•gjuu'uu. ^tuufngg ^^t sY pN^ \i V- ORIENTAL CARPETS RUNNERS AND RUGS AND SOME JACQUARD REPRODUCTIONS AGENTS America The Macmillan Company 64 & 66 Fifth Avenue, New York Australasia The Oxford University Press 205 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Canada The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd. 27 Richmond Street West, Toronto India Macmillan & Company, Ltd. Macmillan Building, Bombay 309 Bow Bazaar Street, Calcutta Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library http://archive.org/details/orientalcarpetsrOOhump Plate I ORIENTAL "KING RUG" " Shot with a thousand hues " Sappho Wharton's Translation Size 6—6 x 4-1 Warp — 10 knots to the inch Weft — 10 knots to the inch IOO KNOTS TO THE SQJUARE INCH (See Analysis) Plate I ORIENTAL CARPETS RUNNERS AND RUGS AND SOME JACQUARD REPRODUCTIONS ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK SOHO SQUARE LONDON MCMX I TO MY WIFE "All the Arts affecting Culture (i.e. the Fine Arts) have a certain common bond^ and are connected by a certain blood relationship with one another" — Cicero. CONTENTS ALLEGORY 3 CONTEMPORARY ARTS 27 CARPETS RUNNERS AND RUGS 159 JOSEPH MARIE JACQUARD 269 ROMANCE 3 21 ANALYSIS OF ILLUSTRATIONS 363 BIBLIOGRAPHY 389 INDEX 4°3 IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS See Analysis AUTHOR'S BOOK-PLATE On Title Page MEDEA AND JASON 3 JEAN-BAPTISTE COLBERT 27 LES LIVRES ILLUSTRES DU XVIIP SIECLE (Facsimile Letter) 108 SHAH ABBAS THE GREAT 159 PENELOPE SURPRISED BY THE SUITORS 173 JOSEPH MARIE JACQUARD 269 THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, FROM THE ENTRANCE GATE 321 THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, FROM THE QUADRANGLE 342 THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, FROM THE FOUNTAIN 353 TAIL-PIECE 360 HIEROGLYPH 386 COLOURED PLATES See Analysis PLATE I ORIENTAL "KING RUG" Frontispiece II SHAH ABBAS DEVICE 12 III JACQUARD "ARDEBIL" CARPET 36 IV JACQUARD CARPET 48 V ORIENTAL CARPET 60 VI JACQUARD CARPET 72 VII ORIENTAL CARPET 88 xi Oriental Carpets PLATE VIII ORIENTAL CARPET 120 IX ORIENTAL CARPET 132 X JACQUARD CARPET 144 XI JACQUARD CARPET 164 XII ORIENTAL RUNNER 176 XIII ORIENTAL RUNNER 184 XIV ORIENTAL RUNNER 196 XV JACQUARD RUNNER 204 XVI ORIENTAL RUNNER 212 XVII ORIENTAL RUG 220 XVIII ORIENTAL RUG 228 XIX ORIENTAL RUG 236 XX ORIENTAL RUG 244 XXI ORIENTAL RUG 252 XXII ORIENTAL PRAYER RUG 256 XXIII JACQUARD PRAYER RUG 288 XXIV ORIENTAL INSCRIPTION RUG 304 DESIGNS ON BINDING See Analysis THE MUSJID-I-SHAH, ISPAHAN On Front Cover THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA On Back Cover The Coloured Plates 'were Engraved and Printed by the Menpes Printing Company, Ltd., Watford, under the personal supervision of Mr. Mortimer Menpes and Miss Maud Menpes. The Black and White Plates •-were Engraved by Messrs. Carl Hentschel, Ltd., London Xll 3 ALLEGORY ALLEGORY MEDEA AND JASON By kind permission of the Gazette ties Beaux Aits (See Analysis) ORIENTAL CARPETS RUNNERS AND RUGS AND SOME JACQUARD REPRODUCTIONS CHAPTER I ALLEGORY Affirmer que la Toison d'or a ete des son origine et est encore aujourd'hui " un des plus illustres ordres de chevalerie," serait avancer une chose banale, mais montrer l'influence considerable et bienfaisante que cette noble institution a exercee dans le domaine religieux, moral, politique et artistique, n'est pas sans offrir un grand interet et une reelle utilite. — Baron H. Kervyn de Lettenhove. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1429, at his marriage, instituted the military order of Toison d'or or " Golden Fleece " ; it was said on account of the profit he made by wool. . . . At the end of the collar of the order hung a Golden Fleece, with this device, Pretium non vile laborum. — Haydn's Dictionary of Dates. According to the generally accepted records, a little over a thousand years elapsed after the Deluge before Jason conducted the Argonautic expedition, the first commercial venture by sea of which we have a narrative ; and it is my purpose to deal with this in the manner sanctioned by Lord Bacon in the thirteenth chapter of the second book of his Advancement of Learning, in which he says : " Poetry is a kind of learning generally confined to the measure of words, but otherwise extremely licentious, and truly belonging to the imagination, which, being unrestrained by laws, may make what unnatural mixtures and separations it pleases." After dividing poetry into Narrative, Dramatic, and Allegorical, Lord Bacon proceeds to analyse the divisions, and, turning particular attention to the third, writes : " But allegorical poetry excels the others, and appears a solemn sacred thing, which religion itself generally makes use of, to preserve an intercourse between divine and human things ; yet this, also, is corrupted by a levity and indulgence of genius towards allegory. Its use is ambiguous, and made to serve contrary purposes ; for it envelops as well as 3 Oriental Carpets illustrates, — the first seeming to endeavour at an art of concealment, and the other at a method of instructing, much used by the ancients. For when the discoveries and conclusions of reason, though now common, were new, and first known, the human capacity could scarce admit them in their subtile state, or till they were brought nearer to sense, by such kind of imagery and examples ; whence ancient times are full of their fables, their allegories, and their similes. From this source arise the symbol of Pythagoras, the enigmas of Sphinx, and the fables of Aesop. Nay, the apophthegms of the ancient sages were usually demonstrated by similitudes. And as hieroglyphics preceded letters, so parables preceded arguments ; and the force of parables ever was and will be great, as being clearer than arguments, and more apposite than real examples. " The other use of allegorical poetry is to envelop things, whose dignity deserves a veil ; as when the secrets and mysteries of religion, policy, and philosophy, are wrapped up in fables and parables. But though some may doubt whether there be any mystical sense con- cealed in the ancient fables of the poets, we cannot but think there is a latent mystery intended in some of them : for we do not, there- fore, judge contemptibly of them, because they are commonly left to children and grammarians ; but as the writings that relate these fables are, next to the sacred ones, the most ancient, and the fables themselves much older still, being not delivered as the inventions of the writers, but as things before believed and received, they appear like a soft whisper from the traditions of more ancient nations, conveyed through the flutes of the Grecians. But all hitherto attempted towards the interpretation of these parables proving unsatisfactory to us, as having proceeded from men of but commonplace learning, we set down the philosophy of ancient fables as the only deficiency in poetry. But lest any person should imagine that any of these deficiencies are rather notional than real, and that we, like augurs, only measure countries in our mind, and know not how to invade them, we will proceed to subjoin examples of the work we recommend. These shall be three in number — one taken from natural philosophy, one from politics, and another from morals." This lengthy extract has appeared to me to be permissible not only on account of the interest attaching to all the writings of the great author, but also because the passage quoted has intimate bear- ing upon the point of view from which I have approached the subject of this book. Absolute proof and fact with regard to any object of human activity in remote ages are unobtainable as far 4 Allegory as investigation has yet gone ; but reasonable deductions can be made from written records and the survival of articles in common use, particularly such as are of artistic merit, which from their nature and value would naturally call for greater care in their preservation. As Lord Bacon particularly mentions, it is in fables that the very earliest records have to be sought, and it may be taken for granted that the most trifling example of allegory has its counterpart in earlier ages — actual occurrences which in some form or other have drifted down the world of time until seized upon by some curious or intelligent person, and, with mixture of fact and fiction, have become crystallized in permanent literary form. Lord Bacon interprets at some length the fables of " Pan, or Xature. Explained of Natural Philosophy " ; " Perseus, or War. Explained of the Preparation and Conduct necessary to War " ; and " Dionysus, or Bacchus. Explained of the Passions." It seems strange that, having in the concluding chapter of the Advancement of Learning cited "The History of Arts; or, nature formed and wrought by human industry," and " The Doctrine of Business ; or, books upon all kinds of civil employments, arts, trades, etc.," as deficiencies of knowledge " pointed out in the pre- ceding work, to be supplied by posterity," Lord Bacon should not have pursued his subject further, and have added Jason to his interpretations, as the demigod of Commerce, ranking in importance with the best-known types recorded in mythology. He may have considered the application of this fable so obvious that it should be left to the tender mercies of one of " commonplace learning " ; which leaves the field open for the modest effort which follows. It is to be noted that by the period of the Argonautic expedition the mind of man would have become sufficiently cognizant of the powers with which human intelligence and exceptional physical strength could work wonders such as had previously been attributed to the gods of Olvmpus, and that in consequence there had arisen a race of demigods in whom supernatural powers were leavened with an air of human reality, which accounts for such types as Hercules, son of Jupiter and Alcmene ; Perseus, son of Jupiter and Danae ; Theseus, son of Aegeus and Aethra ; Jason, son of Aeson and Alcimede ; and Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis. The recent exhibition at Bruges of relics connected with the ancient and noble order of the Golden Fleece has given a prominence to Jason which accords well with my design of following out the natural interpretation of the fable. Jason's parentage has already been referred to : so it is only 5 i* Oriental Carpets necessary to mention that he was born at Iolchos in Thessaly, and that at the time of his birth it was necessary to conceal him from his uncle Pelias, who had usurped his father's kingdom, and had every reason for wishing to destroy one with whom he would have to deal when his legitimate right to the throne became known in course of time. In order to be concealed, and fitted for the position which the chances of time and life might cause him to fill, Jason was placed under the care of the learned Centaur Chiron, who had previously educated Hercules, and was later to educate Achilles. When time warranted the revelation, Chiron informed Jason of the injustice his parents and himself had suffered from Pelias ; and, with an admonition to reserve vengeance for the wrongs endured, the pupil was sent forth upon the errand which in various forms has become one of the most striking and typical of fables. After his encounter with Juno in the guise of an old woman — in which Jason, remembering Chiron's injunction to afford all the help he could to the human race, lost one of his golden sandals while carrying her across a stream, after which, as a reward, he received the promise of her protection and support — Jason at length arrived in his native city, and came under the notice of his uncle Pelias, whom he found celebrating a festival in honour of the immortal gods. Pelias recognized Jason from the loss of his sandal, which recalled an oracle warning him of danger to arise from such a stranger. A scheme of ultimate profit, accompanied by the probable removal of a dangerous aspirant to the throne, occurred to him. Concealing alarm, Pelias invited Jason to the banquet prepared for the occasion, and, probably with cajolery and flattery, lulled to sleep the resentment and suspicion with which Jason must have at first approached his uncle and those over whom he ruled. Forsaking the conventional lines of allegory, we may continue the story with as near an approach to what probably gave rise to the fable as deduction and imagination will permit in dealing with facts which the lapse of over three thousand years has relegated to the region of mythological romance. In regarding what follows from this point of view, it is well to remember that recent discoveries have given some colour of reality to the Trojan War, and to the feats of arms recorded by Homer, which have handed down to us a type of godlike Hero, who, under the names of Achilles, Hector, Ajax, Diomed, Ulysses, and others, has given inspiration to historical personages, of whom Alexander the Great and Napoleon are instantly-occurring examples. It is probable that in a comparatively small kingdom such as 6 Allegory Thessaly, facilities for obtaining the raw material of fabrics would be poor ; while it is equally possible that individually there might be some capacity for actually weaving all that was necessary for clothing, and providing floor coverings and hangings for domestic use, and for greater occasions of festivity, such as happened on the arrival of Jason. The possibility of making use of Jason for obtaining the high grade of wool required in fine art work (of which, perhaps, in the shape of presents from neighbouring kingdoms, Pelias was sufficiently familiar), and of causing his death in the event of failure, probably suggested to the usurper the relation of the story of the Golden Fleece, which, under the influence of the romance of the tale and the wine with which he was doubtless lavishly supplied, Jason in full assembly swore to go in quest of. There is nothing remarkable in the progress of the story from this point, if one considers how the tales of the adventurers of the Elizabethan age, such as the voyages of Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, Raleigh, and Humphrey Gilbert, would have read in the mythical age now under consideration, with the full use of the hyperbole which in transmission from pen to pen gathers the embroidery overlapping and almost hiding the plain texture of the fabric. In plain everyday language, the golden-fleeced ram given to King Athamas by Neptune resolves itself into the capture by sea of a ram of superior breed from some coast kingdom, with the desire of improving the stock of the sheep which experience had proved incapable of yielding wool to bear comparison, in the dyed and woven fabric, with specimens of the product of other nations, which, in the ordinary course of interchange of presents or commodities, would demonstrate the superiority coveted. With the well-known antipathy of well-bred animals to mate out of their class, the ram sought for with such pains and risk proved useless for the particular purpose for which it was procured ; whereupon it was appropriately housed, and treated with the consideration due to its merits. The story of the discarded wife Nephele, and the wicked step- mother Ino, who, having children of her own, had the strongest motives for degrading her old rival and maltreating her children, Phryxus and Helle, if not destroying them, is sufficiently familiar. The story runs that Nephele was placed in special charge of the golden-fleeced ram, from whom she received the affection that animals usually bestow upon those who feed them. The time came when the owner of the ravished ram found his opportunity to recover the valuable animal ; and in doing so, on the 7 Oriental Carpets occasion of a sacrifice to the gods, in which, at the instigation of Ino, the victims were the innocent children of Nephele, he was overcome by pity, and probably touched by the instinctive attach- ment of the ram to the children, who also were borne off to the waiting ships ; and without delay the return home was begun. The christening of the Hellespont is too picturesque to be ignored. This probably resolves itself into Helle, in her sadness at being parted from her mother, and overcome by the unaccustomed motion, and the sight of the waves, carrying out a desire felt by many a bad sea-traveller, and casting herself into the sea. Fear of pursuit would prevent any endeavour to save her : so the romance was completed in the only possible way, for a rescue would leave the tale still to be told. Phryxus, as a young man of superior birth, would naturally be received with consideration by King Aeetes on his arrival at Colchis with the ram, the recovery of which would be sufficient cause for jubilation to remove any rancour left from the rape of the ram, especially when the tale of his persecution at the hands of his step- mother became known. What here gives colour to the probability that it was fear of commercial rivalry which induced King Aeetes to risk his men and money in endeavouring to recover an animal which might have improved his rival's flocks to the extent of a serious competition, is that in allowing Phryxus to sacrifice the ram as a thank-offering for his safety under such trying conditions he clearly showed that the ram was only one of many, among which care- ful breeding had resulted in a grade of wool which gave its possessors unlimited advantages over all engaged in the same industry. King Aeetes would probably be shrewd enough (in order to disarm further attempts upon his flocks) to suspend the fleece upon a carved emblematic wooden pillar at the entrance of a defile leading to the plains upon which his sheep pastured, thereby con- veying to all beholders the impression that the fleece was unique ; the difficulty of even obtaining a sight of it would emphasize the tales told of the hidden dangers which would accompany any endeavour to obtain possession of it. We now return to Jason, to whom the tale told the previous day would, in his sorter moments, convey a real impression of what he had undertaken, and it is natural enough that he should seek the guidance of the deity whose manifestation to him when crossing the stream probably amounted to his own life, and that of the old woman he carried, being saved from the stream in a manner Allegory which from its danger savoured of the supernatural. He consulted his divinity, and obtained a supply of timber from her shrine, which included a specially choice piece of wood for the figurehead, in its carving, according to the criticism of to-day, a " speaking likeness " ; and, his ship finished, Jason bethought him of the chosen friends and companions upon whom he relied to form the leaders of the crew with whom he would doubtless be readily furnished through the agency of Pelias, who is not likely to have thrown any obstacle in the way of his promptly setting forth upon his dangerous errand. The readiness with which bold spirits press forward to engage in any adventure giving scope for strength and talents, especially when accompanied by the promise of something tangible in the shape of spoil, or certain results of a business nature, probably left Jason with the necessity of selection, rather than with any doubts as to securing the full support necessary for his enterprise ; and it is not surprising to find amongst the names of his chosen friends and companions Hercules, Castor, Pollux, Peleus, Admetus, Theseus, Orpheus, and others whose enumeration has no bearing on the narrative. The usual prayer was offered up for favourable winds, and the general smoothness of the voyage would naturally lead to the assumption that the prayer had been duly answered, and that the ship was under the direct patronage of Aeolus, god of the winds. The voyagers had occasion many times to land for the purpose of obtaining food and supplies ; and with the nature of their quest obvious from the size and equipment of the ship, and the warlike character of the leading members of the crew, it is not surprising to read in the fable that every stop of the sort was the occasion of some disaster. On one occasion Hercules landed with his friend Hylas, a beautiful youth, ostensibly to cut wood for new oars ; but it is not improbable that Hercules, disgusted with the monotony of the journey and the lack of adventures, had determined to return home if opportunity offered ; and the loss of his young friend, perhaps from his finding superior attractions in the maidens of the country they landed in, would be sufficient to make him forsake his com- panions, and, with little of the hero, turn his footsteps homeward, alone, and with grief and disappointment in his heart. It is only fair to Hercules to record another version of the circumstances amid which he was deprived of the glory accompany- ing the eventually successful expedition. In writing of the Super- Men of the period, Aristotle says (Welldon's translation) : " It will 9 Oriental Carpets be a wrong to them to treat them as worthy of mere equality when they are so vastly superior in virtue and political capacity, for any person so exceptional may well be compared to a deity upon the earth. And from this it clearly follows that legislation can be applicable to none but those who are equals in race and capacity ; while for persons so exceptional there is no law, as they are a law in themselves. For any attempt to legislate for them would be ridiculous ; they would probably make the same reply as did the lions in Antisthenes's story to the declamation of the hares when they demanded universal equality. It is for the same reason that democratical States make use of Ostracism. As it is these States which are supposed to aspire to equality above all things, the common practice was to ostracize and so remove from the State for definite periods all whose wealth or clientele or other political strength of any kind gave them an air of superior power. Such too according to the fable was the reason why the Argonauts left Heracles in the lurch, as the ship Argo would not convey him with his comrades because he was so much more powerful than the rest of the crew." The first important event in the voyage which gave Jason an opportunity of exercising his power in behalf of humanity occurred on the occasion of his visit to the blind King of Thrace, with whom, probably, he wished and expected to have business negotiations. He found the poor old man's life embittered by the Harpies, or monopolist contractors, to whom he had most likely farmed out the principal products of his kingdom, with the usual result that abuses arose in controlling the small producers, and that the proceeds of harsh and unjust measures against the inhabitants (to squeeze the uttermost farthing out of their bargain) caused an impoverishment and bitterness of feeling among his subjects which at last arrived at such a pitch that, with the loss of general revenues, even his own household was pinched, and the exactions of the monopolists, and the constant murmuring and open complaints of the outraged populace, left the poor king no peace. Jason undoubtedly placed matters upon a proper business footing, with the permission of King Phineus, and with the advice and assistance of the business heads in his company ; and, the two sons of Boreas being allowed to take strong measures in reforming the abuses on all sides, the monopolists were eventually driven away, and, as a small compensation for their losses, permitted to settle in the Strophades Islands, where they undertook to remain. In the meantime Jason proceeded on his way, which would lead to the assumption that he recognized the necessity of leaving Zetes 10 Allegory and Calais in charge of the blind king's affairs, with the wise prevision that it is of no use introducing reforms if steps are not taken to ensure their continuance. Soon after leaving Thrace, the Argonauts were attacked by brazen-feathered birds, which rained sharp plumage on them and wounded several. This is a suggestive way of conveying the probable fact that in crushing the monopolists and effecting reforms Jason had incurred the hatred and animosity of the smaller men who had battened on the remains of the carcass from which the stronger men had first taken their full share. A reformer is seldom popular, and it is impossible to sweep away an old and bad order of things without putting a stop to minor practices with the major, which, while perhaps only the fringes of a bad system, must nevertheless go if the greater reform is to be effectually carried out. Unfortunately, the innocent must often suffer with the guilty, who very often are made use of in conveying an impression of injustice and oppression which readily takes the ears of those who, not having suffered themselves, are officious in making the best use of what may by chance eventually touch their own interests. Thus the brazen feathers of malicious accusation and garbled fact, freely mixed with fiction, pursued the reformers, some of whom had perhaps in their zeal given an excuse for the assaults, and were in consequence wounded. Jason, recognizing that ordinary weapons were of no avail against such insidious attacks, retaliated in kind. Magnifying the commercial influence he had already gained, and had prospects of speedily adding to, by means of inducements of some countenance from his own stronger organization, and more likely still by threats of unbridled competition, he at last stifled the attacks, and sailed onwards to further dangers and triumphs. The next difficulty the adventurers had to overcome had a more perilous aspect. To arrive at their destination, their ship had to pass what might well be described as " Hell's Gates," opposing islands called the Symplegades, which, in the pleasantly suggestive language of fable, continually clashed together, crushing all objects which attempted to pass between them. This allegory instantly suggests a guarded route of the sea, formed by nature, to be passed in order to avoid a much longer way round, which would ruin the results of any commercial expedition. The Suez Canal, or such a work as the Panama Canal, will illustrate the power which two neighbouring and independent petty island kingdoms could exercise if they worked with the harmony of " pooled interests," in which it would be to the benefit of both n Oriental Carpets parties to exercise in the fullest measure the advantages given them by their isolation and natural position. Port dues ; the extremest limits of a specially designed protective system ; and the compulsory purchase of provisions and supplies at extortionate prices — these would sufficiently cripple the resources of any ordinary expedition, and one