Oriental Rugs Part 24

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 59. AFGHAN RUG]

In length, the rugs are from a few feet to twenty-four feet. The warp is of cotton, and the weft is sometimes of jute or hemp. The pile is of an inferior quality, as it consists largely of the wool taken from a sheep after death, known as "dead" wool, or as "Chunam" or "limed" wool, since it is necessary to treat it with lime. Unfortunately vegetable dyes do not produce in it the same results as in "live" wool; and since the scarcity of wool in Southern India frequently necessitates its use, aniline dyes are for this reason alone often employed. The number of knots to the square inch is relatively small. The patterns show great diversity, as Persian features predominate in the older rugs; but both geometric and floral designs are employed in the modern.

VELLORE.-Almost a hundred miles to the west of Madras is the town of Vellore, where native weavers once produced fine woollen carpets on their own looms. A few specimens of these old pieces are preserved in the jail to serve as patterns for the convicts, who now weave the only rugs of the district. There are some fifty looms; and as the largest is about thirty feet wide, almost any size of rug may be obtained. The product rests on a commercial basis and depends on the market demands, restricted by the material available and the limitations of the weavers.

According to the order, the rugs may be coloured with vegetable or aniline dyes; they may have warp and weft of cotton, jute or hemp; and they may have from six to sixteen knots to the inch measured horizontally and perpendicularly. In the patterns, which are as promiscuous as those of Ellore and often similar, the Herati design with a corresponding border is not infrequently used. Recently an effort has been made to exclude all but vegetable dyes and improve the craftsmans.h.i.+p.

BANGALORE.-The princ.i.p.al weaving industry in the Mysore state is centred about Bangalore, a city of about two hundred thousand inhabitants. Its founder, Hyder Ali, is said to have established looms and to have imported the first weavers. In 1908, the nine jail looms, of which the largest had a length of nearly thirty feet, were constantly occupied in making rugs to order. The number of knots to the square inch varied greatly according to the quality required; and the dyes were almost entirely aniline. In the city are employed a much larger number of weavers, who clean and spin the wool produced in the district, as well as dye it by secret processes, that they guard most carefully. The closeness of texture; the colouring by aniline or vegetable dyes; and the use of cotton, jute, or hemp, for warp and weft, are regulated by the requirements of the trade, which is conducted largely by two or three English firms.

HYDERABAD.-Splendid craftsmans.h.i.+p was once displayed in the rugs made in the cities of Hyderabad and Warangal, in the district of Hyderabad. The weave was exceedingly fine, and the colours were brilliant but harmonious. Now few rugs are produced in these cities, and they have poor patterns and wretched colours.

CHAPTER XIV

CHINESE RUGS

THE existence of Chinese rugs of age and merit was almost unknown to the Western world until the close of the last century, when a few pieces reached Europe, where they aroused the just admiration of art connoisseurs. About the beginning of this century a larger number, which were obtained during the Boxer revolution by reason of the spoliation of homes, temples, and palaces, that never before had been entered by foreigners, were exported to this country. In New York City, between the years 1908 and 1910, some of them were sold at public auctions for prices that stimulated collectors in China to search for more. But they have proved to be scarce when compared with other Oriental rugs, so that, as yet, the general public are only slightly familiar with them.

Moreover, little is known about their antecedents, for written records are exceedingly meagre. It has been suggested that many were made in Eastern Turkestan along the highways that extend to Persia and India.

But it is more probable that they were woven in Eastern China, where other branches of art reached a remarkable development under the patronage of wealthy mandarins and the imperial court. Even if they are not the product of an indigenous growth, the knowledge of weaving may easily have been acquired from Western Asia; since it was not unusual several centuries ago to import weavers from one country to another to instruct native craftsmen. Furthermore, the features which at a glance differentiate these rugs from all others, proclaim their Chinese character. The diaper patterns that cover the fields of some of them, and the foliate and floral forms that appear in most of them, not only are unlike those of any other groups, but have well-known Chinese elements. A more distinctive feature are the colours, which are relatively few. Many of them, as tan, yellow, and blue, are of shades unlike what are seen in other rugs. Even more distinctive than these are the reds, which never have the primary colours found in other groups but resemble the tints of ripe apricot, peach, pomegranate, and persimmon.

Similar tones are seen in old Chinese porcelain. The geometric and floral ornamentation also shows relations.h.i.+p to what is found in the products of other branches of Chinese art. More characteristic still are the small designs which are so related to the philosophic and religious thought of the people and to the industrial and social life that their Chinese origin is unmistakable.

