The Oriental Rug Part 4

The Kirmanshahs would come first, of course; closely woven, beautiful and soft in colour, delicate and artistic in their designs, they are the most perfect floor coverings for the salon, reception or music room. If they were only real! But very, very few of them are. They have all been treated with chemicals, and their beauty of complexion is just as artificial as any rouged and bepowdered courtesan's. Unless you have one out of ten thousand, it has not come from a palace, but from a scientific laboratory.

Many of the Tabriz carpets lie under the same suspicion, and those of soft tones, claiming to be antiques, may be wisely questioned. But new ones come in clean, rich colourings, in fine designs, and are textile masterpieces.

The Kurdistan carpets of to-day are by far the best of all. They are more loosely woven, but they are so much the heavier, and that is to be desired in a carpet. And they are honest. Their colours are beautiful, varied, strong, and true. It is claimed for the Kurdistans that some of their dyes are still well-guarded secrets; and it is true history of some years ago that many a b.l.o.o.d.y feud and murder grew out of cherished Kurdistan secrets of dyeing. Their designs are bold and striking, with grand centre medallion and corners, and a field artistically adorned.

Money cannot buy anything better than a fine new Kurdistan; and thirty or forty years of wear should leave it better still.

Next to be chosen would be the Gorovans. They also show brave figuring with a strong centre medallion, characteristic zigzag corners, and angular ornamentations which are most gracefully carried out. Their colouring is usually in fine blues and reds.

Modern Feraghans come in large carpet sizes, and some antique ones are still to be had. But the Kurdistans and Gorovans far surpa.s.s them in two important particulars. The Feraghans appear only in their own peculiar, small-figured designs, which are without strength or character on a large floor s.p.a.ce. Besides that, being more closely cut than the others, if they do not soon wear out, they soon wear down, and begin to show the suspicion of their warp and their loss of tone and colour. They are beautiful carpets, nevertheless, and will practically last a lifetime. But the heavier they are, the better.

There are few other modern Persian carpets in large sizes which come in appreciable numbers for cla.s.sification. There is a rather indefinite order of Gulistans, under which t.i.tle many good nondescripts are sold.

There are also current Sultanabads, in very large sizes, well woven, on old models, to meet present uses.

Most other carpets are of Turkish weaving, whatever their names, and come under the general t.i.tle of Smyrnas. Smyrna is the centre of distribution for a great variety of cheap and coa.r.s.ely woven carpets; but poor in quality as these may be, they should not be confused with the American machine product also known as a "Smyrna." In the same cla.s.s come the Oushaks, Hamadans, etc. There is nothing more to be said for them than to testify that they will wear better than a Brussels carpet, and give some distinction to a modest dining-room.

It is a far cry from carpets to saddle-bags, and yet these latter are of greater importance and interest to the collector. More valuable pieces of Oriental weaving are to be found among the diminutives than in the grand _opera_ of textiles.

Beginning at the bottom, we find plenty of the little pairs of bags, twelve or eighteen inches square. They are donkey bags, carried back of the saddle, and generally appear in s.h.i.+rvan make or, most commonly, in s.h.i.+raz weaving. The s.h.i.+raz often have considerable beauty and sheen and dark rich colouring. But these very small pieces have little real utility or available artistic beauty. They never lie well, and only litter up the floor. They belittle a well-arranged room as would a frail and useless gilt chair. They are recommended for pillows, but we Occidental infidels a.s.sociate rugs too closely with the foot to find them easy to the head.

They are also advised for use as ha.s.socks. But the ha.s.sock long ago disappeared, with or under the "what-not," or behind "the horse-hair sofa."

Other bags, used on horse and camel, come in more important sizes, as large as two feet by six feet or more. Exquisite specimens of Bokharas are found among these; artistic, antique pieces, woven as fine as needlework.

A number of these seem to have come suddenly on the market in some mysterious way; and they are of every size within their small limits; because, as an Oriental has suggested, there are _pony_ camels also.

Another mystery about those camel bags would seem to be that some are beautifully straight and therefore most to be desired, while others are so curved as to be impossible of use unless around the foot of a pillar. Here is a case differing from that of the ordinary crooked rug, because these bags were originally made straight and true. Overloading and overpacking have only sagged down the middle. I dare not say that the more the curve, the greater the age and the more the value; but it may be that curved Bokhara saddle-bags, pa.s.sed by, by the Levite, are prizes to be picked up by the good Samaritan, and may be easily restored to normal rect.i.tude.

But the term "saddle-bag," whether for this animal or that, is confusing and altogether too generally used. It must be borne in mind that a bag was and is an article of universal utility to the Oriental. For all purposes of travel, journeying, or visiting, it corresponds to our valise or portmanteau of to-day; or, in aptest comparison, to our "carpet-bag" of fifty years ago. And, according to the taste and means of their owners, these Persian, Armenian, or Turkish carpet-bags varied in size and beauty.