can well imagine the joy with which the conspiring throttlers of trade would behold the approach of such a promising object of plunder as the good ship Argo. It is probable that before undertaking his journey Jason made inquiries into all matters likely to affect his undertaking, and willing victims would be ready not only to afford information as to what was likely to result from the necessary passage through the strait, but also to suggest the best means of accomplishing it successfully. Shrewd heads would not be wanting among the voyagers, warned in time by those in the best position to guess at the remedy, to plan a device securing their own exemption from illegal taxation and extortion, and also to prevent the abuse from arising in future ; for it must not be forgotten that Jason's revered tutor Chiron had, while bidding him remember his vengeance against Pelias, exhorted him to use his best efforts in behalf of the human race at large ; this part of Jason's operations well illustrates the adage, " Live and let live," which in the long run Chiron was wise enough to foresee as the best means of securing fortune for himself, while retaining the goodwill of friends and even competitors. By means of a trifling but designedly attractive preliminary negotiation, Jason brought the two island pirates together, and, taking the opportunity of interviewing each of them separately, while the several important members of his company flattered the other and distracted attention from what was progressing, he, with counter propositions, and an undertaking to pay the full exactions due to both, to each one separately, finally, at the expense of a small percentage of the expected charges, equivalent to the " tail-feathers " of the fabled experimental dove, sent both the partners off to their respective islands, probably on the best of terms with each other, and the voyagers especially ; each, moreover, be it noted, persuaded that the other would receive the wished- for dues before the vessel proceeded on its way. His plans having thus been carefully laid, Jason would lose no time next morning in getting well under weigh before any suggestion of trickery could arouse the suspicions of either party, the separating sea obviously preventing ease of communication without the cognizance of the ship's crew. It is quite possible that the early start of the 12 Plate II Plate II SHAH ABBAS DEVICE Jacquard Carpet Design Displaying the Shah Abbas device, resting upon a background of the characteristic " Herati " design (See Analysis) Allegory Argo would at first be with the satisfied and friendly goodwill of the highwaymen, who, having taken full toll, are politely ready to restore some trifle of personal remembrance, and even on occasion invite their victims to a parting feast, or to the pleasures of an impromptu dance. The unstudied speed with which the Argo would at last endeavour to get free to the open sea would doubtless cause sudden suspicion ; the full power at the command of both islands would be used to meet the ship at the most advantageous point, and without doubt the combined forces would strain every nerve, which defeated purpose had set on edge, to intercept the Argo and share the plunder between them. Explanations after the event are seldom satisfactory, and the obvious interest which both parties would have to conceal any financial benefit which might be supposed to have arisen from their separate negotiations would permanently sow the seeds of doubt, and thenceforward the staunch friends, in their mutual robberies, the " Protective Trust," would be transformed into two separate concerns, in which, with a desire on either side to exact what could be obtained from each passing ship, the necessity of not throwing the whole results into the hands of whichever would offer the best terms would effect what straightforward competition does nowadays — that is to say, reduce the dues to a minimum, which naturally acts in the direction of the greatest good to the greatest number. Fable relates that the Symplegades, accustomed to crush passing ships, after the failure to treat the Argo similarly, lost their capacity for doing harm, and remained anchored by the entrance to the Bosporus ; this clearly means that, their " teeth having been drawn," and any possibility of their again acting in harmony being out of the question, the operations of the late allies in future would not be such as to interfere with the free interchange of commercial products between friendly ports ; in fact, a species of Free Trade supplanted the old system of Prohibitive Tariffs. The adventure of the Symplegades, and its successful issue, left Jason and his companions free to go on with the more important purpose of their voyage. Although they had innumerable other adventures, great and small, nothing worth recording happened to disturb them, or to delay further their arrival at the kingdom of Colchis. There at last Jason came face to face with King Aeetes, who, with his son Absyrtus and his daughter Medea — warned of the approach of the Argo, and doubtless also of its importance, as shown 13 Oriental Carpets by its unusual size — had awaited their arrival surrounded with the state appertaining to the extent of his domain. Jason, in the knowledge of his royal birth, and probably flushed by the success which had attended his voyage, made himself known to Aeetes, who received him with the consideration due to his rank, and extended welcome and hospitality to his noble companions and the ship's crew ; while it is probable that, knowing the circumstances connected with his recapture of the golden-fleeced ram, and the fate of the son of King Athamas, he awaited the announcement of Jason's errand with the trepidation always present in a guilty conscience. Without wasting time or words, Jason boldly proclaimed his quest of the Golden Fleece, and taxed King Aeetes with the murder of Phryxus, whom, indeed, upon his obtaining a position of some importance in the kingdom, Aeetes had foully caused to be murdered, with the intention not only of removing a possible rival, but also of getting rid of the sole alien witness of the recaptured ram, and the fact of its forming one only of a flock, the wool from which had raised his kingdom to the high position due to the excellence of its products, resulting from the grade of wool used in their manufacture. Concealing his fear and alarm, the King called upon his daughter Medea to explain to Jason what he would have to accomplish in order to obtain possession of the Fleece. This she did with her heart already aroused by love for the youth, whose grace of form and feature, bold demeanour, and firmness of purpose had instantly touched her affections. The tale of love at first sight has often led to success in similar enterprises, and the effect produced upon Medea promised a happy issue to the adventure, which presumably at once occurred to the older heads in the party, and probably was not slow to inspire Jason with the double aim of securing the treasure he had come so far to seek, and to carry with him on his return the hand- some wife whose knowledge of all the methods of rearing the sheep and dressing the wool would enable him to introduce improvements into his own manufactures, without the waste of time otherwise required in experiment before he could successfully handle the much finer material which was the first object of the expedition. Displaying the chased gold and jewelled cups, armour, dye-stuffs, woven fabrics, and other produce of Thessaly which formed his cargo, and had been brought for the purpose of barter, Jason offered the whole contents of the ship, if need be, in exchange for selected rams and ewes from King Aeetes' choicest stock, together with free- men and slaves whose familiarity with the processes of treatment 14 All( gory would facilitate his reaping the benefits of his enterprise. Bargain- ing thus, Jason claimed friendship ; adding, with the bold im- petuosity of youth, and confidence in his own strength and the prestige and renown of his companions, that if his request did not meet with the compliance of the King he would strive to attain his ends by force. Dissembling his wrath, and hoping to obtain more by diplomacy than it seemed worth while to risk by force, Aeetes, confirming the terms set forth at his request by Medea, spoke fair words, and invited Jason and his companions to rest and refresh themselves, accompany- ing them to his palace, hard by. On entering the palace, Jason and his companions were astonished at the magnificence with which every detail of building and furnishing had been carried out. The lavishness of gold and silver inlaying ; the pictured tapestry hang- ings ; the rich floor-coverings, yielding softly to the feet — all spoke eloquently as to the wealth at the King's command, and the weighty nature of the secret which had conduced so largely to his prosperity, for it may be assumed that the generally diffused prosperity and accruing wealth which in 1429 induced the Good King Philip of Burgundy to do honour to the Hero of the Golden Fleece was equally manifest in the kingdom of Aeetes, who could not fail to appreciate the importance of his staple industry, while he was equally determined to preserve the source of his wealth and power at all costs. It is quite according to the methods of diplomacy that, before the King reminded Jason of what he would have to accomplish if he were to attain his end, a banquet should have been served, in which the best that he, the Sovereign, could command was placed before his guests, the wine-cup being assiduously plied, until the time came to explain more fully to Jason the nature of the con- ditions he had to fulfil before he could reconcile the various conflict- ing interests which surrounded the industry with a ring of vested complications — which, without doubt, were made the most of. Medea — again at the King's request, which seems to imply his confidence in her complete mastery of the details to be explained — in the language of fable spoke of two brazen bulls, which had to be yoked together, and made to plough a barren stretch of land ; after which the furrows had to be sown with serpents' fangs, and the resulting dragons overcome ; all this had to be accomplished before access could be had to the dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece, the difficulties in the securing of which even exceeded what had already been pictured in the preliminary encounters. Translated J 5 Oriental Carpets into plain prose, the truth was that King Aeetes had farmed the entire industry — not only the supply of the wool, but also the actual manufacture in all its processes for all purposes — to two hard-headed business men, who, from the lucrative nature of the monopoly, had the best of reasons for not allowing any interloper to share their profits. The task of reconciling these interests was sufficiently dismaying. Besides, our hero had on his own initiative to persuade the freemen and slaves required for his purpose to forsake their homes, and, venturing upon the voyage with all its dangers, settle down in a strange land and practically begin life over again. Approaching Jason at the dead of night with fear and trembling, Medea promised her help in the undertaking ; whereupon Jason, with the gratitude for her assistance born of the love he already felt, promised to make her his wife, and carry her safely to his home in the event of their now mutual venture proving successful. This being arranged, and with urgent instructions to Jason that he should not make any move until he had heard that Medea had concluded the preliminary negotiations, Medea lost no time in adopting measures for securing the agreement of the two Trust magnates, and paving the way to securing the shepherds and artisans, without whom the difficulties of the undertaking far away from the facilities of accumulated experience would render the expedition abortive. Before leaving her promised husband she adjured him on his sacred word, and with the fear of their joint deaths, not to draw sword in his first trial, but to rely entirely upon his eloquence. The trial was made next day in full audience, the King probably having fears of secret negotiation. Their agreement partly secured by the promises and blandishments of the King's daughter, the " Fermiers generaux " were already half-persuaded; and it maybe assumed that by a judicious reference to the remoteness of the kingdom in which the industry would be practised, and the promise of interchange of commodities, and even perhaps some equivalent to the " royalties " of the present day, Jason contrived to persuade the rivals to join in permitting him to select a certain number of the choicest animals in the flock, and that, on the understanding that he was to exercise his own persuasions in dealing with the shepherds and weavers, they proceeded amicably with him to the quarters in which the body of men he had to deal with had been assembled to hear the propositions Jason had to make. It is probable that the sight of their two tyrannical masters acting in harmony with Jason prepared the men for what was to follow ; in addition to which, Medea, with her intimate knowledge 16 Allegory of their weak spots, had primed them with assurances as to the advantages to be derived by listening to what the rich and powerful stranger had to say. The trial was doubtless severe for Jason, and exceeded in difficulty the effort he had already made, in which his own reputation and that of his chief companions would have full weight with men flattered by royal attention and solicitation. The discussion was long, and wavered from side to side, weak and cunning men delaying the issue with the desire to have some- thing more tangible than mere promises, before committing them- selves to support their already half- convinced fellows. Jason without doubt exercised to the full his powers of persuasion, all the arts of the born orator, all the diplomacies of the trained politician. The issue would have been doubtful had not Medea been aware of the weaknesses of those standing in the way of his attaining his ends, and, seeing how things were going, taken means to put Jason in possession of facts intimately concerning the recalcitrant men, which up till then she had probably withheld in the hope of avoid- ing action repugnant to her feelings ; it is possible that, though in the background while negotiations were proceeding, she heard sufficient from her own personal attendants to gather that Jason's difficulties arose more from misleading suggestions purposely made by Aeetes, or those in his confidence and inspired by him, than from any real objection on the part of the workmen to transfer their allegiance. In fact, Medea detected subtle suggestion — perhaps the raking up of some old feud between the different classes of work- men — upon which King Aeetes relied for thwarting Jason. With this idea in her mind, she would have no scruples in making use of her knowledge ; and it is probable that the fear of traitors in their midst, and ignorance as to what the results would be if further difficulties were caused, at length brought the last objector to terms ; and Jason finally achieved the second step which led towards the bourne of his hopes. Fable mentions that the brazen bulls were under the direct patronage of King Aeetes himself, and that he saw that they were fed on the most succulent grasses, mixed with subtle herbs, which doubtless made them still more amenable to the wishes of their sovereign master ; this can only mean that, having transferred the indirect source of his profits, the King nevertheless took care that too much power did not pass out of his hands, and that in all essentials it remained fast in his own possession. Thus, although the way was now apparently open for the final grasping of the treasure which seemed almost within Jason's reach, the hardest task 17 2 Oriental Carpets of all had still to be undertaken — of which Medea was well aware. The royal flocks were probably herded upon a vast plain, access to which, as already suggested, was by a winding labyrinth of paths to a narrow defile, between high enclosing rocks, the defence of which single-handed by a resolute and powerful man would be sufficient protection, the impassable nature of the ground considered. The guardian of this secret pass would undoubtedly be one to whom natural and other strong reasons of personal attachment and interest would ensure absolute freedom from the general sources of corruption which the experience of King Aeetes would enable him to guard against. The sleepless dragon which had charge of the trophy marking the entrance to the defile would probably be a half-witted and sexless man of gigantic stature and strength, with his animal senses sharpened by the loss of some part of his natural powers ; a being half-man, half-animal can be imagined, with the ferocity and keenness of vision of the vulture and the cruelty and cunning of the fabled dragon or giant serpent. Amid ordinary circumstances such a guardian would be subject to no lapses from vigilance and duty, and be inviolable ; but it is certain that, from frequently accompanying her father when periodically testing the safety of the measures adopted to guard his secret, Medea would have many opportunities of showing small kindnesses, which in a man of simple mind would be exaggerated far beyond their merits ; a dog-like affection would result, as history has frequently shown. With an absence of scruple which her passion for Jason would dictate, Medea would not hesitate to make use of her influence to dispel suspicion from the mind of the dread guardian. Taking advantage of a weak moment, she would put a potion in his wine, which would ensure complete unconsciousness for as long a period as would suffice to bring Jason to the spot ; she could rely upon his strength and courage to do the rest. With a forethought born of full consciousness of the danger involved, Medea caused Jason to have the Argo in readiness, and all his companions and their crew at their posts, in order to start with- out delay on receiving into the hold the treasured animals which were the main object of his undertaking. Assured that this part of their plans could not go amiss, the two conspirators set forth on their dangerous errand under cover of the night. Medea remind- ing Jason ot what she was risking in trusting to him and leaving her own home, and receiving his lover-like answers, the quest was begun in earnest. After travelling over broken ground abounding 18 Allegory in pitfalls of every description, with the utmost caution they at last arrived at the path leading to the defile, near by which King Aeetes had fixed a tall pillar of choice wood, elaborately carved and surmounted by a winged Sphinx, which, doubtless with ironical intent, symbolized the secret so close at hand. A ram's head por- trayed in living likeness the golden - fleeced victim sacrificed by Phryxus, while strings of pearls encircling the horns and a richly chased hanging chain, with emblematical figures carved in ivory, bore witness to the wealth of the King whose sign of authority it was. Legends attached to scrolls twining round the curiously carved column would relate the history of the fleece, and convey to any chance passers-by, or deliberate seekers, the penalties to be incurred in penetrating beyond the point at which the trophy served as a warning. Medea would be well aware of the danger of allowing the effects of the potion to wear off before dispatching the monster guardian, and so would urge Jason to strike quickly and strike hard. The javelin of the hero was without remorse plunged into the most vulnerable part of the shaggy and exposed neck. Aroused to a brief frenzy by the blow, and with the tenacity of life common to his class, the betrayed guardian of the secret, in his frantic efforts to reach his foe, broke off short the head of the long javelin which with a wise precaution Jason had used, and, at last dying with hatred in his eyes, left the way open towards the path he had so long and faithfully kept. The rest was easy. The uncouth shepherds, who had probably suffered long from the tyranny of their savage oppressor, would have little hesitation in responding to the invitations of the royal pair, and on learning that their dread overseer was dead, would probably vie with one another in officious zeal to select the best-bred animals from the flock ; and with these, and a sufficient band of shepherds to tend them on the journey home, Medea leading the way, the party and their spoil would lose no time in hastening to the Argo. Arriving at the vessel's side just as the dawn was breaking, Jason lifted his tired and exhausted bride into the Argo, and, with the goodwill and prompt assistance of his friends and the ship's crew, the vessel was speedily under weigh, and all haste was made for the mouth of the harbour, Medea sparing no words of warning to urge the ready exertions of all concerned, who were fully aware of the danger. It is probable that with advancing age, and the remorse occasioned by his murder of the nobly-born Phryxus, and his dread of retribution, J 9 Oriental Carpets Aeetes had in his later years become tyrannical and suspicious towards his children, and that Medea had had little difficulty in inspiring her brother Absyrtus with the love of adventure, and, with such a noble company as the Argonauts, to cast in his lot with hers, and take charge of the company of weavers, assistants, and the few women who were of their family, and necessary for the prosecution of the industry to be transferred to their new home. Under the instructions of his sister Medea, Absyrtus would have timed his arrival at the Argos side to be simultaneous with the arrival of the more important company conducting the stolen flock. There would therefore be no delay on any side, and the Argo would be well on the voyage home before suspicion could arise. With the knowledge of the prize at stake, it is not likely that King Aeetes would run any risks, and it would not be long before he would be advised of the departure of the Argo, which his watchers would discern on its way homewards. Aeetes would soon hear from the palace attendants of the absence of his son and daughter, and, with a double cause for vengeance, take immediate steps to overtake the ship. Good as the rowers under Jason's command were, the Colchians, urged on by the vindictive King, who pursued in person, were fast overhauling the Argo. Seeing this, Medea resorted to the only course likely to deter her father from pursuit. She caused her brother, King Aeetes' only son and heir, to be thrown overboard. The delay caused to the heart-stricken King in searching for the body gave the Argo much advantage ; and at last realizing the hopelessness of pursuit, and by the death of his son deprived of any desire to recover the stolen treasure, and still less desirous of again seeing his faithless daughter, Aeetes gave the command to return home ; with grief and rage in his heart he abandoned the chase. The rest of the story calls for less fullness of treatment. The voyage home was but a repetition of the voyage out — with the difference that it was comparatively uneventful. Owing to the exigencies of the winter season, and to avoid dangers from hidden enemies, the Argo cut off some portion of the sea-journey by being hauled overland. On her taking to the water again, the Pillars of Hercules were passed ; the lures of the Syrens, and the Garden of the Hesperides with its golden fruit and dreaded guardians, were avoided ; and at last the Argo was steered into harbour. Medea, the only stranger, with sufficient information from Jason, and still better armed by her own natural shrewdness, amounting to second sight, left her lover and his companions. Advising that the ship should leave for other shores if she did not return within seven days, 20 Allegory she set out on her dangerous errand of spying the land, to see how matters stood after the lengthy absence of Jason and his band of heroes. Finding the ex-King Aeson old and infirm, and the usurper Pelias in possession of the kingdom (leaving to Aeson only a few faithful adherents, who still believed in the safety of Jason), Medea, with full knowledge of what was before them all, returned to the Argo, and undertook to make use of her wiles to save what might be from the grasp of Pelias, who was so strong that the worn and weary adventurers could not hope to make headway against him by force. Jason, with assurances of goodwill, and with the professed intention of not disputing his uncle's seat on the throne, was allowed to approach the palace, where, with the prestige of his accomplished errand, and with the promise of increased prosperity to the kingdom in consequence of the successful issue of his journey, he was welcomed by the populace, and apparently by his uncle and his daughters, who in his absence had taken charge of the most important branches of the art industries of the country, which, as is usual in Eastern lands, were housed in the palace itself. Jason found Alcestis, the King's eldest daughter, weaving at the loom, perhaps with studied intention ; while her sister Eradne kept a close eye upon the maids who carded the wool. Amphione had charge of the dyeing, and had ready for use, as required by her sister Alcestis, the skeins of soft woollen thread, dyed with the deep rich indigo blue for which Iolchos was famous, and the red of dove's blood hue, and the green, rivalling the richest tones of grassy sward. The colours of the rain- bow were shown in the bundles of ready-dyed yarn, deftly selected according to the design, which, partly from memory, with the aid of slight indications traced upon the sanded floor, Alcestis was swiftly transferring to the growing fabric. What need to lengthen the narrative ? The old and neglected industry still remaining to King Aeson was speedily revived under the direction of Medea, with all the resources derived from the expedition, which were concealed as far as might be from the hated rivals. On the other hand, by guile, and misrepresentation of the new methods of working, Medea gradually destroyed the stolen excellencies of the old methods. These ceasing to bring the revenues of old, the industry was killed ; which left the field open to Jason, and his friends and attendants, all inspired by the ever-present person and activity of Medea. It was a tale of the new and up-to-date supplanting the old. Before long Jason came to the throne on the death of his father Aeson, and the murder of Pelias by those who, 21 i a Oriental Carpets having