Though it be granted that nearly all were woven in Eastern China, it is not possible satisfactorily to a.s.sign them to different cla.s.ses based on locality; yet without doubt important distinctions, observable also in the early paintings and porcelains and resulting largely from differences of race and character of country, exist between those woven in Northern China, where the highest appreciation of art existed, and those woven in Southern China. It is probable, however, that such marked local distinctions as are found in other groups never existed in Chinese rugs. Such distinctions as do exist relate more to stages in development of the textile art, so that the natural cla.s.sification is based on the successive periods when they were woven.

The absence of written and traditional history regarding the weaving of these periods is by no means an insuperable obstacle to such cla.s.sification. By a careful examination of large numbers of rugs, it is possible to arrange them with reasonable accuracy in series that represent progressive forms of ornamentation and design from the archaic to the modern. A most important aid to this arrangement is the interdependence so conspicuous in the several arts of China; for designs of innumerable articles with well-established ages, especially of the ceramic art, have been copied by the weavers.

Technical peculiarities in weaving are also an aid in determining the period to which rugs belong. An important distinction, for instance, often exists in the manner in which the material is spun. If pieces of yarn be taken from old rugs and carefully examined, as they are untwisted, the simpler, cruder methods of spinning practised in former days are often apparent. In some of the oldest fabrics that remain the wool was very loosely spun. Irregularities in the size of yarn are also more noticeable in old than in modern pieces.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 60. BELUCHISTAN PRAYER RUG]

More important often in determining the relative age of a rug than either design or technical peculiarities of weaving, is the shade of colour; for however excellent were the original dyes and whatever care was exercised in their application, they slowly changed under the mellowing influence of time to tones that are obtained by no human process. Furthermore, as is the case with porcelains, certain colours were peculiar to certain periods. For instance, golden browns are seen mostly in pieces woven before the middle of the XVIII Century, and azure blue in pieces woven before the XIX Century. Yellow with a lemon or citron cast is found princ.i.p.ally in pieces woven since the beginning of the XVIII Century; and green is rarely found in pieces woven before the middle of the XVIII Century. Aniline dyes were not introduced into China much before the year 1870. The time when a rug was woven may safely be regarded as not more remote than the period when the ornamentation and designs it contains were generally adopted; yet it may be much more recent, as the oldest designs were copied even after the adoption of newer ones. It is necessary, then, in determining the age of a rug to consider not only the evidence of the spinning, the weaving and designs, but also the evidence of colour.

Though Chinese rugs have features that distinguish them from other groups and divide them into separate cla.s.ses; they also have many features in common. All are woven with the Sehna knot. In all but the earliest rugs the warp and weft are of cotton; each thread of warp is equally prominent at the back; and the weft, which is coa.r.s.er than the warp, crosses twice between two rows of knots. The nap of both old and modern rugs is almost always wool or silk, and rarely, if ever, jute or cotton. The sides are finished by carrying the weft around the outer threads of warp, but never so as to form a wide selvage. The lower end, as a rule, has a very narrow web and warp loops; and the upper end has a narrow web and fringe. Compared with other groups they are generally more loosely woven. These and other features of resemblance and of distinction will be more fully noticed in considering the rugs of different periods.

In rugs of this group are constantly seen symbols intimately a.s.sociated with the religious and philosophic thought of China. One of them is the Sacred Mountain rising out of the waves of eternity, which is an old Chinese emblem, though more frequently found in rugs of Samarkand and Yarkand. Others are the cloud-band and the Joo-e. There are also mythical creatures, as the dragon, emblem of imperial power; the Ky-lin, partly deer, partly unicorn; the Fung-Kw.a.n.g or phnix; and the lion-dog. Still other symbolic and decorative designs are the figure Shou and the stork, emblems of longevity; the bat and b.u.t.terfly, denoting happiness; the conch, wheel of law, and the two fishes, which are Buddhist emblems; and the lyre and chess board, which are symbols of the literati.

It is not improbable that rugs were woven during the Sung dynasty (960-1280 A. D.), when for nearly three centuries prosperity prevailed, literature and art flourished, and the court at Hang Chow was maintained with imperial splendour; but as far as is known, none of them exist. Nor do any remain that may have been woven during the Yuan dynasty (1280-1370) distinguished by the reign of the ill.u.s.trious Mongol prince, Kublai Khan; though designs appearing in later rugs were used in kindred arts of these and preceding periods.

