trying such heroic experiment except in a 
hopeless case as a last resort, but there is 
A Khatchli Bokhara—the first name signify¬ 
ing a cross design in the middle of the 
rug, 4 ft. 2 in. by 4 ft. 6 in., costs $45 
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