lost their all under his waning rule, hoped to ingratiate themselves with the youthful survivor, heir to Aeson's throne — a common case of " The King is dead, long live the King ! " It would be pleasant to end the tale here ; but truth must be told, and it is again the old tale of ingratitude bringing its own Nemesis. Having, to his mind, exhausted the possibilities of the newly-introduced methods, which he owed to Medea's devotion and continual supervision, Jason was attracted by the hopes of increased revenue offered by a still more beautiful and promising fabric. Fail- ing to get rid of the old love before taking on the new — in other words, wasting his strength over a new and untried method before having fully established the old — he fell between two stools. Grasping at the shadow, he lost the substance. In so doing he lost the love and confidence of Medea, who, cursing her folly in putting her trust in man and forsaking her old home, after destroying the two children she had had by Jason, mysteriously left her home, passed from the knowledge of her husband and his subjects, and was received into a neighbouring kingdom, where the rumour of her talents would procure her a welcome. The end of the story is the sad one of shattered hopes, lost ties, and the missing comforts which should have accompanied advancing age. With remorse at having so heedlessly and fruitlessly thrown down the ladder which had been his main way to fortune and glory, Jason at last found life a burden, in spite of the strong belief and con- fidence of his subjects. He spent his time in vain regrets, neglecting his interests. Things went from bad to worse, until at last there was nothing left to live for. Wandering one day by the seashore, he came upon the decaying remains of the old Argo, which revived all the memories of his adventurous voyage. Wearied with his thoughts, he fell asleep under the figurehead, which had been cut from the Speaking Oak at the shrine at Dodona, and was thus gifted with miraculous powers of speech. With the jealous rage and despair of a deserted woman, Medea had foretold Jason's death from the very ship which had been the means of carrying her from her father's home. In verification of this prediction, the figurehead, loosening from its hold through a sudden gust of wind, fell upon and killed the sleeping Jason. Next day he was found by his sorrowing subjects, and buried with all the honours due to his rank, religiously carried out by the affection of those who had never lost faith in him. Thus ends the plain prose paraphrase of the famous legend of "Jason's Quest of the Golden Fleece." Robbed of the romance of ages, it remains even in its business aspect an ideal record of the first 22 Allegory sea-venture having for its direct aim the improvement and develop- ment of national industries. This can be successfully accomplished only by personally undertaking the dangers and responsibilities of investigating at first hand all details necessarily to be known before entering into competition with those who have special facilities for an industry which, as in the case of floor-coverings, are a radical necessity in certain climes and perhaps form the only source of national revenue. An industry thus established has an advantage over the imitator, in the fact that in introducing a new method old custom has to be overcome, and prejudice meets an article which threatens to displace one already in general use. It remains to the credit of Jason that, although of royal blood, he did not disdain to interest himself in what concerned the welfare of his subjects, and in so doing gained a practical experience of affairs which doubtless did not fail to impress all with whom he came in contact, and probably stood him in good stead when the turn in his fortunes caused by his own lack of steadfastness might well have incurred the odium of those familiar with the part played in them by Medea. It is im- possible to read the story of Jason's success, and of his failure after abandoning Medea, without thinking of the great Napoleon and the wife of his early youth, Josephine. There is a distinct parallel in the fact that both men, though for different reasons, divorced the women who had stood by them in their early struggles in favour of younger sharers of their thrones. Even as Napoleon sought to con- solidate his position by allying himself with Marie Louise, of the long line of the Hapsburg dynasty, so Jason, falling in love with the fair Glauce, daughter of Creon, King of Corinth, was doubtless as much influecned by ambition as by any failure to cherish the sterner beauty of Medea, who had served him so well. In concluding this perhaps too fanciful sketch of one of the world's great fables, it is instructive to note that, with the chivalry of his nation, the great French painter, Gustave Moreau, recognised the part played by Medea in the accomplishment of the object of the expedition. He places Medea not only first in the title of his picture, but also in the romantic depiction of the final episode, clearly suggesting by the attitudes of hero and heroine the prime part played in the adventure by the lady. It is well also to think of the sacrifices she made in leaving her royal position, her friends and country, and following a stranger solely at the dictates of her heart. If the apparently trifling personal feelings which influence great actions could come down to us from distant ages, it might be found that in instituting the great Order of the Golden Fleece, on the 2 3 Oriental Carpets occasion of his marriage with Isabella, daughter of King John I. of Portugal, the Good Duke Philip III. of Burgundy and the Nether- lands, on that sacred day at Bruges, January 10, 1429, had in his mind not only the prosperity of his kingdom, but also, and in perhaps a greater measure, the mythological but maybe real person- alities of Jason and Medea, who, themselves of royal blood, typified immediate and practical interest in all that concerned kingdom and subjects. After all, the first necessity for the progress and happiness of a country is the means of obtaining a living and (with the super- fluities arising from a well-diffused and successful industry) the acquisition of comforts and luxuries, which last have the most immediate bearing upon the patronage and fostering of the Arts, without the refinements of which, life is mere vegetating. Jason and Medea stand side by side as types of the combination of Industry and Art, and as long as the world endures the strength of the bond between this matter of fact and romance will prove to be the true elixir of National Life. 24 CONTEMPORARY ARTS CONTEMPORARY ARTS ■w JEAN BAPTISTE COLBERT (See Analysis) CHAPTER II CONTEMPORARY ARTS The instinct of man to express himself in art has been co-extensive with the faculty of sight itself; and in sight itself must exist the laws by which such expression is intended to be governed. — "Greek Art and Modern Craftsmanship," Edinburgh Review, October 1906. The study of the artistic sense and achievements of savage races has proved the universal validity of a fact which seemed incredible so long as it was known only in isolated instances. A very primitive stage of art does not exclude an artistic eye and a correct reproduction, a valuable observation in regard to the origins of Art. — A Century of Archaeological Discoveries, Professor A. Michaelis, February 1908. It is impossible in the compass of a single chapter to give more than a cursory glance at the most important branches of Art which, directly or indirectly, have bearing upon the particular art under consideration. There are some nations the mention of which suggests thoughts of some particular industry or art ; similarly, any reference to such industry or art forms a connection in the mind with the country of its origin or development. This intimate association, which has been developed into a system of hieroglyphics, seems to be the simplest means of dealing with the object-lesson I wish to draw, my aim being to demonstrate, as far as my own personal observation and reading will permit, that with the extreme probability of kindred arts progressing side by side, as far as they are indigenous, the presence of any particular art or industry from the beginning of things in any country or clime affords sufficient grounds for assuming that the arts of Weaving, of which Carpet- weaving can be reasonably suggested as the first, equally existed ; and further, it is my intention to point out, by inference, that the exigencies created from the use of carpets and similar textiles had direct influence upon most of the industries and arts referred to in this important section. The first difficulty to be faced in any endeavour to treat such an extended subject in a manner approaching chronological order is the wide divergence of opinion as to the earliest period at which °-7 Oriental Carpets anything instinctive in the direction of industry or art may be supposed to have existed. It may be granted that such instincts were co-existent with life itself, or, as has in the heading of this chapter been asserted, with sight, which is tantamount to the same thing. A paragraph in Blair's Chronological Tables, dealing with the first ages of the world's history, says : "Dr. Hales has enumerated 120 different ' Epochs of the Creation,' — the earliest 6984, and the latest 3616 years B.C. The like confusion prevails as to the date of the Noachian Deluge, which is assigned to fifteen different periods between the years 3246 and 2104 B.C." This was written in 1856 ; probably later discoveries in archaeology and the results of scientific examinations with more accurate instruments have narrowed the field of inquiry, and brought closer harmony into the various schools of thought. However, even in the latest edition (1906) of one of the leading books of reference generally used in this country, the seeker after truth finds little comfort in his desire to approximate as nearly as may be to the current scientific knowledge, for under the heading " Creation of the World " we read : " The date given by the English Bible, and by Usher, Blair, and some others, is 4004 B.C. There are about 140 different dates assigned to the Creation, varying from 3616 to 6984 b.c. Dr. Hales gives 541 1 B.C." I have no inclination to indulge in speculation when it comes to the treatment of matter-of-fact questions, and in the absence of more definite guidance I shall continue to hold to the Bible Chronology, which at least has the merit of not being shifty. When we realize the influence of such men as Alexander the Great, Alaric, Attila, Tamerlane, Charlemagne, and Napoleon, it is hard to accept any definitions of the particular periods into which the various ages of Man have been divided. The Golden Age of dreams of perfect bliss and happiness ; the Stone Age, which suggests the retrograde ; the Bronze Age ; the Iron Age — these, in their broad divisions, have afforded a guide for scientific classification which has prevented thought from wandering in a circle, or in parallel lines ; but in considering the low state of civilization still existing in many parts of the world, and even the wide differences between the nations in whom some point of contact in these days of widely-diffused knowledge should surely have been arrived at, the influence of the " super-man " upon the history of the world is forced home more strongly than ever. In dealing with the unknown influences which have been 28 Contemporary Arts brought to bear upon the history of human development, theories must of necessity be permissible. I venture to put forward one of my own, to account for the differences in mental and physical capacity allowed by history to have existed in past ages, and existing at the present day, in directions where the introduction of any strange human element is jealously resented. The biblical account of the building of the Tower of Babel, and the confusion of tongues resulting, is an historical fact in so far that scientific men, such as Layard, Rawlinson, and Rassam, have examined and described the ruins at various times. Interesting as these discoveries undoubtedly are, it is impossible to say at this time how far the biblical records gave name to the ruins most nearly answering to the description, or how far the presence of such ruins in remoter ages gave rise to a reason for their presence ; which, in the light of the licence allowed to fable, must be one of the most confusing impediments in the search for practical truth. In May 1787 Botany Bay was first made use of by a beneficent Government in this country for the segregation of undesirables of all classes and both sexes ; and in January 1788 Van Diemen's Land, Norfolk Island, and other far distant lands were utilized for the purpose of preventing the moral contamination which the near presence of the victims of circumstance might be supposed to offer to the more fortunate representatives of humanity, whose superiority in many instances probably only consisted in a providential immunity from the temptations and difficulties their brothers and sisters had failed to overcome. The thought occurs that if in times of a supposed civilization human beings could be so completely ostracized, it is not improbable that in the early history of the world — especially after the first shedding of human blood, which would be regarded with the greatest horror — in the several families into which the race would be gradually divided, the practice might arise of each tribe sending the halt, the lame, the blind, and particularly those afflicted with the curse of " genius," to the most distant lands possible with the means of locomotion available. With the jealous conservatism which will always rule in tribes and families, of which the strict divisions of caste in India are typical to the present day, it is morally certain that each separate section of the race had its own particular colony, to which additions would in the natural course of things be constant. The means adopted so stringently in the United States and Australasia against the importa- tion of undesirable aliens throw light upon the methods likely to have 29 Oriental Carpets been adopted by each tribe for not mixing even the supposed refuse of their respective races, and will suggest that in course of time distinct nations would arise, in which the individuality of the transported races would be kept separate, and acquire characteristics dependent upon personality and the effects of climate and environment. It is common experience in every family of any extent that the " ugly duckling," or the supposedly weak mind, has in the course of time developed unexpected qualities which have lifted the despised one into high position. In like manner, mental " deficiency " may have resolved itself into nothing else than a form of genius, whether in the direction of Action, Science, Art, or the Commercial instinct, producing the eminent men already referred to, and also an Aristotle, a Hannibal, a Nadir Shah, a Michael Angelo, a Homer, a Wagner, and it may be added a Semiramis, a Cleopatra, a Catherine the Great, an Elizabeth, and, in plain justice be it noted, a Victoria the Great, whose exceptional qualities lift her in the category to a plane entirely her own. The rise and fall of nations is sufficiently well known to make special reference here invidious, especially in view of recent adjust- ments of the balances of power ; but it may be said that without exception the variations in the scale of fortune can be traced to the predominance of particular individuals, and the balance rises and falls to just the degree in which such individuals are endowed with a desire for mere personal aggrandizement and gratification, or with the true regard for their special spheres of influence for good, and the happiness and progress of the peoples committed to their charge. What is true of rulers and princes is equally true of Science, Art, Literature, and Industry. An advance results from the energies of a Genius which knows no distinctions of birth or rank ; and reaction comes from the lack of a follower of equal capacity, or even from the contrast of capacities, perhaps even in the same direction ; for as Nature abhors a vacuum, she equally abhors the monotony of repetition, and it is the very rare exception for individuals of equal gifts in the same direction to have the fortune to consolidate what has been initiated. William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham, and his second son, William Pitt, the Great Commoner, occur to the mind ; and other instances in ruling families of the present time will bear witness to the exceptions. It more often happens, however, that the very heights to which an exceptional capacity will raise a nation, in any of the directions indicated, to the highest summits attainable at the time, form an abyss on the other side which by very contrast 3° Contemporary Arts acts towards the demolishment of the fabric built up by brains and cemented with blood. This is a wide digression ; but the subject has the closest relation to any study of the Arts and Industries, which at different periods have been influenced in one direction or another in precisely the same way as in broader aspects nations have for a time ruled the world, and by sudden effects of usurpation, or of revolution, have changed their course at the bidding of one Great Man, or have changed by a gradual process of decay, having also for its origin the weakness and ineffectiveness or moral degradation of a particular ruling family, drifting down from the giddiest heights with the imperceptibleness but the inexorable steady decline of a glacier. Vincent A. Smith, M.A., I.C.S., in a little book published in 1908, entitled The Oxford Student's History of India, in speaking of the Stone Age in his third chapter, says : " Poets dream of a golden age when the world was young and men lived in innocent peace and happy plenty. Sober science tells a different tale, and teaches that everywhere the earliest men were rude savages, dwelling in caves or huts, ignorant even of the use of fire and the commonest arts of life." Generalizing broadly, there may be something to be said for such a view, which, however, is a very poor compliment to our early parents ; indeed, it may be doing them a great injustice. It is possible that in all nations there has always been a difficulty in rising above the level of necessities and surroundings. And in this respect it is well to remember that, while the Oriental Carpet was, from the year 1500 to the death of the great Shah Abbas in 1628, rising from the finest example known of the Art of Carpet-weaving, the Ardebil Carpet, to the examples of the industry brought to its greatest perfection by the personal influence and fostering care of the greatest sovereign Persia has seen, this country in the fifteenth century, and for probably a century after, in the middle and lower classes was content to cover its floors with rushes, which, with a filthy carelessness and want of refinement difficult to believe, gradually gathered a collection of dog-gnawed bones and other disgusting accumulations, which, being allowed to remain for years, were harbourers and propagators of disease ; one wonders that the age survived it so successfully. With in many nations a state of civilization which the world has previously seen only upon a limited scale — that is to say, when the civilizing effects of Art have been monopolized by the few — there still exist nations (such as the rapidly dying Australian Aborigines, and 3i Oriental Carpets savage communities in the interior of Africa and probably in the undiscovered Northern regions, together with examples of the hideous survival of the worst period of fanatical human worship and sacrifice) which, as showing what human nature is capable of, may throw the earliest human existence into a favourable light. I prefer to be on the side of the poets, and to believe that Adam and Eve, and their first progeny, were, as the Bible leads us to believe, made in God's own image, and consequently not only endowed with the capacity the world has on occasions shown in the exceptional men and women already cited, but also, being free from accumulated hereditary traits, having particular advantages in the free assimilation of what Nature at its best afforded, which gave them a distinct superiority over future generations, who had in successive ages much to overcome before arriving at the stage in which early innocence left no room for distractions from the ideal state. Leaving chronology to take care of itself for a time, Egypt first calls for attention, and Egypt, in spite of colossal remains denoting a high stage of architectural progress, remains in the mind as the home of the Pyramids and the mysterious Sphinx, which, emblematical of the mystery surrounding the aeons of time which preceded it, typically throws doubt upon the human penetration which has failed to discover its secret. The late Mr. James Fergusson, in his History of Architecture, writes of the great Pyramids of Ghizeh as being one point of Egyptian history which can with some certainty be ascribed to the kings of the IVth dynasty, which places the date of their erection between 3000 and 3500 B.C. This will serve as a starting-point in dealing with the subject of this slight sketch, and none more impressive could possibly have been selected with deliberate choice. Mr. Fergusson writes of the wonderful mechanical skill shown in the construction of the Pyramids, of which the greatest, that of Khufu, or (as it is more familiarly called) Cheops, can be taken as an example. The arrangements made for carrying off the water in connection with the inner chambers, the ventilation, and the wonderful resource shown in its construction, call for the admiration of those qualified to appreciate the difficulties to be faced, which would tax the greatest efforts modern mechanical skill and appliances could bring to bear upon such a work. Immense blocks of granite for its construction were brought from Syene — a distance of 500 miles — and each one was polished like glass, and the joints were so wonderfully fitted that the eye could hardly discern where one rested upon the other. 32 Contemporary Arts It is to be remembered, in considering the extraordinary perfec- tion shown in dealing with each separate item of construction in a gigantic work of this class, that human life and labour were cheap ; and it may be assumed that under the lash of the taskmasters there would be no waste of time, and that, with the probability of torture or loss of life being meted out for the most trifling error, any possibility of defects sufficient to cause the rejection of a stone by the master-architect was safely guarded against. The polishing and fitting of a single stone would probably engage the undivided attention of as large a body of men as could work at a time, possibly in relays, night and day ; and with the whole plan carefully sub- divided, and each section carried on continuously, the whole would be completed in a space of time which would compare favourably with the greatest expedition possible in the present day. A writer in the Evening Standard and St. James s Gazette, under date February i, 1906, in a paragraph headed "Sealed with Blood," suggests so tellingly the complete indifference to human life dis- played in the construction of these marvellous remains of a great age, that I venture to reproduce a portion of it : " Anciently it swelled a man's triumph if his works were costly in human lives. The making of the Red Sea canal is asserted to have involved the loss of no fewer than one hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians. Buckle's examination made him believe the number to have been somewhat exaggerated, but he gives it as still a guide to the enormous and unprincipled waste of human life in those days. The men who would have two thousand slaves engaged for three years bringing a single stone from Elephantine to the Pyramids would not care a great deal so long as for the twenty years in which one of the pyramids was building there were forthcoming the three hundred and sixty thousand men required for the work." Think of this vast work, finished with such nicety that upon completion it had the appearance of being a solid block of granite ! A highly gifted woman, on May 28, 1793, recorded : "Went to see some drawings in the possession of a Mr. Greaves, a person who accompanied Messrs. Berners and Tilson in their expedition into Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt. The drawings are most accurately executed, and are assured to be faithful portraits. It was the opinion of those gentlemen after minute examination that the Pyramids are works of art, and not huge masses of rock polished and shaped into their present form." Such are the words recorded in the journal of Lady Holland, recently edited by the Earl of Ilchester. This comment upon the minuteness of finish of a work 33 3 Oriental Carpets of such proportions recalls Sir W. W. Hunter's description of Shah Jahan's tribute to the memory of his wife, the lovely Mumtaz Mahal, the far-famed Taj Mahal, which he describes as a dream in marble, " designed by Titans and finished by jewellers." This wonderful example of Indian architecture will be fully dealt with in my closing chapter ; but it is a useful comparison with the methods described in the construction of the Pyramids to say that the Taj Mahal is supposed to have necessitated the employment of 20,000 men for the space of twenty-two years, during which time — in the expressive language of Mr. Kipling — men were " used up like cattle." In A History of Architecture by Mr. Russell Sturgis, the follow- ing significant words are used, in dealing with Ancient Egypt : " Civilization and a steady rule may be assumed to have existed as early as 4400 B.C." In dealing with the magnificent statue of King Khafra or Chefren, found in the well under the granite temple at Ghizeh, now in the Cairo Museum, he writes : " The head of this statue is unsurpassed as a work of realistic art in all the records of sculpture : although probably more ancient to the sculptors of the Parthenon than the Parthenon is to us." This is high praise ; but the admirable reproduction of the statue in question, from a photo- graph, fully justifies it, and our wonder at such perfection in ancient art is only lessened by the reflection given point to by the headings of this chapter, in which the early judgment of the eye, and the inborn instinct for imitation, suggest the possibility of efforts in the direction of art of all kinds having formed the only outlet for human energy and perseverance in an age when time was of importance only in so far as congenial occupation afforded means of passing it agreeably away. As recently as January 11, 1905, Mr. Theodore M. Davis, of Newport, Rhode Island, discovered in Western Thebes, near the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, the tomb of Iouiya and his wife Touiyou, and, by the greatest of good fortune, a number of articles of the very first importance, both from an artistic and an industrial point of view. I was not aware that two volumes had been issued, reproducing with the greatest perfection the discoveries made ; and thus the second volume, The Funeral Papyrus of Iouiya, with an introduction by Edouard Naville, came first into my possession. On examining a " Book of the Dead " I was struck with astonish- ment at the exquisite neatness and symmetry of the hieroglyphics, and the happily artistic way in which the vignettes illustrating the book had been designed and spaced. 