MING RUGS.-The oldest Chinese rugs that remain were probably woven near the end of the Ming period, or during the first half of the XVII Century. It may reasonably be a.s.sumed that they were superior in quality to those of any former period, since during this time Persia and India were producing their greatest woven masterpieces; and other branches of Chinese art were marked by an advance over the work that had preceded.

Yet, on the whole, it was a period of ebb in the splendid accomplishments of intellectual and artistic effort that marked the Tang and Sung dynasties.

Such pieces as exist are distinguished by careful workmans.h.i.+p, archaic designs, and sobriety of colour. Most of the rugs were woven with warp and weft of cotton. Some, intended princ.i.p.ally for wealthy mandarins or the imperial court, had pile of silk attached to warp and weft of cotton; and others were made entirely of silk. Fewer in number, but const.i.tuting the most sumptuous products of the Chinese weavers' art, were the rugs of silk woven on a web of metal threads.

The field of many of these early rugs contained all-over patterns.

Sometimes the repeat designs are of octagonal shape and are arranged in horizontal and perpendicular lines, so as to leave small diamond-shaped s.p.a.ces between diagonally placed octagons. Within these designs are often the emblems of happiness or longevity, floral motives, and sometimes archaic dragons. In another well-known pattern the field is completely covered with a swastika-fret and marked at regular intervals with diagonal rows of bats, emblematic of happiness. Occasionally a field of plain colour contains an irregular arrangement of objects used for sacrificial or sacred purposes. Again, it may be covered with an all-over pattern of small archaically drawn dragons resembling some of the earliest designs in Chinese decorative art, or of most conventionalised floral forms on mechanically drawn stems.

The essential feature, however, of a large number of these rugs, and one that probably antedates the all-over pattern, is a central medallion surrounded by a field that is either plain, that is marked with a subdued diaper pattern, or contains what is known as the "tiger skin"

pattern, consisting of waving lines repeated throughout the field. The medallions may be either octagonal or, as is more frequently the case, rounded; but the defining lines are angular and generally represent frets. Sometimes they contain archaic dragons, which are so conventionalised in a few pieces that it is apparent that from them originated many of the Chinese scrolls. In other pieces, the shape of the central medallions and the designs which cover them suggest most forcibly that they were copied from old mirror backs. The corners of the fields may contain simple scrolls, but more frequently they correspond closely in drawing with the central medallions.

The borders are equally typical. They are invariably narrow, and generally consist of a single stripe which is figured and surrounded with a coloured edging. Probably over three quarters of the rugs of this period have a stripe with a pattern of swastika-frets. Two of these stripes, which are very old patterns, are ill.u.s.trated in Plate N, Figs.

1 and 2 (opp. Page 274). Occasionally some form of the key pattern appears in the inner stripe, but almost all Chinese rugs that have two border stripes with figures belong to a later period. Many of the oldest borders are without figured stripes, and consist merely of one or more stripes of plain colour.

The few colours used in the rugs of this period have deep, rich tones.

Undyed dark brown or blackish wool was occasionally used in the outer edging that surrounded the field or in the narrow border stripes; but more frequently the same colour effect was obtained by the use of corrosive dyes that in time have often eaten the wool almost to the foundation of warp and weft. Wools dyed with corrosive browns are also used in the fields and enhance the effect of designs of contrasting colours, which stand out in bold relief. Other colours, as soft dull yellow and shades of blue, are also seen in the borders. The field is usually richer. In some pieces it is a deep red; in others it is a soft yellow, golden brown or yellowish tan, that shows the effect of time on what were originally several shades of apricot. Dark and light blues, sky blue, and robin's egg blue, as well as jade green and bottle green, are also found in these old pieces. In the metal and silk rugs the glint of silver even though tarnished, adds l.u.s.tre to colours that have grown deeper and richer with age.

KANG-HI.-During the first years of the Tsing dynasty, that continued from 1644 to its recent overthrow, the country was so occupied by wars waged between the conquering Manchoos and the still resisting followers of the Ming dynasty that art was nearly at a standstill. But during the reign of the ill.u.s.trious Kang-hi, 1662-1722, art revived and enjoyed one of the most splendid periods of its history. There is, however, a noticeable difference between the rugs that belong to the early and to the late part of this reign; so that it is convenient to divide them into the early Kang-hi pieces, that were woven during the last part of the XVII Century, and the late Kang-hi pieces, almost all of which were woven at the beginning of the XVIII Century. This division is also convenient; as many rugs cannot be definitely a.s.signed to the reign of a particular emperor, and, accordingly, the broader distinction of a.s.signing them to different centuries is frequently adopted.

