Oriental Rugs Part 12

As a rule the drawing of Persian-Kurdish stripes is never crowded, and represents a simple vine with bright pendent flowers. A stripe commonly seen in this cla.s.s is represented in Plate E, Fig. 8. It is also seen in the Bijars.

On account of the geographic position of the Karadagh district, which is separated only by the Aras river from Caucasia, its stripes show a combination of floral and geometric design not usual in other Persian pieces. Plate E, Fig. 9, represents one of these stripes with a rosette, and the serrated leaf so common among the s.h.i.+rvans. Plate E, Fig. 10, represents another stripe of the same cla.s.s with eight-petalled star-shaped flowers pendent from an angular vine.

A beautiful stripe, representing a vine and pendant flower, which is frequently seen in some of the Persian-Kurdish rugs, is shown in Plate E, Fig. 11.

In Plate E, Fig. 12, is ill.u.s.trated a very dainty pattern of vine and roses that now and then is seen in old Feraghans; and in Fig. 13 are also represented vine and roses as they occasionally appear in old rugs of Northwestern Persia.

The very mechanically drawn double vine shown in Plate E, Fig. 14, is sometimes seen in stripes of Hamadans. In fact, simplicity of border is a characteristic of this cla.s.s.

Mosul and Kurdish stripes show a similarity, but the former are often more mechanically drawn than the latter. In Plate E, Fig. 15, is a stripe from an old and beautiful Mosul with conventionalised vine and King Solomon's eight-pointed star.

Undoubtedly the most typical of any cla.s.s of Persian stripes is the well-known Sarabend pattern of formal vine with pendent pear on white ground. It is very rarely that a rug of this cla.s.s is without this stripe (Plate E, Fig. 16). Its presence at once indicates that the piece is either a Sarabend or an Iran copy.

In Plate E, Fig. 17, is the well-known pear pattern of a Meshed stripe.

The graceful form, resembling in a measure the Indian drawing, is peculiar to these stripes.

The Kirman stripe (Plate E, Fig. 18) invariably contains red roses naturalistically drawn, surrounded by a profusion of leaves and stems.

This is one of the most beautiful of Persian border patterns.

Somewhat similar, but far more formal, is the Kermanshah stripe, one of which appears in Plate E, Fig. 19, with mechanically drawn flowers, leaves, and vines.

The formal pattern (Plate E, Fig. 20) of octagons surrounded by latch-hooks is now and then found in borders of s.h.i.+raz rugs, and indicates how great a concession their weavers at times make to nomadic influences.

The main stripe of Sehnas is always narrow and contains some floral form, though frequently much conventionalised. One of these stripes is shown in Plate E, Fig. 21.

Very few Persian rugs have such wealth of floral ornamentation in the borders as the Sarouks and Kashans. A stripe typical of the former is represented in Plate E, Fig. 22.

_Secondary and Tertiary Stripes._-The ornamentation of a large proportion of secondary stripes of Persian rugs consists of running vines, which fall within two divisions, according to the absence or presence of pendants.

Plate F, Fig. 1 (opp. Page 158), taken from an inner stripe of a Kermanshah, shows one of the simplest vines with budding tendrils at each flexure.

In Plate F, Fig. 2, is a simple stripe seen in such rugs as Gorevans.

Similar stripes are very common. As there is no pendant, the character of the vine depends upon the form it a.s.sumes in alternating flexures, one of which in this instance is an eight-petalled star.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE F. SECONDARY BORDER-STRIPES OF PERSIAN RUGS]

In many of the Karadaghs is seen the Caucasian stripe (Plate F, Fig.

3) consisting of an angular vine, from each flexure of which spring small designs like three-leaf clover.

Another type peculiar to some rugs of Northwestern Persia, as the Bijars and even Sehnas, is shown in Plate F, Fig. 4. Here one flexure is a serrated leaf, and the other is a small rosette with short curving tendrils.

A simple vine of somewhat similar order appears in Plate F, Fig. 5. At each flexure is a flower of four petals, and from alternating flexures spring tendrils of colour different from that of the vine. Stripes of similar drawing appeared in Persian carpets as early as 1350 A. D. A further stage in the development of the same pattern is ill.u.s.trated in Plate F, Fig. 6.

One of the simplest forms of a vine with pendant is shown in Plate F, Fig. 7. It appears in Asia Minor carpets woven during the XIII Century, and also in some of the earliest Iranian carpets. Now and then it is seen in modern Persian rugs.

A very common form of a vine with pendant is shown in Plate F, Fig. 8.

This pattern is seen in a large number of Persian rugs, such as Mosuls, Bijars, Kurdistans, and Hamadans. Each flexure of the vine is enlarged to almost the form of a leaf, and between them is a branching pendant.

In another stripe (Plate F, Fig. 9), taken from a Feraghan, there is no particular enlargement to the vine, and the alternating pendants are buds and flowers of four petals.

A more geometric form that appears in such rugs as Muskabads is shown in Plate F, Fig. 10. In this the vine represents serrated leaves, and suggests one of the s.h.i.+rvan patterns.