34 Contemporary Arts On following the subject up, and with the particular desire of touching upon the artistic side of the ancients, the first volume, The Tomb of louiya and Touiyou, came into my hands this day, February 5, 1909, which I mention with some particularity, as the first portion of this chapter was written the day previously, and the opinions therein expressed as to the possibility of some definite Art expression having characterized the first years of human existence have from the nature of the articles illustrated in the volume under consideration received some justification. The really beautiful illustration in colour of " The Chariot," forming the frontispiece, in its lightness, grace, and happy proportion, recalled to my mind the ancient Roman chariot which forms a prominent feature in the Salla della Biga, in the Vatican. Prob- ably there is no comparison to be made in fact ; but the imagined connection was instantaneous, and I give it for what it is worth. Figure 4 illustrates in black outline the back of the chair bearing the names of Queen Tiyi and Sat- amen, and is interesting from a decorative standpoint. The most prominent features are two upright panels, apparently carved with a closely continuous spiral key pattern, if the expression can be used. I call particular attention to this, as to obtain such a form in any textile would be a matter of some difficulty, and would tax the ingenuity of the weaver. It is from points such as these that some inference can be drawn as to the branch of art or industry for which any particular form has been designed, and thus some idea of the progress of Art can be gained. From the nature of a woven fabric, to work diagonally, and particularly in rounded forms, involves difficulties, which have of necessity led to an angularity of treatment characteristic of all woven fabrics ; or, to be more exact, of fabrics woven in a loom, for in embroidery, and also tapestry, the fineness of the fabric, and the use of a needle, simplify difficulties which in loom-weaving require experienced treatment. The row of conventional lotus flowers, with long stalks, ending at the base of the design in evenly arranged leaves, is also of great interest, and in this case could be readily reproduced in any woven material of sufficient fineness. The painted dummy vases of wood (Plates XXVII and XXVIII) are of extreme interest, and may well have been derived in their colouring and design from woven fabrics. The Chair of Sat-amen (Plate XXXIII) and the Chair with Cushion (Plate XXXV) are delightful in form and colour, and might with advantage engage the attention of the members of the Arts and Crafts Society. Plate XXXVIII, representing a Coffer bearing the names of Amenothes III., might be an old English spinet, although I have 3S Oriental Carpets never seen one designed with such quaint simplicity and charming appropriateness of colour. Plate XXXIX, "Coffer bearing the names of Amenothes III. and Queen Tiyi," pairs in effective contrast of design, colour, and treatment with the coffer mentioned above. Both examples deserve the close study of artists and artificers, and would repay actual reproduction, care being taken to avoid a certain crudeness and hardness of colour, which the bright Eastern skies and atmosphere reduced to unobjectionable effect to those for whom the articles were made. The gem of the collection is, in my judgment, the Bed with panelled Head-piece, which it is hard to describe in terms of sufficient admiration (Plate XXXVII). The exquisite sweep of the frame of the bed, which seems to guarantee comfort ; the panelling, which would probably only be partly hidden by the bolster or head support ; the quaint carving and placing of the legs upon the main frame ; the connecting-bars, giving strength to the legs — in fact, all the details — bespeak the artist in design ; and, the bed having presumably been in constant use, the construction also must have been of practical utility. It is hard to say how far the perfectness of the colour reproduc- tions, presumably from hand-paintings in water-colour, give this impression of an artistic quality which makes them worthy in their way of the best Art products of any period ; it is also fair to say that my experience of such articles of antiquity makes the representation of the plates described nothing more or less than a revelation, which serves to confirm my impression of the possibility of such an art as that of carpet-weaving (which in its primitive stages presents no great difficulty) having preceded any effort in the direction of such household articles of furniture as herein described. It may be said that the comparative perfection of the articles of personal adornment and family use which have come down to us from remote ages only serve to illustrate an age of the world far in excess of calculations hitherto made ; but there is no direct proof. At the risk of drawing an ineffective parallel, I may call attention to the fact that, although the art of printing with movable types was practised first in a.d. 1454, the great Mainz (Mazarin) Bible of 1454- 1456, the Mainz Bible of about 1461, and the Mainz Psalters of 1457 and 1459 have never been surpassed in the records of printing, and in fact, like Minerva and the first Woman, came into the world with all the perfections one naturally attributes to centuries of experiment. It may be urged in the matter of printing that when all is said the movable- type printing only reproduced in machine form the 36 Plate III Plate III JACQUARD "ARDEBIL" CARPET Size 15-3 x 6-9 Warp — 10 cords to the inch Weft — 10 cords to the inch IOO CORDS TO THE SQJJARE INCH (See Analysis) Contemporary Arts hand- work of previous ages ; but the same can be said of all art work not requiring constructive skill and the scientific adjust- ment of weights, any error in which means instant failure of an unpleasantly practical kind, which probably checked early experiments. I have quoted at the heading of this chapter two sentences from the deeply interesting work of Professor Michaelis, A Century of Archaeological Discoveries — remarks induced by the artistic perfection of incised drawings on bone, found in prehistoric dwelling-places, which on their first discovery were regarded of too perfect an order to be genuine ; but later discoveries confirmed the amazing fact that the work was indisputably representative of the earliest stages of human existence. The subject of the greatest artistic merit was " the masterly representation of a reindeer browsing. The perfection of the drawing seemed so inconceivable, for that primitive age, that doubts as to its genuineness were expressed, and were unhappily strengthened by the appearance of forgeries. Suspicion, however, was soon silenced. Recent discoveries in France have almost surpassed these drawings on bone, in the paintings of animals which have been discovered on some of the cave walls at Fond de Gaume (Dordogne)." The famous "Tiara of Saitapharnes," recently one of the great treasures of the Louvre Museum, and supposedly of the greatest antiquity, upon close inquiry and examination proved to be the work of a Russian jeweller ; and within this present year, on January 7, The Evening Standard and St. °James 's Gazette, under the heading " False Scarabaei," gives the sequel to an imposition, in which the Brussels Museum for the sum of ^400, and the director of the Paris Museum for £100, purchased supposed scarabaei said to have been found at Bubastis : these were the work of a Parisian sculptor, who received the modest sum of £1 each for the stones. On being informed of the fraud, the sculptor remarked with much truth that it was sad to think that such sums should be given for two poor pieces of stone, whilst works of art, shown at the Salon, which are all they pretend to be, should be neglected, and acknowledged only by a meagre distribution of medals and decorations. In view of these examples, and many others in which the expert has gone astray, any discoveries such as the incised bones referred to may be looked upon with suspicion ; but why doubt the artistic capacity of even the earliest of human beings ? The quality of the human eye has probably never been in such perfection as 37 3 a Oriental Carpets in the earliest days, when it had nothing to engage its usefulness but what nature showed. The spirit of Bohemianism probably characterized at an early stage the human beings who, in the absence of all other means of filling in their time, betook themselves, without schooled intent, to reproducing the various forms of nature, with the best means at their disposal ; and there appears to be little cause for doubt that more systematic and extended research will reveal examples of early art of astonishing excellence. A recent magazine gave interesting particulars of the modern palace which Mr. Pierpont Morgan has erected in New York, to contain the works of art which all the gold of Croesus would not now persuade him to relinquish. From the descriptions given it may be assumed that the unique perfections of the treasures to be housed would have the greatest influence upon the carefully studied architecture of the building itself, and especially upon the internal arrangements, including an artistically masked steel fire-proof safe, containing things the loss of which would be irremediable. It occurs to me that the motives which have led in this twentieth century to the erection of such a treasure-house also operated quite naturally in the earliest times ; and that, as probably the first article of furniture, a primitive chest, was fashioned to contain the earliest carpets and hangings, and as in time the artistic improvement in such chests and other furniture would suggest a suitable roof to protect them from the accidents of nature, so in time the first modest efforts at architecture would be called into play to provide additional accommodation, according to the size and number of the articles to be enclosed, and perhaps also for purposes of division or classification ; until at last Architecture developed by slow degrees, surpassing in importance and magnificence the earlier arts, which at last became mere adjuncts, as they are at the present day, with the result, in earlier times, that as such domestic Art products as carpets, hangings, cloths, and ordinary household articles and utensils of every description assumed a commonplace aspect in the eyes of the possessors, more and more influenced by the overwhelming impressiveness of the more enduring arts, so less and less care was taken to preserve them, and now, in the mere matter of rarity, the meanest example with an authentic pedigree has become the rarest in the catalogue of Art products. There is nothing unnatural in the presence of the articles found in the tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou, which dates back to about 1450 B.C. ; the articles are of personal use, or particular to the rites 38 Contemporary Arts of burial ; one would not expect to find domestic appliances, or even articles contributing to the general comfort of surviving relations ; such effects as carpets, for instance, would be in everyday use, upon all occasions, and would be common to the entire family ; these and similar effects would, from their nature, be handed down from father to son, until probably worn out, or displaced by superior articles according to the rise of the family ; in fact, would follow the natural course of the domestic furniture of the present day, the end of which is an ever-present mystery. In concluding this endeavour to suggest the natural sequence of Art in its earliest forms, such as all woven fabrics, and the gradual influence likely to be exerted in other more permanent directions, it is interesting, after having dealt with Ancient Egypt, from the Pyramids to the homely contents of the tomb so fortunately dis- covered by Mr. Davis, to reproduce a note in Sir Richard Burton's translation of The Arabian Nights' 'Entertainments, " The Thousand Nights and a Night," Vol. I. p. 294 : " In Egypt there are neither bedsteads nor bedrooms : the carpets and mattresses, pillows and cushions (sheets being unknown) are spread out when wanted, and during the day are put into chests or cupboards, or only rolled up in a corner of the room." With the tenacity with which Eastern nations adhere to the customs of their forefathers, it is more than probable that this short sentence reproduces, in its homely suggestiveness, the life led by the earliest human beings, whether cave or tent dwellers ; or, as the com- forts of life advanced, the householder ; and eventually, with the increased luxury which wealth and position would afford, gives the cue to what might have been the habitual customs of those who dwelt in the palaces of Babylon and Nineveh, with the differences only of " degree," familiar in all directions with the differing grades of social life and the individual tastes, which of necessity are ruling factors, and almost require separate consideration in attempting to arrive at general conclusions. Imagine the civilization of this country a few thousand years hence, and the power and influence of its great capital, being gravely determined by the archaeologists of the time according to excavations made in the east end of London, and, conversely, the effect of unearthing Carlton House Terrace, and the level of luxury which might probably be attributed to the general average of the inhabitants in the absence of further investigations ! As an example of the surprises in store when the time comes for London to be dealt with in similar fashion to the Herculaneum and Pompeii so shamelessly laid bare in their nakedness to the gaze of the tourist 39 Oriental Carpets to-day, the reader is referred to Mr. E. Beresford Chancellor's work, The Private Palaces of London, and asked to picture in imagination what effect these artistic gatherings from all quarters of the globe would have not only as conveying an impression of the lavish refine- ment of luxury displayed, but also, in the lapse of centuries, the difficulty of proper attribution to the homes of their production, with art works of all kinds and nations scattered about in a choice profusion, while every example has been the object of deliberate selection under the guidance of the leading experts of the day. To pursue the idea a point further : Who would expect to find in a London private house a collection of art treasures such as is to be found in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House ? Such a gather- ing of the art masterpieces of the world would suggest a National Collection, housed upon the conventional national lines ; but the house under consideration, in spite of the alterations made for the purpose of the collection, is so obviously an example of the taste and splendour of an individual and artistic judgment that the puzzle would not be easy of solution. There is no need to deal in detail with the architectural arts of the Chaldeans, although it is interesting to note the probable date, 2234 B.C., assigned by Fergusson to the palace of Nimrod, and to call attention to a plate entitled " Elevation of Wall at Wurka (from the Report of the Assyrian Excavation Fund) " ; this, the main feature of which consists of narrow diagonal lines of a light tint, forming lozenge spaces, enclosing similarly - shaped forms in a darker tint, clearly suggests textile design ; and in this and other features of a plan formed by horizontal zigzag white, light, and dark lines, this ancient piece of ornamental work has a curious resemblance to the native woven garments of the Maoris, referred to at the end of this chapter. Mention of Assyria brings to mind Nineveh, and to readers of Dante Gabriel Rossetti the fine poem, " The Burden of Nineveh," first published in The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine for August 1856, which reproduces a train of thought called forth by the sight of " A winged beast from Nineveh " being hoisted into the British Museum. The artist-poet writes : Some colour'd Arab straw-matting, Half-ripp'd, was still upon the thing. (What song did the brown maidens sing, From purple mouths alternating, When that was woven languidly ?) The whole poem might well be read with serious attention by those 40 Contemporary Arts who desire to clothe the dry relics of a great past with the inspired imagery of an artistic and poetical nature, which, probably by instinct, arrives at a much nearer approach to the spirit of the times than the scientific sense is capable of. Semiramis, wife of Ninus, the mythical founder of Nineveh, in the mere mention of her name, gives life association to a period which probably benefits in many directions from the air of mystery surrounding the unearthed skeleton of the great city. Semiramis, in spite of her evil reputation, was historically a great queen, who during a reign of forty-two years conquered Persia, Libya, and Aethiopia, being unsuccessful in India alone. The article in Chambers s Encyclopaedia continues the account of her life by saying that " the name of the mighty queen survived in place-names, and was familiarly attached to the great works of antiquity, as the hang- ing gardens of Babylon. Many things in her story, and such points of detail as her personal beauty and her voluptuousness, point to an identification with the great Assyrian goddess Astarte." Fergusson, under the heading of " Assyrian Palaces," reproduces a " Pavement Slab from the Central Palace, Koyunjik," which is particularly germane to my purpose, on account of the same illustra- tion having been used by Alexander Speltz, architect, in his Styles of Ornament, the first part of which was issued in English in 1906. The illustration in question is given on Plate 9, Fig. 1, and is thus described : " Floor Ornament from Kuyundschik (Liibke, Kunst des Altertums). The motif in this ornament appears to have been copied from a very ancient piece of textile-work, which, notwith- standing its antiquity, shows highly-developed artistic workmanship." The date of 667 B.C. is assigned to this palace of Sardanapalus, whose name inevitably recalls Lord Byron's tragedy to which the ill-fated king gives the title. The last king of the Assyrians, as he is described, exceeded all his predecessors in a luxurious effeminacy which excited the wrath and disgust of Arbaces, Governor of Media, to such a degree that, he acting in collusion with Beleses, Governor of Babylon, Nineveh was besieged, and Sardanapalus, at last aroused from his slothful indulgence, under the spur of necessity showed something of the spirit of his ancient race. Nature, appropriately taking part with outraged humanity, aided the besiegers of Nineveh, and an inundation of the Tigris overthrew two miles and a half of the city wall, which in his pride Sardanapalus regarded as impregnable. The end is soon told. With the same desire for a posthumous renown, without any of the qualities to ensure it, which caused Herostratus some three hundred years later to set fire to the 41 Oriental Carpets great Temple of Diana at Ephesus, Sardanapalus " resolved to die in such a manner as, according to his opinion, would cover the infamy of his scandalous and effeminate life. He ordered a pile of wood to be made in his palace, and, setting fire to it, burnt himself, his eunuchs, his women, and his treasures." Thus reads a note attached to the opening lines of the tragedy referred to, which in poetic detail relates episodes in the life of the monarch, and his end, that gave an eclat to his reign which any good qualities he may have betrayed from time to time would not otherwise have saved from oblivion. Byron's tragedy should be read by all who prefer the insight of a man of genius to the dry skeletons of archaeological romance, although it may be said that the combination of the two affords a picture of the past which might whet the interest of those saturated by the flood of literature let loose upon the earth by the introduction of machine-printing, which has carried with it a curious mixture of satisfaction and satiety. The fall of Nineveh, accompanied by the death of the last king of Assyria, opens the way to a somewhat more detailed consideration of the great empire of Persia, of which Chardin relates the saying that its extent is so vast that winter and summer rule at one and the same time within the compass of its boundaries. Persepolis, with its close connection with the empire which gave its name, claims attention by its palace of Darius, and the " hundred-columned hall of Artaxerxes," to borrow again from Professor Michaelis. In dealing with the architectural arts of Persia, Fergusson writes : " By a fortunate accident the Persians used stone where the Assyrians used only wood, and consequently many details of their architecture have come down to our day which would otherwise have passed away had the more perishable materials of their predecessors been made use of." After referring to the wonderful stone temples of Thebes and Memphis, he proceeds : " It is easy to see how little the arts of the Assyrians were changed by their successors. The winged lions and bulls that adorn the portals at Persepolis are practically identical with those of Nineveh." As one of my main points in attempting this sketch of the ancient arts is a desire to trace in the perfected carpet of the reign of Shah Abbas the Great the hereditary influence of the ancient nations which preceded them, this similarity in the architectural arts men- tioned above is of the first importance. It establishes the link which, from the first one forged by Adam, probably passed in a continuous chain through the medium of the race he left behind him, the leaders of which successively added their links to form the 42 Contemporary Arts chain from Adam (" Le nom d' Adam, dans les langues orientales, est un nom generique, qui signifie hotnme en general, et par excellence, le premier homme" — Chardin) to the year a.d. 1909. This seems to be a modest claim, in view of the fact that in an introductory article by Sir George Birdwood to the Vienna Carpet Book, he writes : " No limit this side of 5000 B.C. can be given as the first date of Carpet Manufacture." Think of a chain of evidence the links of which, beginning with Adam (4004 B.C.), include among the Egyptian kings, Menes (3906 B.C.), Khufu (3500-3000 B.C.), Osirtasen (2300 b.c.?), Amenhotep I. (1830 B.C.), Rameses I. (1436 b.c) ; these, strengthened by connecting links afforded by the Chaldean Nimrod (2234 B.c.?), Sin Shada (1700 b.c), and Purna Puryas (1600 b.c), lead to the Assyrian Shalmaneser I. (1290 b.c), Shamas Iva (822 b.c), Sennacherib (704 b.c), and Sardanapalus (667 b.c). Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire, forms the first link of the Persian chain, probably making up for the weakness of the effete Sardanapalus, who, by the nature of his death, may be said to have welded the link of Assyria with Persia, which, in spite of chronology, will serve the purpose of my illustration. Cyrus, in overthrowing the Medo-Babylonian monarchy (55J b.c), and his son Cambyses in conquering Egypt (525 b.c), probably in so doing in- oculated their own kingdom with the best that the conquered nations had to afford, and, with the Oriental love of luxury and splendour, did not fail either in transferring to their own capitals the spoils from the palaces of the kings, or in selecting bands of artists and artisans for the purpose of establishing industries which, from the constancy of a lucrative demand, would add so much to the general prosperity of their country, and thus secure the goodwill of the inhabitants. Darius I. (521 b.c), Xerxes I. (485 b.c), Alexander the Great (330-323 B.c) — I follow M. Bouillet's Dictionnaire universe/ cfhistoire et de geographie — begin the great line of Persian kings, which, with an interval from the death of Alexander at Babylon (323 b.c) to the Persian revolt (a.d. 226), during which the rule of the country devolved upon the dynasties of the Seleucidae and the Arsacidae, includes such names as Artaxerxes I. (a.d. 226), Sapor I. (a.d. 238), Hormisdas I. (a.d. 271), Narses (a.d. 296), Chosroes the Great (a.d. 531), Mahmoud (a.d. 999), Mohammed I. (a.d. i 105), Genghis Khan (a.d. 1225), and Tamerlane (a.d. 1360- 1405), the Tartar conquerors, and the first of the great Sophi dynasty, Ismail I. (a.d. 1499). Shah Abbas the Great, third son of the Sultan Mohammed Khodabundeh, came to the throne in a.d. 1585, in spite of a peremptory and repeated order from Ismail III. 43 Oriental Carpets to put the young Abbas to death in order to secure his throne. In view of the great influence Abbas I. had upon the fortunes of Persia, it is interesting to record that his life was spared in consequence of the superstition of the powerful chief, Aly Kooli Khan, who had been ordered to slay him, but refrained until the sacred month of Ramazan had passed, before the end of which brief respite Ismail died, and the glory of Persia was saved. As further particulars of the life of Shah Abbas I. enter more appropriately into the next chapter, I will now deal as briefly as the interest of the subject will permit with some opinions of the Chevalier Chardin, described in the Dictionary of National Biography as " Sir John Chardin (1643-1713), traveller; born in Paris; a wealthy jeweller ; travelled as a jewel merchant through Turkey to Persia and India, 1 664-1 670 and 1 671-1677." It is hardly reasonable to expect a dealer in precious stones to pay any particular attention to textiles ; but there is so much of artistic interest in the pages of the learned author, and so much light thrown upon other contemporary features of the artistic life of the nation, that sufficient tribute cannot be paid to the eminent Frenchman to whom we owe the volumes now to be made use of in the interests of the art in neglecting which he lost to a great degree his title to permanent fame. Chardin, in the second volume of the edition I am making use of, refers to the curious fashion in which the Persians emphasize their incomparable politeness in letter-writing, by seeking to convey an additional compliment in the choice of the papers used, of which they had seven or eight varieties — white, yellow, green, red, and other colours — the sheet in addition being gilded and silvered at the top and bottom. The most flattering mark of attention consisted in using a sheet of white paper lightly damasked with gold flowers. Another mark of the greatest civility was to inscribe the name and titles of the person addressed in coloured letters, or in gold. These and other artistic trifles in the adjustment of the margin of paper used, and the position of the seal, the impression of which upon the lower corner of the missive was a carefully observed point of etiquette, were carried to such an extent that care was taken that the whole of the seal should not appear in the impression, implying " I am not worthy to appear before you ; I dare only to show my respect by half-displaying my seal to your presence." To those sufficiently curious, other details of the position of the seal according to rank will provide forms and ceremonies the study and practice of which would pleasantly distract those to whom the recent lectures on Plato 44 Contemporary Arts in a leading London hotel may have still left room for a fresh novelty to divert their minds from the more serious problems of the day. Reference is made to the subject here to show how inborn is the instinct to make use of colour in the everyday actions of life, and the natural artistic sense which will invest with import- ance the most minute observances which seem to be typical of the " weaver's mind," trained through centuries to the careful tying in of every single knot of colour, any deviation from absolute precision in which means a defect, the avoidance of which, with the ensuing easiness of design, forms one of the chief charms of the Oriental fabric. Chardin relates that Shah Abbas II. had made tor him a tent costing two millions of francs, or roughly £80,000, which was called the " Golden Pavilion," on account of the lavishness with which gold was used in its decoration and appointments. The price gives some idea of the materials, richness of manufacture, and general effect ; and its importance as an abode " fit for a king " is demonstrated by the fact that it required close upon 250 camels to transport it from place to place. The antechamber was made of gold-brocaded velvet, upon the upper band of which this inscription was worked — " If you ask how long this throne of the Second Solomon was in making, I reply, Behold the throne of the Second Solomon." The letters of these last words formed a cipher representing a period of 1057 years. This grandiloquence is characteristic of the nation, and with Orientals adds beauty and grace ; it has to be taken into account when form- ing a precise estimate of things artistic and monetary. In giving evidence of the richness and importance of the tents used by the Persian monarchs, my intention is to emphasize to what a great extent the use of the carpet was on all occasions required to give to the floors the same harmony and balance of effect which the amount expended on the tent itself would make a matter of absolute necessity to an artistic eye. Chardin remarks, in his fifth volume, upon the strict observance of all the forms of etiquette, and the elaborate service, which was carried out as much in the monarch's country fetes as in his capital. The tents were divided into rooms, just as was the case in the buildings, the only difference being an absence of some of the magnificence which made the latter unequalled in the world. Our author proceeds to give an account of the pavilion used by the King when giving audience to the Dutch Ambassador at Hyrcania. This tent-pavilion was 60 feet in length, 35 in width, and something under 30 feet in height. After speaking of the massiveness of the supporting poles, and the elaborate features of the 45 Oriental Carpets internal arrangements, those visible to the outside world being made to serve as indications of the might and majesty of the monarch, Chardin mentions the interesting fact that the carpets were held firmly to the ground by means ol orange-shaped gold weights of about five pounds each, placed in rows 4 feet apart. As frequently happens throughout the work, just at the point where Chardin's information with regard to the designs and colour- ings of the carpets used would have made his book absolutely indispensable to all lovers of Art, he branches off to the consideration of similar weights used in connection with the King's throne, and the rich stuffs around it. These weights were studded with precious stones, which accounts for the predilection shown in their descrip- tion and disposition. In the same way, in describing the liberality with which the Persian monarch paid and treated the chief officers who had charge of the various departments of Art industry, in which he had a direct pecuniary interest, Chardin, after mentioning that the chiefs with their staff of workmen are grouped in the various studios or workshops according to their professions, proceeds to say that " the emoluments of the chief of the jewellers will serve to illustrate all the rest " ; and the same principle quite naturally places before the reader a large amount of information upon the particular subject which interests the author, while having an exasperating effect upon the lover of the fine old Oriental carpets, upon the manufacture of which the keen-sighted lover of precious stones could have brought a useful scrutiny. In referring to the ornamentation of houses, Chardin mentions painting as the decoration most frequently used ; sculpture was rarely employed, and then it mostly consisted of flowers and foliage roughly chiselled in the plaster ; the relief, which is low, remains white, while the groundwork is grey ; they finally paint the relief- work, touching it up with gold and blue, which gives to the ornament a beautiful effect. These Moresque paintings on the buildings are very choice, and present an attractive appearance, the dryness of the air preserving the colours in all their original fresh- ness and brilliancy. Chardin states that he has never seen the Persian colours excelled for clearness, brilliancy, and depth, in which they approach nature. The moistness of European climates clouds the colours used, causing them to deteriorate and lose their freshness, in such a fashion that it may well be said that those who are not familiar with the Oriental colouring in its own home cannot form a proper impression of Nature's colours in their most brilliant aspect. 46 Contemporary Arts Chardin speaks in glowing terms of the beautiful enamelled porcelains manufactured in Persia, which, he asserts, excel those of China, ancient and modern. The clever workers in this artistic industry attribute the beauty and quality of the colours to the water, saying that there are some waters which dissolve the colour and give it body ; while others refuse to assimilate it properly, and hold it without being able to impart it. In speaking of the subject of dyeing generally, Chardin remarks that the art was more advanced in Persia than in Europe, the colours having more depth and brilliancy, and also being faster ; this, however, he attributes less to art than to the air and the climate generally, which, being dry and pure, enhances the brightness of the tints, while the dyes themselves, being natural to the country, are used in their freshness, and consequently with their full essential essences. These are points to bear in mind when considering the superiority of the art of carpet manufacture as practised in the countries of its origin ; all the factors mentioned are of the first importance, and again bear witness to the immense influence Nature has in propagating and fostering the Arts. In dealing with the manufactures of the country, the author speaks particularly of the cotton, goat's hair, camel's hair, and wool industries, and makes special reference to the silk, which, being abundant in Persia, is largely used, and forms one of the most im- portant manufactures of the country. Many details are given as to the method of treating the silk. Chardin writes with the greatest appreciation of the beauty of the brocades, some of which, worked in gold, are the most beautiful and dearest in the world ; in fact, the reader is gratified with the fullest information as to the value and merits of the fabrics, with incidental information as to the wages paid to the workers. He also mentions the fact that even after twenty or thirty years the gold and silver thread used in the rich brocades do not tarnish ; this again he attributes to the purity of the air, and the excellence of the workmanship, presumably including the preparation of the materials. Criticizing the art of painting, Chardin speaks of the easy- going idle ways of the Orientals, who have little desire for work, and only then for necessaries. Their finest paintings, as also sculpture, turnery, and other arts, of which the beauty consists in faithfully following nature, only have value in the country of production, and in nations equally affected by climatic conditions. They think that, such arts not having any direct bearing upon actual human needs, they do not merit special attention ; in fact, 47 Oriental Carpets they have no very great regard for the Arts ; as a result of which they are little cultivated, in spite of the fact that as a nation the Persians are intelligent, discerning, patient, and frank, and, if liberally paid, succeed in what they undertake. Chardin remarks, further, that they do not show much energy in seeking out new inventions and discoveries, being content with what they possess of the necessities of life, buying from foreign countries, instead of introducing the manufacture of new articles into their own. In an earlier volume, in referring to the costumes of the Persians, Chardin deals with this characteristic of Eastern nations — their disinclination to give up their own habits and customs, and reluctance to introduce innovations — which makes the study of ancient manners and customs so particularly interesting and valuable, especially from an artistic point of view, as the preservation of early forms can be traced with some certainty when not hybridized by the introduction of foreign elements. Chardin's illustration of the tenacity with which the Persians adhere to old customs is important when we consider the probability of the art of carpet manufacture, in common with the kindred arts, having come down to us from the remotest times, without other changes than are natural to increased facilities of production, both as regards the appliances and as regards the personal influence of the rulers, who, deriving their income in some part from privileged manufactures, may be supposed to have exercised considerable discretion in keeping them up to the highest standard of perfection. Chardin writes : " The costumes of the Orientals are not subject to fashion ; they are invariably made in the same style ; and if the prudence of a nation is shown by this constancy, the Persians are worthy of all praise, for they not only adhere to the same style of dress, but even to shades of the same colours, and in the same materials. I have seen robes worn by Tamerlane, which are preserved in the treasury of Ispahan ; they are made the same as those of the present day, without any difference." This period was close upon three hundred years, and, although trifling in comparison with the time which has elapsed since the first primitive efforts, is valuable as an indication of a consistency which is in favour of the antiquity of any article which, so to say, the Persians originally adopted, and this in any case can with certainty be claimed for the Carpet. Chardin devotes a considerable amount of attention to the glories of Ispahan, including the King's palaces, the public buildings, and particularly the Royal Mosque, or Musjid-i-Shah, upon which Shah Abbas the Great expended enormous sums. It is impossible to deal 48 Plate IV Plate IV JACOUARD CARPET Size 1 3-4 x 6-0 Warp — 10 cords to the inch Weft — 10 cords to the inch IOO CORDS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Contemporary Arts with these features here : so for the present we will leave our author, and endeavour to give some slight indication of the artistic tendencies of India, which seems naturally to follow the country which in the time of Akbar the Great, if not earlier, introduced from Persia the carpet-weaving industry. Fergusson in his History of Indian and Eastern Architecture opens Book. L, " Buddhist Architecture," thus : " It may create a feeling of disappointment in some minds when they are told that there is no stone architecture in India older than two and a half centuries before the Christian era." The introduction of this permanent building material coincided impressively with the introduction of Buddhism, both due to the great Indian king Asoka (272-236 B.C.), regarded as the " Buddhist Constantine." There are many beautiful buildings in India, which it would be an impertinence to attempt to describe in detail ; and as the principal architectural glory of the Empire is admitted to be the Taj Mahal, which forms the subject of the concluding chapter of this book, I will only say, in passing on to the arts of sculpture and painting, that, if we may judge from the remains illustrated in current works upon the ancient architecture, the same features of elaboration which are shown in the carved stone-work of the magnificent Victoria Terminus, Bombay, have ruled throughout, and this richness of detail, this minuteness of finish, is characteristic of the carved sandal-wood and metal-work familiar to the visitor to India. It all suggests that human labour is of trifling account, and that patience, while of infinite use to such as the inventor of the phrase Nulla dies sine tinea, is a quality which, directed by the limitations of the native mind, tends to a certain monotony, making for the " curio " rather than for Art. Chardin's remarks upon Persian painting inevitably recur to the mind upon inspecting the splendid plates in Mr. E. B. HavelFs recently published Indian Sculpture and Painting. The carvings are extremely rich and beautiful in their way, but have a conventional precision which presumably is the national characteristic, and recalls the saying, " The weaver weaves what he has in his mind," which is applicable to the carver in wood, to the artist in metals, and (with the addition of a larger share of genius) to the sculptor and the painter. The splendid and elaborate " Eastern Gateway, Sanchi," in Mr. Havell's book, has for its most prominent feature the spiral key-form which I have noticed in connection with ancient Egyptian ornament, and the Maori tattooing which is spoken of at the end of this chapter. The form is so obvious, and follows so naturally after the close angular key-forms, that there is nothing surprising in the 49 4 Oriental Carpets feature being common to many nations ; but it strikes the eye, and in doing so evokes the commonplace that " the simple ornamental forms are common to all eyes, and their adaptation and variation are subject to the mind." The reproductions of paintings are the most surprising feature in Mr. Havell's book, and come as a revelation to those who have not had the advantage of previous study. " A Portrait Group," by one of Shah Jahan's Court painters, is in all respects a beautiful piece of human work, but as conventional in its treatment as the early Italian Masters. One feels that the likenesses are true to life ; the land- scape and accessories are microscopically exact ; there is even some suggestion of the hard Oriental atmosphere ; but there is no flexibility, and the impression left upon the mind is that it is a " design," a " pattern," and not in the usual artistic sense the Art which, with a full knowledge of the limitations of the human eye, is exercised with the deceitfulness of a genius overcoming Nature itself, to cause the eye to accept what is in reality Nature as it is, rather than what it appears to be. The great architects Ictinus and Callicrates, in this way, designed the Parthenon with an ingenuity which escaped attention until the English architects, J. Pennethorne in 1837, an ^ F. C. Penrose in 1 846-1 847, with infinite patience and skill, discovered by means of elaborate measurements that the apparently simply-constructed Parthenon was not only a triumph of artistic skill in construction and design, but also a successful attempt to make Art surpass Nature, in the sense that the greatest subtlety of human genius had been bestowed upon the building to overcome the defects of the eye, and to convey an impression of perfectness of form, which is entirely provided by Art. The apparently con- ventional lines which modern architects have made use of in such reproductions of the Parthenon as the Madeleine, Paris, and the Town Hall, Birmingham, as in others which there is no need to mention, convey a sufficient indication of what the Athenian master- piece would have been had not the architects (under what training and influence it is impossible to conjecture) given to the building as a whole the most infinitesimal tendency towards the pyramidal form, imparting the necessary ease and " atmospheric flexibility," which for over two thousand years has baffled the imitation of the architects, in spite of all the advantages of modern science and training. Returning to Mr. Havell's book : An interesting " Wounded Lion" (Plate LIII), a marvellous "Turkey Cock," by one of Jahangir's Court painters, some exquisite portraits in colours, and 5° Contemporary Arts even more satisfying lightly-tinted sketches, notably " A Portrait of Ytikad Khan " (Plate LV), make up a book which it is worth while having written this chapter to have had the pleasure of calling attention to — a work which should be in the hands of all interested in our great Indian Empire. The Lion Gate of Mycenae opens the consideration of Greek Art, which in Mr. H. B. Walters's chronological table dates from 2500-900 B.C., a margin sufficiently broad to satisfy the most exacting. The Palace of Knossos is placed under the same heading, " Pre-Historic Greece " ; and I venture to give some attention to this, as I remember in a Royal Academy Exhibition, some few years ago, a room having been specially devoted to the discoveries of Mr. Arthur Evans, son of Sir John Evans, the eminent antiquary and savant. If my memory serves, the actual examples exhibited, and a series of coloured sketches, clearly gave indication of an Art facility which goes again to prove the power of the eye, and the natural instinct for Art in which it is the agent and instrument. The wonderful discoveries at Olympia, including the Temple of Zeus and the remarkable " Nike of Paionios," open up a subject for examination and discussion sufficiently bewildering with ample space and leisure for its treatment, but which, fascinating as it is, must be briefly passed over. As late as Christmas 1875, the original work of the great sculptor Paionios was brought to light, somewhat upsetting theories as to the sculptors engaged upon the construction of the great Temple of Zeus, the sculptural decorations of which had been hitherto largely attributed to the pupils of Phidias. The difficulty of giving the crudest idea of what the world owes to Greek architecture, sculpture, and painting, is enough to deter the boldest from making the attempt in less than a series of volumes ; moreover, the examples that have come down to us are so scattered as to necessitate the study of each important museum throughout the world, in order to form a comprehensive view of the over- whelming part the Greeks have played in the Art-history of the world. The way in which examples of the finest period of Greek Art have been scattered is illustrated by the fact that to obtain a sight of the splendid " Alexander Sarcophagus " the student has to make a pilgrimage to Constantinople, which, from the illustration and description given by Professor Michaelis, would be amply repaid. It is quite possible that the average lover of Greek Art is content to begin his investigations from the period of the great sculptor Phidias, and probably no name in the records of Art is better known, the immortal sculptures of the Parthenon, although only partly from 5i Oriental Carpets his own hand, being sufficient to justify the place assigned to Greek Art, as the foundation upon which the arts of all nations have been based. There are remains of earlier temples than the Parthenon upon the Acropolis ; but the Parthenon demands the first place, remaining as it does to the present day, and by universal consent of all competent to judge, the finest example extant of its particular style. A recent volume by Martin L. d'Ooge, entitled The Acropolis of Athens, deals very fully with all details in connection with the important buildings which crown the Acropolis, and the many illustrations, including a very beautiful view of "The Acropolis from the West," deal very comprehensively with the historical and architectural features, as far as they have come down to us ; but of necessity much has to be left to the imagination ; and, without disrespect, it is worth while to consider how far the wonderful glamour thrown upon the whole subject of Greek Art by the marvellous achievements of so small a nation has cast a halo of reflected glory upon mere fragments, which even in their earliest freshness may not have produced the extravagant effect which the enthusiasm aroused by the great contemporary, literary, and political representatives of the people has caused almost to amount to an obsession, to the great detriment of modern Art. The masterpieces of architecture, sculpture, and probably painting were inimitable in their time, as those which have come down to us in sufficient preservation amply prove ; but all that is Greek is not necessarily above criticism, and the fear of comparison may have prevented many an excellent artist from doing the best that was in him, and thus many admirable productions which would have satisfied the average lover of Art have been lost to the many to whom a fine piece of sculpture is still fine, even if it has not the name of Phidias or Praxiteles attached to it. This is, of course, rank heresy ; but, while fully appreciating the apparently perfect and exquisite statues of " The Apoxyomenos," after Lysippus ; the " Silenus nursing Dionysus," also perhaps derived from the same artist ; the splendid " Apollo Belvedere," a copy of an earlier masterpiece ; the beautiful statue " Apollo and the Lizard," a most divinely perfect figure of the god, leaning on the trunk of a tree, up which a small tree lizard is creeping (these statues in the Vatican museum) ; the lovely " Venus of the Capitol," and other statues well known to all visitors to Rome, which cannot fail to excite the admiration of the merest tyro in Art matters, there is no reason why a just tribute should not be paid to the fine statue of " Perseus," by Canova, which is in the same 52 Contemporary Arts room as the " Apollo Belvedere " in the Vatican ; and the beautiful statue of " Venus," also by Canova, in the Pitti Gallery, Florence ; and, it may be added, the comparatively brand-new statue of " Victory " in the same gallery, by " Consani," to which the date 1867 is assigned in the catalogue. Again, while having honestly admired the mere fragment, the " Torso of the Belvedere " in the Vatican, which, it is said, Michael Angelo continued his admiration of by the sense of touch after he had lost his sight ; and with a perfect appreciation of the superb " Venus de Milo " in the Louvre ; and a sufficient understanding of the merits of the Parthenon Frieze, the sculptures of which Lord Elgin rescued or ravished from the Athenian Acropolis, and which now dignify the British Museum, it is impossible to say, in their incompleteness, how far admiration is extorted by the suggested perfections, which, of course, vary according to the artistic training or natural appreciation of those who study them. Various attempts have been made to restore the " Venus de Milo," but with a success which, if really approaching the design of the original creator of the work, leaves one with a devout thankfulness that the statue has come down to us in its mutilated state ; in fact, the extreme difficulty of arriving at a perfect pose, with the due expression of every part of the body, down to the finger-tips, not to say the arrangement of the accessories — all these points are taken for granted when the perfection of a part suggests an equal perfection in the whole ; but there is no room for such sentimental allowance with the modern sculptor, who has to face the criticism of the learned and the ignorant, with every part of his work exposed to the merciless severity of present-day judgment ; being the work of a living artist, it cannot compare with the priceless relics of the great dead. It is hard to say how far the perfect studies of the human body which excite such admiration in the few original works, and the masterly copies from such artists as Phidias, Scopas, Lysippus, Polyklitos, Myron, Praxiteles, and others, are to be attributed to the fact that in the days in which they practised their art, the study of the human form in all its naked splendour was not a question of the privacy of the studio, but an everyday example under the broad natural light of the sky, and not subject to the effects of light and shade, which, however perfect a studio may be, have the greatest influence upon the eye, and the consequent impression conveyed to the brain. Mr. James Donaldson, in a series of articles contributed to The Contemporary Review, afterwards collected and with additional 53 4« Oriental Carpets matter issued under the title Woman, mentions that the young Spartan girls wrestled in a state of nudity ; it is also certain that in the festival processions and games in ancient Greece the opportunity of studying the human forms of both sexes, under every conceivable expression of the play of the muscles, was a matter not