A few rare old Caucasian small rugs can only be accounted for as valued personal rug-bags of their period.

Among these smaller pieces are alone to be found the most valuable of all the collector's spoil, the small Sehnas. Very rarely they come in pairs, about two feet by three feet, and therefore could not have been used as bags for any purpose. They are pillows; and pillows of course play their important part in the _menage_ of the East. Besides the exquisite Sehnas, the finest of the Anatolian mats, as they are generally called, were used for pillows and not saddle-bags. The warp generally proves their purpose.

When the warp runs vertically to the larger side, and ends in a fringe, that specimen was of course some sort of a saddle-bag. When the selvedge is at the shorter end you have the pillow.

Among the other beautiful miniature specimens of textile art, which are still occasionally offered, are saddle-cloths. They appear mostly in beautiful Sehnas, and occasionally in fine old Feraghans and other Persian weaves. They are marred, however, for beautiful floor coverings by the necessary angular cut in them, through which the straps of the saddle pa.s.sed. This is often skilfully filled in, in the case of choice specimens. But the blot remains. Their irregular shape also condemns them for the most part with the many admirable but irreclaimable crooked rugs.

These saddle-bags are frequently used for table coverings or for mural adornment. But in our modern house decoration rarely does a rug look well upon the wall. The Persians hang them instead of pictures, which is well.

But they do not mix them with pictures on the wall, which is better, and shows good taste on the part of the Persians. A rug appears best upon the floor.

The collector of small pieces to-day will do well to buy every bag or pillow of Bokhara or Beluchistan which may please his fancy. They are to be had now at modest prices, but unless all signs fail, they will soon become as rare as any of the other miniatures. You will look in vain for them with the vanished Anatolians and diamond Sehnas.

CHAPTER X

AUCTIONS, AUCTIONEERS, AND DEALERS

A justification of the method of selling rugs by auction has been offered in many forms and phrases. It is perhaps best expressed somewhat thus: Every number has a certain intrinsic value, and that is a basis price at which it should sell. But beyond that it may have an extra value, which, like beauty in general, is in the eye of the beholder. The beholder, therefore, who sees a rug to covet it should name his own price for it. It may be one of the specimens he lacks in his collection; it may fit this corner or that. Anyway, it is worth more to him than to the lower bidder.

Incidentally, the seller and the auctioneer gain the fair profits of compet.i.tion.

Other arguments in favour of the auction have been advanced by the head of a great department store. His opinion is that the auction gives every one a chance to get the rug desired at a fair price. Tastes differ and prices differ, but the average of an auction is fair to both buyer and seller.

Regardless of theories, rug auctions, by whomsoever fathered or sponsored, thrive and flourish.

If the auction be the collection of such and such an Oriental, whatever his name, there will be a great deal of cheap stuff in his stock, and there will also be many choice pieces which he holds as the apples of his eye.

He buys from the wholesaler so many bales at so much per bale of say twenty pieces. In the bales of ordinary qualities the several items will average about the same. But in the more expensive bales there is a good general average, with a few prizes added. They are like the two or three green firecrackers in the packs of our childhood. These special pieces in the high-priced bales give the seller his legitimate opportunity and profit. If these odd firecrackers please your fancy more than mine, and I am contented to choose the conventional red ones, it is for you to fix the value of the greens.

At an auction the apparent authority and ruler is the auctioneer, while the owner weeps cheerfully on one side and shrugs his shoulders in half-pathetic resignation at the sacrifice. In reality the auctioneer knows pretty well what he is about, and, if not, is quickly posted by the owner. It is no harm to say that if we cannot believe all that we read in the Bible, no more is it safe to take literally all that the auctioneer a.s.serts. A recent skit in "Life" is pertinent (quoted from memory):--

"_The wife._ Look at this splendid bargain I bought for twenty dollars to-day. It's worth two hundred.

"_The husband._ Indeed! How do you know it is worth that much?

"_The wife._ Why, the auctioneer told me so."

A new plan of auction has been recently tried. You may buy in one or more lots at your own price, and if you do not wish to keep any, they may be returned within a certain number of days. You may bid _ad libitum_, recklessly as you choose; and if your choice be not all that your fancy and electric light have pictured it, you are under no obligation to keep it or pay anything on it; you may elect to change your mind and send it back. How this plan works in practice and finance has yet to be demonstrated. It would seem to be all on the side of the buyer and against the seller, who must lose many a bid from a _bona fide_ purchaser at a lower figure. The matter of human nature doubtless figures in the problem, because there is some little feeling of shame about returning an article bought in under compet.i.tion, no matter what the guarantee may be.

As to the auctioneers, they are always glib of tongue, good-natured, and persuasive. That they are not canonically and absolutely truthful is perhaps not their fault. They certainly cannot know more about rugs than the few authorities who have made a study of the subject; and, as said before, they are generally prompted by the "consignor" of the collection.