In weaving, as in making porcelain, many of the products of the late Ming were still copied during the early Kang-hi period, but there was a freer use of colour and a more decorative ornamentation. Many of the figures are still geometric. Frets are conspicuous in the fields of large numbers of these pieces. The dragon also is a favourite motive; but in the scrolls that represent the legs and bifurcated tail, and in the conventionalised head, the resemblance to the mythical monster is almost lost. Sometimes two or more of these const.i.tute a medallion in the centre of the field, in which others are grouped with regularity; while similar forms occupy the corners. Some of the rugs in which the fields are covered with sundry objects, as scrolls, vases, altar pieces, and sacred plants, also belong to this period. The borders of these and late Kang-hi pieces have frequently an outer edging of brown and a single border stripe with swastika-fret. In a few pieces, the stripe has a well-balanced scroll which has been developed from designs of conventionalised dragons and frets that appear in the central medallion and in the corners of the field. Occasionally, however, there is an inner stripe with the key meander. The colour scheme of the late Ming, including the golden browns and deep blues, is largely employed in rugs of this period.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 61. TURKOMAN SADDLE-BAGS]

The same influences that resulted during the late Kang-hi period in the remarkable development of decorative art as applied to porcelains, produced a corresponding effect in the rugs woven at the same time.

Manchurian ideas and taste gave renewed spirit to earlier Chinese style.

The fields were not infrequently covered with sub-patterns of fret work, on which medallions appeared more prominently. The geometric figures were largely supplanted by foliate forms. Even when the central medallions and corner figures are of frets or stiffly conventionalised dragons, the fields are often covered with delicate scroll or foliate sub-patterns that support floral forms resembling the lotus or the peony. The drawing of some of these has a Western character, and there is little doubt that at this time the art of Persia had a strong influence on the weaving of China. In other pieces of this cla.s.s, the foliate and floral forms no longer appear as sub-patterns but become the prominent feature in the decoration of the field; and the conventionalised flowers are arranged with precision in diagonal or perpendicular lines. To this period also belong rugs of a distinct type, in which the field represents a blending of pictorial and symbolic ideas, as, for instance, a homeward flight of swallows; or a grove where b.u.t.terflies flit among the leaves, and deer with sacred fungus, emblematic of longevity, wander.

The employment of border stripes of uniform colour was still continued, but there was a tendency to employ more elaborate designs in many of the figured stripes. It is not unusual to see single or double vines with conventionalised flowers; and though the drawing is mechanical, the relations.h.i.+p to Persian art is apparent. Yet in most of these pieces the swastika-fret is used. A noticeable difference also exists in the colour scheme of many of the late Kang-hi rugs, which frequently display brighter colours. Much of the yellow, for instance, contains more red, giving it a golden hue known as the "imperial yellow."

YUNG-CHING.-During the short reign of Yung-ching (1722-1736), though many of the old patterns were followed, the tendency to adopt more ornate forms begun during the first part of the XVIII Century continued.

Manchurian ideas were now a strong factor in Chinese art, so that the use of colours and ornamentation followed broader lines. To this period are a.s.signed most of those rugs in which designs are defined by lines of contrasting colour that has been so treated that the lines are depressed and throw the designs into bold relief. It is very difficult, however, to definitely determine that any particular rug belongs to this period; since the transition in colour scheme and patterns was gradual; and the effect of time on dyes, one of the most reliable factors in determining age, depends somewhat on their exposure to the elements and to use. But broadly speaking, figures of leaf and flower were more frequently adopted than in preceding periods and designs became less conventionalised and more artistic. Lemon and citron shades of yellow, also, became more prominent during this period.

KEEN-LUNG.-The long reign of Keen-lung, lasting from 1736 to 1795, was one of the most prolific for Chinese art. To this period may safely be a.s.signed most of the existing rugs made before the XIX Century, as well as many of the finest porcelains. The rugs partake of a more cosmopolitan character than those which had preceded; for not only are many of the designs and colours strictly Chinese, but others are of a Persian character, and others still suggest Mohammedan influences observable in the products of Turkestan and India. Moreover, many of the designs show a delicate shading that is not observable in the rugs made during the early part of the century. As a whole they are the most ornate of Chinese rugs. Woven after the inspiration of Persian masterpieces had left its strongest impress on Chinese weavers, and decoration in kindred arts had a.s.sumed a luxurious style, they represent in the drawing of leaf and flower, of birds, b.u.t.terflies, and emblems of early philosophy and faith, and in the colours that blend with rare harmony, the most elaborate and voluptuous expression of native craftsmans.h.i.+p.