for wondering comment, but a comparatively common occurrence, which, leaving an artist with his study unfinished upon any one occasion, would give him the comfortable certainty of an equally favourable chance to complete his work more or less at his own choice. Mr. Donaldson speaks of the absolute worship of the human body, which was as natural in its expression as the beauties of Nature are to us ; he conveys this admiration in the following terms, which leave nothing to add : " The Greeks loved everything that was beautiful, but it was in the human body that they saw the noblest form of earthly beauty." He proceeds to relate the well- known and probably true anecdote of Phryne, the celebrated courtesan, who, being accused of impiety, was defended in full court by the orator Hyperides ; he, seeing that the verdict would certainly go against his client, with dramatic action tore open the bosom of her dress, exposing to the assembled judges a form perfectly marvellous in its moulded beauty. An acquittal followed, which the low-minded might attribute to the seduction of the female form ; but the artistic motive which probably ruled with old men, unlikely to be carried away by any such temptation, is so well expressed by Mr. Donaldson that I take the liberty of reproducing the passage : " One of the writers who relate the circumstance gives the reason of the decision. The judges beheld in such an exquisite form not an ordinary mortal, but a priestess and prophetess of the divine Aphrodite. They were inspired with awe, and would have deemed it a sacrilege to mar or destroy such a perfect master- piece of creative power." A like veneration for the beautiful since the occurrence of this episode would have saved to the world many exquisite specimens of Art, destroyed with reckless indifference by those who, with early training on the lines upon which the ancient Greeks conveyed their lessons to the young, would have perhaps been able to overcome their hate and fanaticism by the reflection that the highest displays of artistic work in any direction are some- thing more than human, and that the expression of a perfect art is not to be gauged by the moral status of the artist. It may be asked, " But what has this to do with Carpets, or the Contemporary Arts ? " It is safe to say that the cultivation of the eye in one direction cannot fail to be of the greatest service to the 54 Contemporary Arts artist in whatever other direction he may be called upon to exercise his art, and that in ancient times, through the free display of the human body and of the costumes worn, which, while only veiling the form, offered innumerable variations in the flow of the drapery, the eye was constantly being trained in a way which made the humblest citizen of Athens a capable critic, and consequently able to appreciate the fostering Art influences of a Pericles, even if they were pinched by the taxes which followed. So the study of the nude, the study of sculpture, and even the more conventional lines of architecture, exercise an effect upon the judgment of the eye which is of the greatest service in, for instance, the manufacture of the Carpet, in which the Persians displayed a marvellous perfectness, both in the adaptation of natural forms to their art, and in handling the colour effects, which, under the influence of the great Shah Abbas, arrived at a perfection placing the Persian Carpet in an art class by itself, and giving to the nation a heritage which, apart from other artistic claims, will worthily enable it to hold its own with other nations, whose claims are based upon a civilization in some directions synonymous with distortion of the human form, and a consequent ugliness which is again reflected in unknown directions, and with unforeseen results to the progress of Art. Reference to the lives of the great Greek painters in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers reveals an amount of detail, handed down to us through the ancient classics, which, in spite of the absence of any authentic example, makes them living personalities ; and, even as the world of action has to thank Homer for the record of achievements in battle which probably represented (with the full licence poetry allows) the great deeds of a heroic age, so literature has to be thanked for giving life to the great painters, the fugitive nature of whose art has failed to secure to them the meed of the world's admiration, although no record of Art is complete without their names. In view of the fact that Raphael undertook a commission from Leo X. to produce ten cartoons for tapestry, and exercised his great talents in decorating the ceiling of the hall of the Villa Farnesina for his friend and patron the banker Agostino Chigi, it will be interest- ing to give some space to the great Greek masters, who may in their time have done similar work for rulers and prominent citizens. Their talents must certainly have been called into play in connection with the frequent religious and other festivals, in which all the wealth of colour afforded by the robes of the officiating priests, the officials and heralds of the games, the holiday attire of the citizens, 55 Oriental Carpets and (it cannot be doubted) the richly embroidered hangings which relieved the walls of the temples, would be under the direct personal supervision of Polygnotus, Zeuxis, Parrhasius, and the greatest of them all, Apelles, who with his fellow-artist, the sculptor Lysippus, was selected by Alexander the Great to exercise the sole privilege of portraying his likeness and recording his deeds, and in so doing constituted himself the first great patron of the Arts of whom history gives particular record. Before dealing briefly with the lives of the artists here referred to, it may be not uninteresting to speculate as to how far they contributed to the textile arts of the day. I am not aware of any definite records in which the great masters of painting have devoted their talents to the arts of Design and Decoration with anything more than a passing desire to execute commissions, in which the urgency of a request, if not command, induced them to undertake a distinct branch of Art which, if left to themselves, they would have been the first to acknowledge as making a call upon them which was quite outside the scope of their genius. It is true that Raphael designed the frescoes of the ceiling and spandrels of the hall of the Farnesina, already referred to ; but the decorations of an ornamental character which enclose the various panels were executed by his pupils Giulio Romano, Francesco Penni, and Giovanni da Udine, who also carried out the designs for the thirteen sections of the vaulting of the Raphael Loggie, the painted ornamentation of which was executed by the last-named artist, who would undoubtedly be selected by Raphael on account of talents which leaned especially towards decoration. Writers on Art matters have not sufficiently emphasized the fact that the art of the Designer is quite distinct from that of the Painter. Although it is true that the painter in drawing up the scheme of his picture, and in arranging the grouping of his figures, or the forms of nature which he selects for his subject, has to exercise arts of design of the highest order, he is freed from the circumscribed conditions of material, the conventional exigencies of style and form, and the limitations enforced by the necessity of a repetition which, carefully handled, is one of the most effective features of the art. It is one of the marvels of the Persian Carpet Designers that in their finest productions they have not only success- fully overcome the prime difficulties presented by the fixed con- ventional lines which the parallel lines of both warp and weft enforce, but also, by availing themselves of an " art within art," have, through the agency of colour, varied throughout the design in the 56 Contemporary Arts same forms, given an easy harmoniousness of effect which removes any suggestion of monotony. Of this class of design, in which the conditions of a formal geometrical pattern are preserved throughout, and in which the design proper may be regarded as consisting of one quarter of the entire carpet, turned over sideways and lengthways to form the rectilinear space to which the artist was confined, a certain very effective formality essentially suitable to the fabric is obtained ; but all stiffness and hidebound precision and primness of effect are avoided by the constant slight deviations from repetition in the design. The instinct which to the native weaver makes a repetition of a design as naturally impossible to him as it is to the musician is very happily illustrated in Lady Randolph Churchill's Reminiscences, in which she records that her master, Stephen Heller, told her that the great artist-musician Chopin, in playing his own compositions, never played them twice the same way. In like manner, the artist Maksoud of Kashan, to whom we owe the Ardebil Carpet, in pre- serving with admirable precision the intricate turns and convolutions of his design, varied the forms throughout in the colour scheme. In view of the fact that the carpet-weaver reproduces his designs and colourings so largely through the medium of the memory, which has handed down patterns from time immemorial, just as the minstrel of ancient days handed down the beautiful fables which may be said to be the foundations of our literature, it is not uninstructive to compare again the artist-weaver Maksoud with the artist-musician Chopin. In both cases the intricacies of form have to be reproduced by an effort of memory, which only strikes one as an ordinary incident of life by reason of its frequency ; it is, however, to be remembered that the machine-like precision of mere memory (which astonishes in the prodigy, but bores in the artist without " soul ") is a very different thing to an artist such as Chopin, who in creating the exquisite design and grouping of his main themes, or " forms," enclosed them with a setting of delightfully intricate embroideries, which, so to say, serving as the continuous scroll-work of the Ardebil pattern, gave the same relief to the mind that the art of the weaver has given to the eye. In the occasional repetition of the " leit- motiv," as it is now called, since Richard Wagner made it such a feature of his grand compositions, the " frame " is provided in music in much the same way as the artist Maksoud has enclosed the free expression of his artistic genius within a formal setting, which, while having the special merit attaching to its more formal decorative features, throws into relief the main design itself in a way only to be fully understood and appreciated by imagining the centre of the 57 ' Oriental Carpets carpet without its border ; the same test applied to pictures would probably bring the humble moulder of picture-frames to the position in the artistic world to which he is truly entitled. Here, again, it may be mentioned that the artist who designs his own frame is seldom happy, which recalls the famous saying of Apelles, Ne sutor supra crepidam. This reminds me of a too extended digression ; but before returning to the Greek painters, it may be said that the great expression of artists in Design, as well as in the sister art Music, is the infinite variety afforded by colour in the one case and by tone in the other, in which the mind is reflected according to the humour of the moment, and in this nature is inexhaustible ; the weaver is not bound to the selection of any particular shade in the working out of his design, especially in the details, and the pianist, even in reproducing his own compositions, varies his time, and the emphasis of each separate tone, or combinations of tones, according to the humour of the moment, which gives to the recitals of the great pianists, as also to the orchestral performances of such artist- conductors as Dr. Hans Richter, the pleasure which is constantly varied by the fact that a " phenomenal " rendering of any particular piece is always held forth by the possibility of the artist being " in his best form " ; the Wonder Performances in which fortunate mortals are lifted to Heaven are provided when, owing to some exceptional combination of circumstances, or waves of artistic inspira- tion, he excels himself. In an extremely interesting and instructive " Chronological Scheme of Greek Art," Mr. H. B. Walters in his work, The Art of the Greeks^ gives in the form indicated a survey of the " History," "Art-characteristics," " Sculpture," " Architecture," " Painting," and " Other Arts," which, with the assignment of periods, and the leading events in the history attached to each, gives probably as good a bird's-eye view of the essentials of ancient Art as may be necessary for enabling the amateur to form a working conclusion as to his debt to the master-artists of the past. Illustrations of the art pottery dating back to 2500 B.C. ; frescoes and wall-paintings and decorated vases dating back to the same period, — all these display in their ornamental accessories designs which may well have first been used in textile fabrics ; the conventional line, rectangular and spiral key, formal honeysuckle, interlaced band, and detached geometrical styles being freely used. The fine " Mosaic representing the Battle of Issus " at Pompeii, and the wall-paintings at the same city and at Herculaneum, bring us, in natural sequence of Art production, to the consideration of the Greek Masters of Painting. Before entering 58 Contemporary Arts into details, it may be well to mention again that no authentic record of the numerous works attributed to the Greek painters has come down to us, and that the finest picture which is with certainty- derived from classical times, the famous " Aldobrani Wedding," or " Nozze Aldobrandini" found on the Esquiline Hill, near the Arch of Gallienus, in the first years of the seventeenth century, and for many years in the villa of Cardinal Aldobrandini, and some two hundred years later bought by Pius VII., is now in the Vatican Library. Mr. Douglas Sladen, in The Secrets of the Vatica?i, speaks of the painting or fresco referred to as being supposed to have been a kind of frieze imitated from an original of the time of Alexander the Great, and refuses to see in it the extraordinary merits which the glamour of time has cast over many artistic objects. The picture is certainly pleasing in design and colour, the grouping being such as one might expect from the formality of the times represented, and what colour effect has survived the wear and tear of ages betrays a quality fully equal to the drawing ; but, placing on one side the sentiment which the ordinary observer would without any desire to close inquiry attach to a painting " thousands of years old," it is more than probable that Mr. Sladen has approached the plain unvarnished truth when, after an interesting account of the picture, he writes, " We are driven to the conclusion that every decent painting (of antiquity) must have perished, and that our Museums contain nothing better than the works of artisan decorators employed by house-builders." The ornamental decorations of the Farnesina and the Raphael Loggie certainly express nothing in the way of artistic inspiration, except such as could well be carried out by the artistic staff of the leading Art capitals of the civilized world ; and the drawing and colouring of examples of paintings and frescoes which are illustrated in outline and colour in the readily available art books now published convey nothing much in advance of the capacities of innumerable decorative artists, whose labours are deprived of recognition by the fact of their working for this or that leading firm of decorators, who for reasonable consideration are prepared to furnish Pompeian, Louis XIV., XV., or XVI. styles, and Adams ornamentation with Bartolozzi figures, with which many a home of modest pretensions follows in the footsteps of ancestors of long past ages, who may have thus handed down the tastes which gave variety and elegance to days passed in the placid repose of the pre-railway times. Polygnotus, the earliest of the artists to be referred to, flourished from about 480-430 B.C. ; Zeuxis, born 464-460 B.C. died 396 B.C. ; 59 Oriental Carpets the contest between the last-named artist and Parrhasius, who flour- ished about 400 B.C., in which Zeuxis by the natural representation of a bunch of grapes deceived the birds of the air, but was sur- passed by Parrhasius, whose drawing of a curtain over his picture brought a triumphant request for withdrawal by his rival, who had to acknowledge defeat, is well known, and will to many recall the violin painted upon the door at Chatsworth. Such tours de force are not Art ; but it is probable that few artists, in their moments of repose from more serious labours, do not do some work of the kind which they know will attract the ignorant and amuse the cognoscenti. The story of Protogenes, who should have been mentioned before as one of the greatest of the Greek painters (he flourished 330-300 B.C.), and the visit of the great Apelles to his home in Rhodes, is far more pleasing, the merit of the story resting upon the skill of the artists striving for mastery. The story is that Apelles, hearing of the capacity of the painter of Rhodes, and probably of the struggles he had to undergo in the pursuit of an art overshadowed by his more fortunate rivals, in the spirit of fine magnanimity characteristic of great minds in all directions of Action, Literature, and Art, paid a visit to Protogenes, and, not finding him at home, in the pride of his skill drew a line of such exquisite fineness that he felt sure that such an exhibition of command of hand and brush would serve better than a mere name. On his return home, Protogenes, not to be outdone, drew within the line of Apelles a finer line still in another colour, desiring this to be shown to Apelles when he next called. Apelles, with a microscopical perfection of eye, and an equally marvellous steadiness of hand, drew a third line in another colour, within the two lines first drawn ; on seeing which Protogenes acknowledged himself defeated, and welcomed his rival with the appreciation of an. artist. I seem to remember the same or a similar anecdote, in which the rival painters emulated each other in the drawing of a perfect circle without the aid of artificial instruments, a feat obviously of the greatest difficulty, which is the real point of the anecdote. These fables, probably distilled from greater facts, accord well with the opinion of Lord Bacon as to the use of fable in illustrating fact. Apelles, regarded as the greatest of the Greek painters, is noticed with some fullness of detail in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and TLngravers, and the details of his greatest efforts, and even the prices paid for some of his pictures, give an appearance of actuality to his career, and the importance of his position in a nation of born artists, which, in spite of the absence of all practical results, compels the feeling that he is to be numbered with the Immortals, and regarded 60 Plate V Plate V ORIENTAL CARPET Size 1 2-1 x 5-5 Warp — 11 knots to the inch Weft — 9 knots to the inch 99 KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) ^,„«—»,- • ._.. M | l.jLJ Contemporary Arts as having in his period exercised his art upon possibly much the same lines as Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Velasquez, and others of the great, who were in their time kings in the realm of Art, and in consequence placed upon a level of friendship with the rulers of their time. It has already been mentioned that Apelles was under the special patronage of the Great Alexander, a man of such godlike power that Apelles probably did not hesitate to accept without abasement the favours he had to bestow. In concluding this outline of a few of the everyday episodes and achievements of the great Greek Artists, I cannot better illustrate the close connection between inspired Art, the acme of human power, and the general acknowledgment of it, than by relating from The Percy Anecdotes an account of the association of the greatest Artist and the greatest Emperor of the period. After the story of Apelles' practice in exposing his pictures to public view, and his reproof to the shoemaker who had ventured upon a criticism of a slipper, which the artist was not too proud to adopt, though he rebuked the endeavour of the humble artisan to rise above his particular sphere, the following passage offers food for useful thought : — "Apelles was held in great esteem by Alexander the Great, and was admitted into the most intimate familiarity with him. He executed a portrait of this prince in the character of a thundering Jove ; a piece which was finished with such skill and dexterity, that it used to be said there were two Alexanders, the one invincible, the son of Philip, and the other inimitable, the production of Apelles. Alexander appears to have been a patron of the fine arts more from vanity than from taste ; and it is related, as an instance of the freedoms which Apelles was permitted to use with him, that when on one occasion he was talking in this artist's painting-room very ignorantly of the art of painting, Apelles requested him to be silent, lest the boys who ground his colours should laugh at him." This anecdote probably reflects quite truthfully the large-minded- ness of the master-conqueror, who was great enough himself to be able to recognize and appreciate the greatness of the artist, who in his own particular sphere was equal with himself. An anecdote of the less well-known painter Eupompus, who flourished about 400-380 B.C., will fittingly conclude this selec- tion of characteristic anecdotes, which are not without application to the scheme of this book. I again quote from the admirable selection compiled by Reuben and Sholto Percy (Joseph Clinton 61 Oriental Carpets Robertson, 1788-1852 ; and Thomas Byerley, died 1826), and published originally as The Percy Anecdotes, from 1 821-1823, in twenty volumes, which has probably been made more use of in literature than any other works of the class. The anecdote comes under the heading of " The Fine Arts," and is entitled " Painting from Nature " : — " Eupompus the painter was asked by Lysippus the sculptor, whom among his predecessors he should make the objects of his imitation ? ' Behold,' said the painter, showing his friend a multitude of characters passing by, ' behold my model. From Nature, not from Art, by whomsoever wrought, must the artist labour, who hopes to attain honour, and extend the boundaries of his art.' " The transition from the arts of Greece to those of Rome is well and easily made through the medium of another paragraph from the invaluable Percy Anecdotes, which forms the opening to " Painting in Ancient Rome " : — " While the arts of painting and sculpture were revered among the Greeks as the first of liberal pursuits, they were looked upon by the Romans with a feeling of indifference, if not of contempt. Devoted to war and conquest, they shrank from what they conceived to be the degrading employments of peace. Virgil, in his well- known eulogium on his nation, at the most splendid period of its history, and who had too much genius and taste not to be deeply sensible of the graces of the fine arts, passes over lightly the inferiority of his countrymen in such productions ; and while he gives to the Romans the sovereignty of the universe, leaves to the other nations the inferior graces of animating marble, and teaching the canvas to breathe." The difference between the refined arts of the Greeks and the larger and coarser artistic tendencies of the Romans is fertile of illustrations ; but one will suffice. As the audiences of the cultivated Athenian citizens, in their theatre of Dionysus, listened spell-bound to the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and perhaps with greater zest to the impertinences of Aristophanes, so in the days of Rome's greatest splendour vaster audiences still assembled, in the excitement of natures accustomed by years of conquest to regard human suffering and loss of life upon a large scale, to witness the mimic naval battles, gladiatorial encounters, wild-beast shows, in which human beings and the fiercest animals tried their strength and respective mental developments. Later, as the result of a fire on July 19, a.d. 64, Nero took advantage of the pretext to institute the most horrible persecution of the Christians, which was 62 Contemporary Arts only carried out in the gardens of Nero because the Circus Maximus was destroyed in the fire referred to. An account of the circumstances attending this painful historical record is to be found in all its hideous detail in Mr. Arthur Stapylton Barnes' St. Peter in Rome. There is something of the animal in most artistic natures, and anecdotes are not wanting to illustrate the means adopted by some of them to arrive at the actual expressions of agony consequent upon the great tragedies inflicted by humanity upon humanity ; the best known is that of Giotto, who, to obtain the full artistic similitude of a crucified man, bound an unsuspecting model to a cross, and, stabbing him to death, reproduced in absolute fidelity a picture of the Crucifixion, which so astonished the Pope for whom it was painted that he sought for the secret of its realism, which was revealed to the horrified Pontiff under the sacred promise of absolution. To confirm the probability of the story, the ever ready Percy Anecdotes furnishes the instance of a modern French artist who, to represent the tragical end of Milo of Crotona, bound an athletic porter of suitable frame to an iron ring, and, not being satisfied with his mimic representations of the terror and struggles of Milo when devoured by wild beasts, set a vigorous mastiff upon the model, which produced the desired result, to the intense gratification of the painter, and the eventual emolument of the model, who consented to be compensated by liberal payment. The year a.d. jo saw the building of the Flavian Amphitheatre, more familiarly known as the Colosseum, which Mr. Fergusson in his History of Architecture refers to as the most impressive of the ancient buildings, and only to be compared, in universal admiration, with the Hall at Karnac. History repeats itself, and in the same way as the great Greek painters of the fifth century and the fourth century B.C. made use of the poems of Homer to inspire them with the heroic achievements of a period in which art had of necessity to supply the details, so in this twentieth century Sir L. Alma- Tadema has ransacked history -to supply him with the accuracy necessary to place upon canvas a subject of such vast scale as the entertainment given by Septimius Severus in the year a.d. 203, at which his wife, Julia Domna, and his sons Caracalla and Geta, were present at the Colosseum, to witness a gala performance in honour of the Emperor's nomination as Antoninus Caesar. The somewhat miniature scale of the vast audience in the far background of the enormous amphitheatre and the larger figures of the Emperor and his family in the foreground afford contrasts in proportion which do not add to the attractions of the picture ; but the study and research 63 Oriental Carpets of an artist so peculiarly fitted to grapple with the manifold difficulties of the subject make " Caracalla and Geta" a picture which all who appreciate Art should possess in photo-engraving. With the admirable facilities afforded by the great tourist agents, Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son, for foreign travel, it would be an impertinence to attempt to traverse in detail the innumerable works of art laid open with generous hands to the sojourner in Italy, the home of the Arts, for — except in the matter of tapestries, which, by the way, were manufactured in Arras and later Gobelins, and embroideries — apathy seems to have been displayed in the textile arts. I will as briefly as possible call attention to a few prominent features of Art which attracted my personal attention. Of the remains of ancient buildings, the Colosseum has already been referred to ; the next building which from its wonderful preservation is most likely to attract the amateur with some practical liking for the tangible is the Pantheon, which (at one time attributed to the age of the Emperor Augustus, early in the first century a.d.) was by an Austrian architect, Joseph Dell, in 1890, and the French architect Louis Chedanne in 1 891-1892, shown by internal evidence to belong to the times of the Emperor Hadrian, early in the second century, as related by Professor Michaelis in the Century of Archaeological Discoveries. The building astonishes by the freshness which after a period of eighteen hundred years still preserves its original form, and is used for purposes of worship, as it was in earlier days. I do not know how far the bronze doors are of comparatively recent work ; but they impress by their simplicity, and the simple fan- shaped small diaper, if it can be so called, which occupies the panels over the doors, in open cutting. As far also as the spectator can discern, the chiselling of the ornamental bronze frieze running round the lower portion of the dome is as keen and fresh as if newly executed. As an example of one of the hypaethral or " sky-lighted " temples, the Pantheon is particularly interesting, the only light thrown into the interior of the building being from the large circular opening at the extreme summit of the huge dome, which, it is said, served as the inspiration for the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence, the first double dome ever built, and the first ever raised upon a drum ; this, the work of Brunelleschi, in its turn served as the model for the wonderful cupola of St. Peter's, Rome, in taking advantage of which, Michael Angelo is said to have replied to a friend who spoke to him of the opportunity he had of surpassing the original at Florence, " I will make her sister dome larger ; yes, but not more beautiful." 