A very similar stripe (Plate F, Fig. 11), taken from a Sehna, should be compared with those of Figs. 8 and 10, as it serves to ill.u.s.trate the evolution of vine patterns. In fact, if a very large number of stripes were arranged in proper order, they would show almost imperceptible gradations from one type to another.

One of the simplest vines with pendant, adopted by the Kurdish tribes, is shown in Plate F, Fig. 12; and in Fig. 13 is another vine with pendent pear alternating with a rosette.

Not all the patterns, however, are vines. In Plate F, Figs. 14 and 15, for instance, is represented the same secondary stripe as it appears at the sides and the ends of some moderately old Persian rugs. The former pattern bears a resemblance to the one in Fig. 5, and each ill.u.s.trates a series of connecting links.

A graceful pattern that is seen in Bijars, Hamadans, and other rugs of Northwestern Persia is represented in Plate F, Fig. 16. It was probably derived from an old form of leaf and tendril.

The reciprocal trefoil (Plate F, Fig. 17) which is constantly used in a tertiary stripe, is probably a degenerate form of an ornate floral design. It is more widely used for a border stripe than any other pattern, as it is found not only in such Persian rugs as Sarabends, Bijars, Sarouks, and Kashans, but in many of the Indian and Beluchistan rugs, and in almost all of the Caucasian group. It was commonly used in Persian rugs as early as the year 1500.

In many of the rugs of Persia and Asia Minor is seen as a tertiary stripe the simple ribbon pattern (Plate F, Fig. 18). Its origin is lost in the dim past, and it is not improbable that once it had a symbolic meaning.

A very interesting tertiary stripe, because of its well-authenticated age, contains the "Y" pattern shown in Plate F, Fig. 19. It is found in some Persian carpets that were woven as early as 1550.

One of the simplest guard stripes, shown in Plate F, Fig. 20, is frequently found in modern Persian rugs, as well as in Iranian carpets woven six centuries ago.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COLOUR PLATE VI. PERSIAN GARDEN CARPET

This carpet and the one at the Naesby House, Sweden, which it resembles in pattern but not in colouring, are, so far as known, the only complete carpets of this type. The Naesby carpet has been a.s.signed to the middle of the XVIII. Century; this is undoubtedly much older.

A 16TH CENTURY PERSIAN ROYAL "GARDEN" CARPET (Reputed to have been made for Shah 'Abbas for Safavi Palace.) Date 1587-1628.

31 ft. 0 in. x 12 ft. 3 in.

[_Statement of the owner_]

ORIGINALLY IMPORTED BY VINCENT ROBINSON & CO., LTD., LONDON.]

The pattern represents a Persian garden divided into four sections by two intersecting streams, which are bordered by rows of cypress trees, alternating with bushes on which are birds. These sections are similarly divided by smaller streams, that meet at the four pavilions of each side, into plots containing trees and flowering bushes. Four peac.o.c.ks rest above the central basin. The colours are harmonious, and show the mellowing influence of time.

TECHNICALITIES IN THE WEAVE OF PERSIAN RUGS

Legend:

KNOT- H = Horizontally P = Perpendicularly WARP- s = silk l = linen e = each equally prominent d = 1 to the knot depressed h = 1 to the knot doubled under WEFT- s = silk l = linen No. = No. times crossing bet. two round knots SIDES- O = overcast S = selvage LOWER END W = web S = Selvage K = Rows knots L = warp loops F = fringe UPPER END W = web S = selvage K = Rows knots T = turned back and hemmed F = fringe

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+ KNOT WARP +----------------------------+------------------------------ PERSIAN Number to At back Inches G = S = +----------- w = c = +----------- Ghiordes Sehna H P wool cotton s/l e d h +------------+---------+------+-----+-----+-----+-------+----+---+---+--- Bijar G 6-10 8-12 w h Feraghan [G] S 8-13 7-18 c e Gorevan G 6-8 6-10 c [e] d Hamadan G 6-9 8-12 c e Herat G [S] 8-11 6-12 [w] c [d] h Herez G 5-10 6-12 c [e] d Iran G 6-11 7-11 c e Mod. Ispahan G 6-9 8-11 w c e Jos.h.a.ghan G 7-11 8-13 [w] c e d Kashan S 16-2016-24 c [l] h Karadagh G 7-11 7-11 w e Karaje G 6-11 7-12 w [c] e Kermanshah S 12-1811-18 c h Khora.s.san S 8-1312-20 c h Kirman S 11-2011-20 c h +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+---------------------------------------------------------------+ WEFT SIDES LOWER END +------------------------+-------+----------------- PERSIAN w = c = wool cotton s/l P O S W/S K L F +------------+-----+-------+----+-----+---+---+-----+---+---+--- Bijar w 2 O W [S]

Feraghan c 2 O W Gorevan c 1-2 S F Hamadan [w] c 1 O W L Herat w [c] 2 O W L [3-4]

Herez [w] c 2 S W F Iran c 2/[1] O W Mod. Ispahan w c 1-2 O W Jos.h.a.ghan w 2 O W F Kashan c [l] 2 O W Karadagh w 2 S W F Karaje w [c] 1 O W L Kermanshah c 2 O W [L] F Khora.s.san [w] c 2 O W F [6-8]

Kirman w [c] 2 O W F +---------------------------------------------------------------+