If only they would not call _every_ rug an "antique and priceless specimen," their individual consciences might be happier, and their audience less bored.

However, no matter what the audience, or how small it may be, there are always some there who will appreciate the difference between a four-dollar and a forty-dollar offering, and bid up the former to seven dollars and the latter to thirty dollars. Thus the auctions go merrily on and strike a general average. The skilful auctioneer will feel the pulse of his audience with a quicker touch than the most renowned of doctors; and once a.s.sured of their cla.s.s and position, wealth and condition, and what grade of merchandise they are willing to buy, the game is in his own hands, provided only that his audience is large enough. He should have at least a regulation pack of fifty-two in order to do justice to his own hand and skill, and in order to play off one card of his audience against another.

The auction has its own particular fascinations, and its own _habitues_ and devotees in every city. The chronic attendants should be the most careful and conservative of buyers. But the artful auctioneer soon learns to know them, to recognize them among his _clientele_, and to humour their whims, moods, and fancies. Sooner or later he will wheedle them into a bid against their better judgment, and then make good capital of the fact that such and such a connoisseur had bought so great a bargain.

The question might be asked, impersonally and perhaps impertinently, What was the auctioneer's influence at the Marquand sale? Was his the power?

Was it due to the catalogue? or was it in the air; and the zeal of an eager audience?

The retail trade in rugs throughout this country is largely in the hands of Armenians, both fixed and peripatetic; but of recent years much of their business has been annexed by the department stores.

These various Armenian dealers are universally known for their shrewdness and cleverness as well as for other ingenuousness and natural courtesy.

Except the heads of the carpet departments in some few large concerns, they know much more about their wares than other salesmen, and their personal, live knowledge gives a fillip of enthusiasm to the purchaser.

They would control the retail trade in rugs, were it not that the department store has brought against them its powerful weapon of _per cent_. The store a.s.serts that it wants only its modest _per cent_ on the cost of any article, no matter what its sentimental value may be. This may not be truth in its stark nakedness, but it has availed to draw to them a great deal of the trade in Oriental textiles.

The wholesale dealers are the most important factor in the question of distribution, for almost all the rugs sold in the United States must first pa.s.s through the hands of one or another of a dozen New York princes of the market. Large or small retailers may import some pieces directly from London, Paris, or Constantinople, but even the most important retailers buy heavily from the great Armenian wholesalers in New York City.

It is difficult to estimate and impossible to state absolutely the number or even the value of the Oriental rugs annually imported into the United States. The reason is that in the reports of the U. S. Treasury as to "Imported Merchandise," etc., Oriental carpets and rugs have no separate cla.s.sification, but are included under the general heading of "Carpets woven whole for rooms, and Oriental, Berlin, Aubusson, Axminster, and other similar rugs." It is quite a mixed company, but Oriental weaves as herein considered are at least distinguished as such, and differentiated from carpeting by the yard. They have also the distinction, with the others of their group, of paying a tax of ninety cents per square yard and forty per cent ad valorem, as against from twenty-two to sixty cents per square yard and the same forty per cent ad valorem for the various Brussels, Wilton, and Axminster floor-coverings coming by the yard, and not in one piece. And the duty on Oriental rugs, be it observed, is measured by the square yard, and therefore no record is kept of the number of pieces, or how many individual items of the four cla.s.ses have been imported.

Nevertheless, the statistics for the year ending June 30, 1902, show this general result: The total value of that year's import of these "whole carpets, Oriental, Berlin," etc., was a trifle below three million dollars. Two and a half millions of this value came to New York with only half a million left to divide between Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and other ports of entry. The supremacy of New York City as the Oriental rug mart for this country is easily manifest, although it is not so easy to estimate what proportion of the two and a half millions of value was in Oriental rugs and what in modern carpets. One expert figures the value of the Oriental rugs imported that year into New York as more than half the total, or perhaps two millions. It is as fair an estimate as may be had. Considerable as this amount may be, it seems much less than might be expected. It may perhaps indicate the cheap grade and low quality of most of our present acquisitions in this category.

The gathering of the rugs by the buyers, in the first instance, involves great hards.h.i.+ps, endurance, and even danger; and the deeper their incursions into new and strange territory and unopened and unexplored sources of supply, the more profitable their spoil, but the greater their toil. Beluchistan, as previously suggested, would appear now to be one of the remotest regions yet remaining to yield up a few new treasures to the persevering buyer.

These rugs so gathered to the centres of trade in Constantinople, Tiflis, and other distributing points, quickly find their way thence to New York, and help to make the magnitude and seeming wonderful complexity of the large wholesale depots. Whoever is fortunate enough to have the _entree_ to any of these great New York storehouses will be first among those who understand the importance, value, and appreciation of the Oriental rug.

CHAPTER XI

INSCRIPTIONS AND DATES