64 Contemporary Arts There are many relics of the Rome of ancient days, and they never fail to impress. The more perfectly preserved buildings, such as those mentioned, and the ancient Capitol, and the arches of Titus, Septimius Severus, and Constantine the Great, and the noble tower of Hadrian's Mausoleum, excite added wonder from the state of preservation, which bears witness to the solidity of their building. It cannot be denied that the greatest and noblest sight of all is the grandly proportioned and eminently impressive Church of St. Peter, which, after the rejection of plans by Bramante, Sangallo, and Raphael, was finally carried out by Michael Angelo, and will as long as it lasts be the grandest memorial associated with the name of man. The works of art decorating the interior are so numerous that detailed mention is impossible within the limits imposed by a brief survey. It is not, however, inappropriate to notice the great artist's pathetic statue " Pieta," which, although an early work, he probably never excelled in its simple expression of the inert body of the son and the grief-stricken attitude of the bereaved mother. The great church is simply one vast treasure-house. The visitor is bewildered by the richness of the various chapels, each a church in itself, and each enriched with sculpture, and (above the altars) with mosaics reproduced from pictures, which, on the large scale in which they are executed, have all the effect of the finer art. The first object to attract attention on entering St. Peter's is the Baldachin, designed and cast from the design of Bernini, in bronze stripped from the Pantheon ; however much the somewhat baroque style of the work may be criticized, it is to the ordinary observer a most imposing object, and careful and close inspection does not rob it of any of the wonder caused by its grandiose proportions. I am ashamed to confess that, having seen it while the wooden platform used in connection with the Easter festival of 1 906 was still in position, my attention was distracted by the poverty-stricken covering of the platform or dais within the Baldachin — a covering of the commonest of tapestry Brussels carpet, offering a most sordid appearance amid such splendid surroundings. I was fortunate to obtain entrance to the " Confessio," beneath the level of the floor, approached by a double staircase upon the terminal balustrades of which are two beautiful transparent alabaster columns, dedicated respectively to St. Peter and St. Paul. The ring of 95 ever-burning lamps will be familiar to the visitor, as also the horse- shoe-shaped well ; one gazes down upon the beautiful statue by Canova, representing Pius VI. in the attitude of prayer. Two golden bronze gates, on which are represented the martyrdom of 65 5 Oriental Carpets St. Peter, crucified with his head downwards, and of St. Paul, open upon a casket apparently of gold, designed and chiselled by Benvenuto Cellini ; within the recess exposed upon the opening of these gates is to be seen an interesting mosaic of Our Lord, a representation of which is given in Mr. Barnes's St. Peter in Rome ; this has all the appearance of great antiquity, and I did not hesitate to believe the guide when he ascribed it to the third or fifth century, although Mr. Sladen speaks of it as belonging to the thirteenth. Immediately in front of this holy of holies is a small circular spot of dark marble, marking the point upon which a plumb- line depending from the vast cupola immediately overhead would fall ; the impressiveness of the height looking up is probably only to be compared with that looking down, in which latter case the Confessio, with its burning lights, must have the appearance of a horseshoe studded with diamonds. The works of art in the sacristy and treasury of St. Peter's are well worth inspection, including as they do a splendid pair of candelabra by Benvenuto Cellini, and the dalmatic worn by Charlemagne in the year a.d. 800 when Pope Leo III. crowned him Emperor of the Romans, with the title Carolus Augustus. This dalmatic is a wide-sleeved vestment, of a most beautiful shade of blue, with figures worked in gold ; upon the breast there is a central figure, surrounded by angel figures, the whole having a gorgeously impressive effect, in spite of the dimness of age. This dalmatic is illustrated in Mr. Sladen's book, and, although probably needlework, is nevertheless interesting on account of its age and of the artistic way in which the richness of the central figures is relieved by the simple ornamental forms which surround them — a piece of very effective design. The Vatican is far too big a subject to attempt in any detail ; but some reference must be made to the interior decorations, which make it the most magnificent in the classical style, as it is the largest Museum in the world. The usual visitors' entrance, the Sala Regia, leads directly to the Sistine Chapel, the ceiling of which, begun by Michael Angelo on May 10, 1508, was finished on October 31, 1512, and constitutes his chief claim to be regarded as one of the greatest artists of all times. The whole conception is too tremendous to be readily grasped by the casual sight-seer, and the feeling that the work should be accepted as one of the highest achievements of human genius is somewhat damped by an uncomfortable thought that in any other place and under ordinary circumstances the marvellous studies of the human body in every conceivable Titanic 66 Contemporary Arts pose would be passed by with some relief as being beyond any but an artist's understanding. The splendid and lavishly decorated Sala Sistina, containing about thirty-five thousand ancient manuscripts, has made the Vatican Library renowned all over the world, not only on account of the treasures it contains, but also for the broad-minded intentions of its great founder, Pope Nicholas V. It would require a lifetime to do justice to it and its contents ; truth to say, there is little suggestion of the library, the whole effect being that of a palatial suite of rooms, betraying on all sides the catholicity of taste of an owner endowed with rare judgment and skill, and capable of disposing his treasures from all parts of the world, ancient and modern, with an art which has successfully risen above the suggestion of the mere " curiosity shop." The manuscripts are mostly contained in closed presses ; but some of the choicest book treasures in the world are displayed in cabinets, protected by glass ; these include priceless copies of Dante, Virgil, and Terence, and a small volume of love - letters from Henry VIII. to Anne Boleyn. Only students, and specially privileged persons, are acquainted with the Leonine Library, which is contained within eight chambers, six of which are immediately below the Sala Sistina, and the others adjoining. Mr. Sladen relates how Pope Leo XIII. , on his own initiative, and with the desire to realize further Nicholas V.'s project of " making the Vatican Library the focus of European scholarship," created the great library bearing his name. " The change was effected with astonishing celerity, and when it was ready, the whole two hundred and fifty thousand books stored in the Borgia Apart- ments were transferred to it in fourteen days by fifteen workmen." The details of this operation are of extreme interest to book-lovers, and the full account should be read in Mr. Sladen's own words. M. Emile Bertaux, in his Rome, gives a series of interesting examples of the decorations of the splendid Borgia Apartments, which are not readily accessible to the general public, but which in the illustrations referred to give an indication of decorative effects which (it may be assumed) represented the very best talent at the command of Pope Alexander VI., who is represented kneeling before the open tomb from which Christ has just risen. In this fresco by Pinturicchio, and another in which the Pope's daughter Lucrezia is represented, a personal element of the period is introduced, which, however it may be criticized from some points of view, will have its value to the archaeologist of the future ; and it is almost to be regretted that such indications are not available in the textile arts, 67 Oriental Carpets and indeed in other directions, where such traces would lead to identifications which, while interesting in themselves, would not appreciably affect the purely artistic value. In wandering through the Vatican rooms, it is impossible to avoid being struck by the fact that in the course of centuries, Pope vying with Pope, almost every square inch of available space seems to have been covered with decoration. The educational value of this cannot be disputed. At the same time, it is open to question whether this lavish display on all sides creates a feeling of famili- arity something akin to contempt, or at least produces a sense of sufficiency. The Raphael Frescoes can only be briefly referred to. These were executed between the years 1508 and 1520 ; which, coinciding with the dates assigned to the Tapestries, causes wonder at the energy and apparently inexhaustible fertility of the young artist, who died on March 27, 1520, at the early age of thirty-seven, leaving his great picture " The Transfiguration " unfinished, and presumably also the frescoes in question without the general supervision of the artist's eye, which might have made them even more perfect than they are. The Tapestries after the designs of Raphael are so intimately connected with textile art that some particular reference is necessary here. To the eternal glory of our King Charles I., seven of the original cartoons can to-day be seen in the South Kensington Museum, and they are of sufficient importance to be mentioned in detail, viz. " Christ's Charge to Peter," " Death of Ananias," " Peter and John healing the Lame Man," " Paul and Barnabas at Lystra," " Elymas the Sorcerer struck with Blindness," " Paul preaching at Athens," and " The Miraculous Draught of Fishes." The full series of ten cartoons was executed by Raphael on a commission given by the Medici Pope, Leo X., and was intended for the Sistine Chapel. Ordered in 151 5, the first completed tapestries, seven in number, arrived in Rome in 1518, and next year, on December 26, the whole series was exhibited in the Sistine, to the admiration of all beholders, the only dissentient voice being that of the artist Sebastian del Piombo, who was either actuated by jealousy in writing disparagingly to Michael Angelo, or influenced by a desire to ingratiate himself with that great artist, who could afford to admire his young rival without giving way to an ignoble feeling of envy. These particulars are taken from a little pamphlet on the subject by M. Gerspach, who proceeds to mention that the generally accepted idea that the tapestries were executed in Arras is erroneous, and that they were really made in the workrooms of Van 68 Contemporary Arts Aelst in Brussels. The original tapestries on view in the Vatican perhaps display to perfection the art as it should be practised : broad, bold simplicity of design and colouring, and a nobility of effect which, while being inspired by the subject, is nevertheless in- dependent of it, and also of the surroundings, for the original cartoons, although by no means displayed to the greatest advantage in a poorly lighted room at South Kensington, impress one with a sense of breadth and grandeur in the treatment, which is hard to associate with the age of an artist who acquired a mature experience at the cost of his life. Some regard these designs for tapestry as the masterpieces of Raphael ; whether that be so or not, they are undoubtedly the most important specimens of textile design known, and may well have induced other great artists to turn their genius in the same direction. It is not uninteresting to speculate upon the fact that while Raphael was engaged in designing, and the tapestries were in process of manufacture, Maksoud of Kashan was producing his life-work in the precincts of the great Mosque of Ardebil, and it is not too much to say that neither artist loses in the association, extreme as it may seem, for " Art knows no nationality." The Vatican pictures have the great advantage of being contained in four by no means too large rooms, and each work benefits accordingly. Mention has already been made of Raphael's "Trans- figuration " ; another work by the same master, " La Madonna di Foligno," would alone serve to make the gallery remarkable. I must confess to having made a note of " La Madonna di Monte Luce," by Giulio Romano, on account of the beautiful flowers with which the tomb was filled ; they reminded me of the old Flemish tapestries in South Kensington Museum. It is greatly to the advantage of tapestry manufacture that the natural representation of flowers and life-forms lends itself to the art. They should be equally appropriate in carpets ; but it is a singular fact that success has only attended their conventional treatment. The individuality of the carpet design proper, curiously enough, rejects any attempt to deviate from the lines which have been so successfully laid down by the great Oriental weavers. There are certain galleries in Rome which one cannot profess not to have seen, but which do not call for any detailed mention. The Borghese Villa, however, requires some consideration on account of the splendid character of the internal fittings and decora- tions, which convey an impression of boundless luxury, although this effect is very largely due to the splendid collection of antiques with which the main rooms are filled. Among fine specimens 69 5 a Oriental Carpets of rare stone-work, a large porphyry bath, supposed to have been found in the Mausoleum of Hadrian, attracted my attention, on account perhaps of its ridiculous resemblance to the familiar " Rufford " of the present day. Hewn out of a solid block, the outlet, and the place where the hot and cold water taps had evidently been, struck home the fact that as some ornamental forms from their sheer simplicity must of necessity be common to humanity, savage and civilized, so certain appliances, under the simplest possible demands of exigency, must have had a strong family resemblance from the date of their first application. One can hardly imagine the owner of this superb bath being contented to step straight from its luxury on to the most exquisite specimen of mosaic work ; surely, in the days of such luxurious extravagance, some examples of the carpet-weaving of Persia must have found their way to the homes of the Romans, who did not hesitate to send any distance for the luxuries of the table. Among the pictures in the Borghese Gallery, Raphael's " The Entombment " calls for mention ; also a beautiful Correggio, " Danae " ; and an equally charming " Leda " by Sodoma ; but it is probable that the particular picture which takes most visitors to the Villa Borghese is Titian's " Sacred and Profane Love." I must confess to a feeling of disappointment, even after several inspections of the picture ; fine as it is, it is hard to acknowledge the full merits attributed to it. I may be wrong, but a plain dark patch of paint, about 6 inches in depth, appears to occupy the lower portion of the picture, conveying the impression of its having been placed in an old frame too large for it, and that this means had been adopted to fill the empty space ; whatever may be the cause, the feature mentioned is an eyesore, and might well be remedied. Guido Reni's " Aurora," at the Rospigliosi Gallery, is mentioned on account of the beauty of the composition and of the colouring, but also (particularly) for the splendid tone of the lapis lazuli blue in which the sea is painted. In these old masters, the superb quality of the colour strikes the attention of any one interested in textiles, and brings regrets for the lost Tyrian purple, the peculiar virtues of which probably lay in some natural impregnation of the water used. The failure of the spring would sufficiently account for the loss of the art, which the inhabitants of the city would attribute to some occult influence. So many art treasures in Rome still remain to be mentioned that to branch off to Florence may seem to imply an ignorance of their existence ; but the tourist nowadays is so well looked after 70 Contemporary Arts that such a thing is hardly possible, and I therefore have no scruple in turning to the home of the Medicis, to whom Italy owes so much that is learned and splendid. The beautiful Campanile of the Cathedral, designed by Giotto, was begun in 1334, and completed in 1387, by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti. The amateur of Art cannot fail to admire the quaintness of the coloured marbles and the rich beauty of the apparently simple structure. The wonderful dome of the cathedral has already been mentioned as serving for the model of the cupola of St. Peter's, Rome. The interior calls for no special mention, except that one cannot fail to be struck with the gloom which pervades the building. Whether caused by defective lighting arrangements or on purpose to create a feeling of awe, the effect is depressing, for which reason it cannot be regarded as wholly artistic. The splendid bronze doors of the baptistery, one of which is by Andrea Pisano and the other two by Ghiberti, are probably the finest in existence, and were described by Michael Angelo as being " worthy to be the Gates of Paradise." The two great picture galleries, the Uffizi and the Pitti, cause a feeling of regret that there is not sufficient reason for detailing some of the works of art with which they have been stored. The Uffizi Gallery owes its inception to the Medici family, and if it contained only the room called the Tribune, with its masterpieces by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Perugino, Fra Bartolomeo, Veronese, and the delicately beautiful " Venus de Medici " statue, the claims of Florence as an art centre would not be disputed ; but then there is the splendid Hall of Niobe, with its wonderful sculptures, and the grand Medici Vase, and (what probably escapes the attention of many) a vast collection of original drawings by all the great artists, whose first ideas are recorded in a way which makes the finished pictures seem if possible less marvellous, on account of genius displayed in so clearly defining the early inspirations, the sureness of hand indicated in outline drawings which betray the slightest deviation from exact knowledge, bearing witness to a perfection of training which is little short of miraculous. The miniatures are incredibly perfect in their minutest details, and a magnifying glass is required to do justice to them. The Pitti Palace as a gallery is infinitely more interesting than the somewhat academic Uffizi. Built for Lucca Pitti under the direction of the great architect Brunelleschi, it may have something of the appearance of a fortress prison ; but its rugged majesty impresses the imagination, and brings to life the man who for a period challenged comparison with the Medici. The saloons of 7 1 Oriental Carpets " The Iliad," " Saturn," "Jupiter," " Mars," " Venus," " The Educa- tion of Jupiter," " Ulysses," " Prometheus," and " Flora," with ceiling decorations suggested by the subjects, convey an idea of the magnitude of the scale upon which the palace was planned ; and there is no evidence of failure to come up to the Olympian height aimed at, which makes it what it is, an ideal home for treasures of art. The most impressive and suggestive sight to be seen in Florence is the New Sacristy, or Mausoleum of the Medici, which contains some of the master-work of Michael Angelo, who was born at Castel Caprese, a small fortified town near the city. In the Mausoleum are to be seen the splendid monuments to Giuliano Medici and Lorenzo Medici, the former with two reclining figures of " Day " and " Night " upon the sarcophagus immediately below, and the latter with similar figures representing " Evening " and " Dawn." The interesting features in connection with these monuments, outside the fine classical simplicity of the designs, are the unfinished portions of the beautiful sculptured figures, evidence of which can be seen in any well-finished photographic reproduction. The marks of the chiselling are clearly apparent, and probably give to artists interesting indications of the great sculptor's methods. The unfinished state of the Mausoleum has corresponding features in the magnificent Chapel of the Princes, with its splendid decorations and marble inlaying. Visitors are informed that the present members of the Medici family contribute a fixed sum yearly towards the completion of the work, incised tracings upon the floor bearing evidence of a portion of the beautiful marble mosaic, which awaited completion in conformity with the original design. It seems strange that this piecemeal mode of progression can be seen going on from year to year, without some effort being made to overcome the natural reluctance of the family to permit any assistance in the completion of this prominent feature of the building ; but, after all, the citizens of Edinburgh cannot complete their Parthenon reproduction, so it is not perhaps surprising that Florence, with such an example before it, cannot see its way to lavish money in a direction in which the finished result may be less striking than the pathetic sight the Chapel now presents to all lovers of the truly Great. Milan to the casual art lover means the great Cathedral ; the master- work of Leonardo da Vinci, "The Last Supper"; and a charming early work by Raphael, " Sposalizio di Maria Vergine," which, being dated mdiiii., leaves no doubt as to the exact period in which it was produced, an advantage equally attaching to the Ardebil Carpet. 