RUGS
ORIENTAL AND OCCIDENTAL ANTIQUE & MODERN
A Handbook for Ready Reference
BY
ROSA BELLE HOLT
New and Enlarged Edition, Entirely Reset
With 33 full-page Illustrations, 12 in full color, and other drawingsin the text, and a Map of the Orient
CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1908[Pg i]
Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1901-1908
This Enlarged Edition published October 10, 1908
The University Press, Cambridge, U.S.A.[Pg ii]
View larger imageANTIQUE TABRIZ SILK RUG
Size 8 × 6.3
This interesting and valuable rug is of antique Tabriz weave, of finelyblended colors, and rare design. It represents the individual squares onthe floor of a mosque, each one of which may be occupied by a worshipperkneeling in prayer. Rugs with a single design of this kind are usual,but a grouping of many such spaces in one rug is rare. Forms of the Treeof Life are represented in different panels, and the border is very richand handsome. The fabric is fine, the texture soft and firm. The richand splendid hues of the various panels are so soft in tone that, whilethere are several different colors in juxtaposition, these have beenarranged so deftly and artistically that the effect is perfectlyharmonious. It is impossible to describe in words the mellow richnessand rare art displayed in this unique product of the loom.
PREFACE
TO NEW ENLARGED EDITION
When the first edition of this book was published in 1901, it stoodalmost alone as a reference work on Oriental Rugs. In the six yearswhich have since elapsed, several volumes dealing with the subject havebeen published.
The extended knowledge of the public concerning the subject hasmaterially altered the conditions of buying and selling. It has alsoserved to increase curiosity and enthusiasm regarding these products ofOriental workmanship. I have been gratified to observe that a desire foradditional information is sought. My mail has contained an increasingnumber of requests for an enlarged edition of my book, and my ownenthusiasm for the subject makes me believe in the interest of myreaders. I take pleasure in sharing with them the results of recentinvestigations made in the United States, in the art centres of Europe,[Pg iii]and in the Orient.
New York City,
February 1, 1908.
[Pg iv]
PREFACE
While there is a singular lack of books in the English language treatingdirectly of Rugs,—a theme which is so intens