December, iqoq 
HOUSE AND GARDEN I 
no doubt that in winter snow sprinkled on a rug and swept out 
(always sweeping with the nap) cleans the rug safely and helps 
it to grow old gracefully. 
The statement once made that “rugs over fifty years old 
may properly be called antiques” may now be amended by saying 
instead “rugs over twenty years old, or that look it.” In buying 
small and inexpensive rugs the ordinary shop use of the word 
“antique” should be disregarded. Instead select rugs for their 
excellence of design, color and weave and the quality of their wool. 
Anatolian and Hamadan mats are certainly inexpensive. 
The two Anatolians here illustrated are good value for their price. 
Their designs are above average, for the word Anatolian is used 
to cover a multitude of sins—job lots of small rugs from anywhere 
in Asia Minor. 
Among the most interesting rugs in the world are those that 
come from the Russian Caucasus, once Persian territory, but 
acquired by Russia in 
1813,1828, and 1878. The 
designs of these rugs are 
rectlinear and geometrical, 
even when animal and 
human forms are intro¬ 
duced in the design, 
as often happens in 
Kabistans. As a rule 
Kabistans are softer and 
more like Persian rugs 
than Daghestans or Shir- 
vans, which are the other 
two principal types from 
the Caucasus. 
The Daghestan rugs— 
receiving their name from 
the province where they 
are woven—represent the 
extremes in rectilinear con¬ 
vention-— stars, squares, 
hexagons, tile and trellis 
effects, exquisitely bal¬ 
anced. Red, blue, green 
and yellow, with plenty of 
intermingled white and 
cream to silver the tones, 
are the dominant colors. For small Colonial rooms, and for all 
other rooms of classic simplicity, Daghestan rugs are recom¬ 
mended. The finest rugs in the world are woven in territory 
that is still under Persian dominion, and that have been Persian 
for centuries. Back in the days of ancient Rome it was the same. 
This Kermanshah silk prayer rug, 2 ft. 2 
in. by 3 ft. 5 in., could be had for $40 
Therefore 
the weaving of 
rugs in Persia 
is an industry 
that is fostered 
by n a D O n a 1 The jj m j t J s reac hed by this beautiful Tabriz 
pride and en- rug, 5 ft. 10 in. by 4 ft. 3 in. 
couraged by 
national and local governments. Indeed, it was the decisive 
action on the part of the officers of the Shah that prohibited 
aniline dyes being adopted by any Persian weavers, since it was 
felt that to permit Persian rugs to deteriorate in excellence would 
be equivalent to a national calamity. 
Among Persian rugs the most interesting are those that come 
from the desert province of Kerman, that has a population of 
only 250,000, with an area exceeding that of the State of New 
York. The colors of these rugs are wonderfully delicate, and 
their designs are plant, flower and bird forms, treated less geomet¬ 
rically and more naturalistically than those of any other Oriental 
rugs. • Many of them resemble the designs of the French hand- 
woven rugs they are said to have inspired three centuries ago. 
The wool of Kerman is unusually soft and silky. The Kerman¬ 
shah, or Royal Kerman, that is here illustrated is well worth the 
$40 asked for it. 
Sarebend rugs are woven in the mountains of Western Persia 
in the province of Sarawan, from which it derives its name. The 
field is usually filled—as in the rug here illustrated—with rows 
A Kabistan, 2 ft. 
7 in. by 2 ft., 
worth $7 or $8 
Here is a Belouche, 4 ft. n in. by 2 ft. 7 in. 
that would bring about $10 
You can have a Kelim, alike on both sides, 6 ft. 3 in. by 
3 ft. 9 in., for about $23.50 