In the best examples the geometric, and many of the stiff conventional forms which continued through the XVII and the early part of the XVIII Century, disappeared. In their place was a greater refinement of design, a greater accuracy of drawing, which found expression in floral forms that reached their highest development at this time and became characteristic of it. Occasionally they are represented in profile as is usually the practice in Western Asia, but more often are represented as viewed from above. Some of them, as chrysanthemums, peonies, sunflowers, and orchids, are most dainty and naturalistic. The fields of many of these pieces are covered with such flowers carefully arranged in harmonious groupings of leaf, bud and flower, but never with the formal and exact balance of old Persian carpets. Not infrequently mingled with them in the same piece are more conventional designs that belong to an earlier period; sometimes there is a single central medallion; and occasionally there are a large number of them. As a rule these medallions are entirely floral, and in rugs made during the latter part of this period they display elaborate ornamentation that distinguishes them from earlier ones; but now and then they contain fabulous creatures, as the lion-dogs, by which in a few instances they are entirely replaced.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _COLOUR PLATE X-CHINESE RUG_

_Perfect technique of weaving, accuracy of drawing, and subdued rich colouring are the characteristics of this unusual piece. The knots of the fine woollen yarn are tied with a precision not frequently seen in Chinese rugs, and the shortness of nap discloses the faithfulness with which an artist of no ordinary ability has represented plants and flowers. Their soft tones stand out in relief against a background now darkened and enriched by the mellowing influence of time. Moreover, the motives of the upper and the lower half of the field, even to the minutest detail, show an exact balance. Many old Chinese rugs are of uncertain age, but this piece has been attributed, not without reason, to the Kang-hi period._

_Loaned by Mr. Nathan Bentz_]

There are also many other well-known types of Keen-lung rugs.

Surrounding the central medallion of some pieces are grouped the Taoist symbols; emblems of the literati, as chess boards, scrolls, and the lyre; as well as tripods, flower vases, fans of state, fruits of abundance, emblems of honours, and symbols of longevity and happiness.

To this cla.s.s also belong many of the pieces which have neither medallions nor corner pieces, but have fields completely covered with a pattern of continuous foliate stems and conventional flowers, repeated with exact precision of drawing. Likewise, in a few pieces the field is completely covered with an all-over pattern of small hexagonal or other geometric figures containing a conventionalised flower, strongly suggesting Turkoman influences. Some of the "Grain of Rice" rugs, also, were woven during this period.

The borders are as distinctive as the fields. Only in a few pieces is the swastika meander seen, but in its place is often the T pattern. The key patterns represented in Plate N, Figs. 7 and 8 (opp. Page 274), as well as the dotted line (Fig. 22), are also largely employed. Almost all of these rugs have two ornamented stripes, and occasionally three, to which is added an outer margin of plain colour. In a few pieces both stripes are geometric; but generally one is floral and one geometric, in which case the wider, that, with very few exceptions, is the floral, is the inner one. Very rarely the border contains two floral stripes; and now and then Buddhist emblems and other devices are introduced.

The breadth of artistic conception expressed in designs is accompanied by a wider scope of colour, in the use of which these rugs may conveniently be grouped in three sub-cla.s.ses. The first is the Blue and White, with ground of ivory or ashy white and designs that have shades of light or dark blue. The second comprises those in which the ground is some shade of yellow. Sometimes it has a tinge of lemon, orange, or apricot. Again it is what is known as dull, golden, mandarin, or imperial yellow. The overlying designs may contain a different shade of yellow from that of the field, an ivory white, a blue, or a red. The third subcla.s.s comprises those in which the ground colour is some shade of red; such as persimmon, terra cotta, crushed strawberry, apricot red, or a deep salmon pink, which is rare. The overlying designs may be a shade of blue, ivory white, yellow, gray, and even green. Colours of both field and border are sometimes the same but are more frequently complementary. As a whole, the elaborate designs, delicate shading, and rich colours rank these rugs among the most beautiful products of the Chinese loom.

The rugs woven during the reigns of Kea-king (1796-1820) and Tao-Kw.a.n.g (1821-1850), extending to the middle of last century, repeat with slight modification the patterns of the preceding period, though there is a tendency to use larger and coa.r.s.er designs. The colours, too, are similar, yet they lack the deep richness that is matured only with the lapse of great time. Many of these rugs, as well as some woven still later, before the introduction of aniline dyes and factory processes, are beautiful; but as a rule the modern pieces lack the refinement of technique observable only in those produced before the beginning of the XIX Century.