The Ęsthetic Appeal of the Oriental Rug - The Four Principal Classes and Some Subdivisions - Risks Encountered in Purchasing.

The Aesthetic Value Of The Home

A home is something more than a place in which to live. It is what both men and women long for, work for, and from which children receive their earliest and most enduring impressions. Their view of life is influenced by whatever of finer suggestion or of real uplift it is possible to bring into their environment. If the income is not too limited, it is a wise investment to do all that is possible to beautify the home and to add to its charm.

The Emotional Appeal Of The Oriental Rug

Oriental rugs have a power of fascination and a peculiar mystical quality which stirs the imagination and emotions, more, perhaps, than any other item of household furnishing. Each rug, laboriously made by hand, represents months or years of patient work, and necessarily reflects the changing moods and mind of the maker. Each piece of fabric has received a personal touch which gives it almost a life and personality in the family circle.

The Blending Power Of Oriental Rugs

Although in some homes of unlimited means, oriental rugs may be entirely out of place because of the color scheme or the manner of furnishing - plain rugs are sometimes needed where there is much wall decoration, and mission and craftsman furniture requires floor covering of modern design - yet, the scope of the oriental weavings, old and new, is so great in variety of texture, color, and design, that suitable selections may usually be made for almost any room. The variety of colors in multitudes of tones and values tends to make the rugs blend in any setting. Some of the best effects, however, are gained by the use of rugs woven by the eastern workers from special color schemes sent over to them from this country. Where it is practical to have rugs made to order in this way, it is possible to have a wonderful harmony in color in the rooms in which they are used.

Precaution Necessary In Determining Quality

There are many oriental rugs upon the market, but it is distressingly hard for the prospective purchaser to judge of values. The uninformed person is easily cheated, so it is well to deal only with the merchant whose reputation for honesty is of the best. The innumerable oriental rugs with which America is now flooded, are usually genuine, however, in that they are really hand woven. All Asia seems to have gone to weaving since the demand for eastern floor coverings became so universal. However, this great increase in the industry has given the inevitable result of inferior production. The wool used in these days is often not so good, and poor aniline dyes are sometimes used instead of the vegetable dyes which were always used formerly. Cheap aniline dyes are never as soft in color as vegetable dyes, so rugs of this inferior dye are usually "washed" by a chemical process which softens the colors but rots the wool. A "washed" rug may occasionally be detected by rubbing a small spot with a moistened handkerchief. If the color comes off, the dye is aniline of a poor grade and the rug is doomed to lose its color with a comparatively short period of use. Before wool will take aniline dyes well, the natural oil has to be scoured out of it more thoroughly than when vegetable dyes are used. This scouring process leaves the wool looking dead and lifeless, so after the rug is dyed with aniline colors, a high luster is given by the use of a glycerine bath. The pleasing sheen which this lends soon wears off under the tread of the disappointed purchasers.

Persian Prayer Rug, i6th Century.

(Courtesy, Metropolitan Museum).

Turkoman Rug.

(Courtesy, Metropolitan Museum).

Caucasian Rug, i8th Century.

(Courtesy, Metropolitan Museuem).

(Courtesy, Metropolitan Museum). Chinese Rug, Camel's-hair, 18th Century.