72 Plate VI Plate VI JACQUARD CARPET Size 12-0 x 6-9 Warp — 10 cords to the inch Weft — 10 cords to the inch IOO CORDS TO THE SQJJARE INCH (See Analysis) Contemporary Arts The Cathedral, erected on the site of two former cathedrals, and founded by Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1386, was completed by order of Napoleon I. as recently as 1805-18 13, which seems to account for the fact that, in spite of the lavish richness of every other part of the building, the roof is only painted in imitation of carved stone, thus causing an eyesore, which may be necessary to prevent the beholder from attributing its delicate fragility of appearance to supernatural causes. Within the last two years a splendid pair of bronze gates have been placed in position ; judged from the photo- graphic reproductions, they are worthy of the cathedral itself, than which no higher praise can be bestowed. It is, I presume, admitted that Titian, Tintoretto, and Paul Veronese can be properly understood and appreciated only in Venice ; and that the gorgeous richness of materials and colour lavished upon the Church of St. Mark and the Grand Ducal Palace cannot be equalled. In the romance of nations, nothing can be found to excel the history of this great city, rising out of the sea like Venus created from the foam of the waves. Its historical importance dates from the close of the seventh century a.d. ; it at last came under the hand of Napoleon I. in 1796 ; and the marvellous careers of the nation and the man provoke some comparison, which, however, there is no room to draw here. At the time of Venice's greatest splendour there was probably no capital in the world to vie with it ; and the variety and richness of its manufactures long gave it a world power of which its rulers were not slow to take advantage. An extract from Mr. W. Carew Hazlitt's The Venetian Republic will perhaps give the best idea of the pitch of luxury and extravagance to which prosperity had advanced Venice, and which had its effect upon the future of the city when stress of evil times came. Mr. Hazlitt records : " In 1428, at a ball given in honour of Dom Pedro, son of the King of Portugal, then at Venice, there were 1 20 ladies entirely enveloped in robes of cloth-of-gold, blazing with jewels, and 130 others attired in crimson silk studded with pearls and precious stones. The prince expressed a desire to see some of the private houses of the patricians, and pronounced them as less like the dwellings of citizens than the palaces of princes and kings ; and elsewhere we have a statement, almost a complaint, that, while crowned heads used wooden platters for their food, the Republic dined and supped off silver." This brief notice must suffice for Venice the Proud ; and her well-hated rival, Genoa the Superb, must be dealt with in equally few words. As the birthplace of Columbus, Genoa can claim to 73 Oriental Carpets have had her place in shaping the destiny of the world, and she has not been ungrateful for the fact. As the birthplace of Paganini, she has a further claim upon those who admire the unique art of the Violinist, and an appreciation of that miracle of scientific construction, the Violin, which, as a musical instrument, is as remarkable for the wonderful variety and flexibility of its tones as it is worthy of the cabinets of the connoisseur for the beauty of its model and the splendour of the rich-coloured varnish, the art of mixing and apply- ing which seems to be as much a lost art as the production of the exquisitely toned tints of the ancient Oriental Carpets of the golden days of the great Shah Abbas. Genoa has honoured Paganini and his splendid violin by placing his favourite Guarnerius permanently under the charge of the Municipal authorities, and when I saw it, in 1906, it rested within a coffin-shaped alcove lined with quilted blue satin, in the corner of the council chamber, a sealed ribbon round the neck and scroll effectually preventing the possibility of its use without the special permission of the powers that be, which, I understand, has recently been extended to a leading violinist, probably a native of the city. It is fair to another great violinist, Sivori, to say that his violin also rests in a position only second to that accorded to Paganini's instru- ment. In 1886 Mr. E. Heron-Allen was permitted to examine this grand violin, and, as an interesting prelude to some slight considera- tion of the art of violin-making as practised in Italy, I reproduce the description : " The violin is of the grandest pattern of Joseph Guarnerius del Jesu, and bears the date 1742. The general tone of the varnish is dark red, and it is much worn on the side of the tail- piece where the virtuoso's chin clasped it." After giving details of the curious effects of wear caused by Paganini's extraordinary feats, and especially his tour de force in playing whole compositions of extreme difficulty upon the G string, Mr. Allen proceeds : " The glorious quality of the varnish of this unique instrument is best seen by looking at the sides, which are in a fine state of preservation save at the bottom and at the right of the neck, where the varnish cannot help ' going ' on a much used fiddle. The back is worn with a great round wear at the bottom of the lower curves, where the fiddle was clasped to the master's breast ; and a circular wear in the centre of the back shows that he was in the habit of putting it down anywhere, and not of scrupulously returning it to its case." These details are really very human, and the similar effects of wear upon a fine sixteenth-century carpet might well be lovingly dwelt upon by its possessor, to whom the intrinsic value is increased an hundred-fold 74 Contemporary Arts by this very capacity for seeing in every sign of wear, and every little evidence of want of proper care, the effects of its varied ownership. The extraordinary perfection to which the Violin was brought within a space of less than 200 years is as remarkable in its way as the perfection which attaches to the Persian Carpet. The Violin is supposed by some to be derived from the one-stringed Ravanastron, the simplest of the many Oriental stringed instruments played with a bow, which is traditionally the invention of Ravana, King of Ceylon, 5000 B.C., and is still played by Buddhist begging monks. The Persians believe that, after the Fall, God, touched by the repentance of Adam, transported him to the beautiful island of Ceylon ; is it possible that Adam and King Ravana are one and the same person, and that the invention of the primitive violin above referred to was an inspiration designed to relieve the monotony of Adam's lonely existence, and that the almost human wail which is so well within the compass of the tones of the violin is typical not only of the first sin, but also of the death of Abel, after which, to his parents, life must have been one perpetual existence of unavailing sorrow, which may well have sympathetically caused the adoption of the instrument which most closely reproduced the tones of the human voice ? The dates assigned by experts for the origin of Carpets, the Violin, and Writing, in each case 5000 B.C., suggest these three aids to human happiness as fulfilling all requirements outside the actual necessaries of life. Gasparo da Salo (1542- 1609) may be mentioned as the first true maker of the Violin as we now know it ; his instruments are on the large side, and of high model, and the tone consequently has not its full carrying power ; the varnish is heavy in colour ; and his instruments have carved lion's or other animal heads, a fact which has probably sold hundreds of spurious " Gaspar's." These fine old Brescian instruments correspond well with the early carpets in which the first bold crude idea of the sixteenth century Persian designs is to be traced. Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Brescia (1580-1632), comes next ; his violins show a distinct advance in every particular towards the perfected Cremona instrument, without, however, diminishing the lustre of the rugged pioneer who first got rid of the viol-da- gamba pattern, with its uncouth appearance and ill-defined " low- bred " mouth. Nicolo Amati, Cremona (1 596-1 684), a master artist himself, and tutor of the great Antonio Stradivari, first got rid of the somewhat 75 Oriental Carpets " tubby " build of the two Brescian artists, and in so doing, and in paying greater attention to the acoustics of the instrument, paved the way in his " Grand " pattern for the splendid specimens of the Lutist's art, which can be compared with any product human hands have yet been set to. Nicolo Amati did not overlook the smallest particular in his endeavour to attain perfection. The model of his finest period is nearly as flat as Stradivari ; the cut of the y^-holes, the turn of the scroll, the beautiful outline of the upper and lower curving sweeps of the ribs, holding, as it were, the connecting " c's " — all these features have an air of refinement which, with the delicately inlaid purfling, suggest the " Great Lady," and in this his only defect is to be found ; the finest Amati cannot compare as a concert instrument with the best instruments of his pupil Stradivari and the great Joseph del Jesu, although, as compensation for this, its sweetness of tone, and the ease with which it yields up its purest and strongest notes, constitute the Grand Amati par excellence the chamber instrument of the amateur. Only those familiar with the instruments themselves, or with the splendid book published by the Messrs. Hill, the eminent violin experts, dealers, and makers, entitled ANTONIO STRADIVARI, His Life and Work (1644-1737), can understand the absolute adora- tion with which the amateur regards the perfect specimens of his art, which can be even appreciated from the admirable coloured repro- ductions in the volume referred to ; but when one has been privileged to handle such grand specimens as the " Alard," the " Tuscan," the " Messie," and other examples of his best period, the feeling of being in touch for the moment with the fine old man who devoted his long and busy life to the art can only be compared with the veneration with which one regards the Ardebil Carpet, which, representing as it does the devotion of a whole life to the memory of the great and good man to whom the Mosque was in part dedicated, has the advantage of being a " Gift to the Gods," instead of being, as in the case of the violin, the heart-felt effort of the artist, who nevertheless did not lose sight of the practical value of the work he so master- fully produced. It is quite impossible to deal here with the super- lative merits of the small pattern, the long, and the " Grand " pattern violins of Stradivari ; they all have their particular merits, and are all exquisite in the finish of every detail, for which Nicolo Amati has already been praised. It cannot be said that Stradivari excelled his master in the actual quality of his work ; but he gave to each part, and even to the colour of the varnish itself, a masculine strength and vigour which lifts his instruments to the highest plane, 76 Contemporary Arts and earns for him a perfection which has no suggestion of weakness to mar it. Stradivari's violoncellos are the most perfect instruments of their class, and bring fabulous prices ; the one formerly used by the great player Servais is worth at the present moment a " king's ransom," 5000 guineas being probably far too low an estimate ; and it may be said that any price up to 3000 guineas for Stradivari's " King " instruments would be simply a question of how Consols stood ; the times being favourable for such investments, price would be of as little object as if one were entertaining one's choicest friends at the Ritz, the Carlton, or the Savoy. Joachim, Neruda, Sarasate, Wilhelmji, Ysaye, and other great violinists have either constantly played or owned violins by the great maker under consideration, and their surpassing merits have only been challenged when it has been a question of comparison with the greatest violins of Guarneri, to whose name Paganini gave an eclat which has obscured the judg- ment of those who take his exceptional productions as an average rather than a tour de force. Giuseppe Guarneri, known as " del Jesu " on account of the mark " I.H.S.," with a cross above, which appears on his tickets, was born at Cremona in 1686, and died there in 1745, and in doing so ended the line of the great violin-makers. One can hardly help having a special affection for the man, who as a contemporary of the great Stradivari must have had some difficulty in getting his instruments accepted at their full value, especially as he had the courage to adopt his own model, which in some particulars differs from that of his rival. Guarneri did not always work up to his reputation, which led to what are called his " prison violins," perhaps nothing more than the experimental efforts of a hasty man of genius, or the results of actual poverty, or even enforced labour in behalf of the religious institution which had probably obtained an influence over him. Guarneri's model differs from that of Stradivari first in the increased thicknesses of the wood, standing him in good stead now in resisting the " tired tone " which his competitor's more delicate instruments are beginning to betray, and in the flatness of his model, which tends towards power of tone, making his violins sought after by players who have plenty of strength and are not burdened with nerves. These features, and the minor points of a more vigorous outline, a strong, somewhat flattened scroll, and a pointed y^hole, as compared with the perfectly rounded curves of the Stradivari "f" constitute points of difference which might be compared with the vigour of Michael Angelo as contrasted with the refined masculinity of Raphael. 77 Oriental Carpets In his best instruments the varnish of Guarneri is the best Cremona has ever had to show, which leaves nothing to add ; it must, however, be confessed that on occasions it is thickly and roughly laid on, is at times thin in the amber-coloured instruments, and inclined to be " muddy " in the violins which have been un- kindly attributed to his " prison " work. It was my good fortune in 1890 to have the pleasure of handling and examining the great " King Joseph" violin, which ranks with the finest instruments ever made, and I repeat verbatim the notes made at the time, which give some indication of the enthusiasm with which it is possible to regard a well-loved instrument : Back Divided ; very flat ; and of magnificent broad-grained wood. Belly Fine broad-grained wood. /"-Holes Finely cut. Shape, 1732 and 1734 period. Scroll Magnificent and noble ; black picking out still remaining. Edges Broad, round, and strong ; purfling well let in. Varnish Rich deep golden orange ; plenty on in all parts. Ribs Broad marking. Condition Perfect. Only one crack at left wing of/-hole. Tone Fine, rich, and soft, but a little " flabby " and dis- appointing. Rich " G " string. Model Very flat and strong. Button Mounted in wood. Label Dated 1734, but manifestly not genuine. Magnificent Instrument. Curiously enough, the features displayed by this great maker, who left no successor, betray not the slightest signs of the over- elaborations and exaggerations which sometimes accompany efforts which, having to compete with the highest point of perfection hitherto attained, commit the fault of attempting something " better than the best " ; on the contrary, Guarneri somewhat neglected the finish which might, with the amateur and the connoisseur in any case, have placed his finest works even above those of Stradivari, on account of the virile strength which attracts in spite of oneself, and is the particular feature deciding for Stradivari in comparison with the Amati. Guarneri has merits peculiarly his own, and probably to the end of time opinion will differ as to the respective worths of the best examples of the two master-makers, while the general high average of Stradivari, and the large number of fine instruments which he made during his long working life of close upon eighty years, will infallibly leave him the advantage with 78 Contemporary Arts those best qualified to judge. It may be added that Guarneri made violas as well as violins, but not violoncellos. It is interesting to compare this unique Italian artistic industry with the Persian carpets ; in both cases the countries of origin have not been approached in their respective spheres, and the good qualities that attach to the one rule with the other. The natural process of evolution in Design and Colouring is illustrated by the two sixteenth-century Persian carpets and the Shah Abbas carpet men- tioned in the next chapter (Nos. 39-40 : Some Perfected Carpet Designs) ; the Gaspar da Salo, Maggini, and Amati violins equally contain the elements of the perfected instruments of later periods. The Ardebil, with its delicate perfections of design and colouring, and the beauty of the texture, compares with the refinements of the Amati, while both have some suggestion of femininity which prevents the full tribute of whole-hearted approval. The violins of Stradivari and Guarneri can only be compared with the finest period of Shah Abbas, when the artistic appreciation of the great Persian ruler, and the support he had the will and the power to give, produced results which the world will never see again, except under similar conditions. It is not to be supposed that the "King" violin-makers mentioned exhaust the list of makers who have carried on the art until the present moment. As in the case of the Carpet, except for the best examples, the materials are comparatively cheap, and the appliances equally so, and of the simplest nature ; as a consequence, while whole families in the case of the violin, and village tribes in that of the carpet, followed the art, distinct " schools " were formed, which constitute the principal difficulty in scientifically grouping them. In addition to this family method of working, in which the art in both cases, being carried from father to son, resulted in similar characteristics of style in the Violin, and of design and colouring in the case of the Carpet, gradually creating a distinct type which might be traced and recognized, the two arts have been split up and divided into a perfect network of complications, owing to the fact that for personal use, for the sake of a little casual profit, or for the mere amateur " fad " of turning artizan artist to fill in time, excel- lent specimens of violins have been individually made at all times and places ; and very probably small carpets and rugs have also been manufactured in the home, for purely domestic use, which in course of time came under the notice of the expert, and led to the creation of another new-fangled name, and possibly also learned disquisition as to the antiquity which, while genuine enough, cannot be taken as a scientific criterion for the classification and dating of other examples. 79 Oriental Carpets In the same way as the Carpet took root in India, Turkey, France, Belgium, England, so in violin-making various towns in Italy practised the art ; Germany has some claim in the person of Gaspard Duiffoprugcar (15 14-1570) for pointing the way to the violin proper, and in Jacobus Stainer (1621-1683) produced a maker whose exquisitely finished instruments secured for him the reputation of having served his apprenticeship under the great Amati, although the high rounded model, the cut of the y-holes, and other features of his work convey no impression of any such connection. In Mittenwald, the Klotz family turned out some good instruments ; but Mathias had the business instinct, and, taking advantage of the pine forests around his native town, by subdividing the work upon the various parts of the instrument in the most approved American fashion, brought prosperity to the town and the violin of commerce "within the reach of all." Nicolas Lupot of Paris (1758-1824), one of a family of violin- makers, produced very fine violins, violas, and violoncellos, the tone and finish being excellent ; but he had not the secret of the Cremona varnish, and the appearance and tone of his instruments suffered in consequence, for one of the virtues of the famous " amber " varnish used by the great Italians was that, while adding to the beauty of the instrument, the virtue of the oils with which it was prepared preserved the wood from excessive dryness, and, being of the most perfect flexibility, did not impede the free vibrations of the fibres of the wood, the very first essential for a fine free tone. J. B. Vuillaume (1 798-1 875), the best of another family of violin-makers who practised their art in Mirecourt and Paris, made excellent instruments, which, of the greatest value for orchestral work to-day, will in course of time increase in value for their qualities of tone, and also on account of their close following of the Stradivari and Guarneri models ; unfortunately, Vuillaume endeavoured to imitate the effects of age, which, with a certain hardness in the quality of his varnish, robs his instruments of some of their great merits. It may be mentioned that Vuillaume was a very skilful repairer, and some of the finest Italian instruments passed through his hands in his capacity of dealer. England has shown a larger amount of talent in the violin industry than most people apart from actual players would probably stop to consider. Daniel Parker, a maker who flourished in London from about 1740 to 1785, made excellent instruments, although, being too large in the pattern, they generally have to be cut down ; John Betts (1 755-1 823), the Fendt family, and other smaller men 80 Contemporary Arts turned out useful instruments ; while the Foster family, the greatest of whom were William ("old Foster," 1739- 1808) and the younger William, his son ("young Foster," 1764- 18 24), made very fine instruments, the " 'cellos " of the old man being celebrated in this country through having been used by the great English violoncello player, Robert Lindley, who invariably played upon one, and owned several. The Hill family trace back their origin to the time of Pepys, and among makers of great merit include Joseph (171 5-1 784), Henry Lockey (1 774-1 835), and the father of the family of eminent experts, dealers, and makers now flourishing in Bond Street, William Ebsworth Hill, son of Henry Lockey, who, born October 20, 18 17, died on April 2, 1895, after having established, with the aid of his sons William, Arthur, Alfred, and Walter, an artistic business which in all respects ranks favourably with the Agnews', the Duveen's, the Wertheimer's, and other celebrated art dealers, whose names are as much guarantees of the high class and authentic character of their collections, as they entitle them to demand the prices which genuine examples of the arts of all nations attain, now the fact has been realized that the purchase of the best procurable is an investment in which compound interest can be taken into account when the time comes for a change in taste, or to satisfy the exactions of an insatiable Exchequer. The Messrs. Hill would probably disavow any superlative claims to equal the greatest of the Cremona makers, and could with justice point to the fact that the English climate is all against their varnish attaining that soft flexible richness so characteristic of the famous old " amber " varnish ; nevertheless, the finish of their best instru- ments, violins, violas, and violoncellos, can compare with the best that has been accomplished in any direction, and when the kindly effects of time have removed the crude appearance of any new instrument, and constant and judicious playing has brought out the tone, the fact of their having been built in strict accordance with the best examples of the splendid old instruments which have passed through their hands will tell its tale, and the coming generation of players will have as much cause to thank the Hill family for their practical efforts in carrying on a charming and artistic industry, as many promising artists are indebted to them for much kindly assistance, and even the lending of valuable old instruments in cases where, means not being available, genuine talent might have had to make a debut with the disadvantage of an inferior instrument. The Messrs. Hill made some superb violin cases for the great Paris Exhibition of 1889, and some beautiful bows, finished with 81 6 Oriental Carpets gold and tortoise-shell, with the finest art of the goldsmith. This mention of bows gives the opportunity of referring to another artistic industry, quite distinct from that of violin-making, but in its way equally important. Francois Tourte of Paris (1747- 1835) has a name for bows fully equal to that of the great Cremona makers for violins ; the great improvements he effected in the adjustment of the horsehair, and particularly the balance, strength, and flexibility of the stick, made possible the feats essayed by Paganini, which other- wise would have been impossible. Tourte's finest bows readily bring anything up to 100 guineas, and, outside their use as bows, are, as curios, of the greatest interest, on account of their beautiful finish, and the gold and shell work with which the best examples are decorated. Francois Lupot (1 774-1 837), brother of the great Nicolas, also made very fine bows, which rank after Tourte's ; and our own John Dodd (1752-1839) made some splendid bows, which would stand in higher estimation had they not in many instances been made too short for the elaborate difficulties of execution which the Prodigy has now made a commonplace. It seems a pity to have to conclude this sketch of a quaint and unique industry by having to confess that there is a commercial and not very creditable side to the picture of violin-making, as there is also in that of Oriental carpet-making. Both articles of industry are in certain directions manufactured wholesale, under which system, the conditions tending towards profit, the violins are machine-made, the back and belly stamped out and artificially moulded from a flat piece of wood ; they are varnished by machinery, and the whole process is " business " pure and simple, without the slightest artistic considera- tion ; carpets and rugs are turned out in the same fashion, whole districts being subsidized, placed under the control of an agent, who buys the materials, furnishes the aniline dyes, and manages the business with an exclusive eye to ultimate profit. The last stage is the deliberate manufacture of the " antique," in which process all the arts of doctoring and faking are practised with the thorough- paced rascality of the old professional " horse-doper " ; fiddles are artificially " baked," blackened, portions rubbed down with a close knowledge of where evidences of " wear and use " ought to be, and the varnish is judiciously broken up to simulate the effects of con- stant playing, which is so much more charming than the aspect of a brand-new instrument. In carpets the effects of wear are similarly created, the unhappy Prayer Rug being boiled, treated with chemicals, the pile rubbed and artificially worn, until nothing but the knot can be seen ; it is then sold by unscrupulous Armenians for 82 Contemporary Arts ten times its proper value, and the owner prejudices his own taste, and corrupts the taste of his friends, by displaying as a " genuine antique " the spurious offspring of some perhaps thoroughly honest weaver, who from necessity or in complete ignorance plays into the hands of the dealer, shrewd enough to trade on the modern craze for " old effects," and making a heavy profit out of those who, not being able to afford genuine examples from responsible dealers, must have furnishings which have the appearance of " having been in the family " untold years. Mr. M. H. Spielmann's work, The Wallace Collection, in dealing with the specimens of tapestry-covered furni- ture, says : " Tapestries no longer exist as such in the collection, for Sir Richard Wallace disposed by auction of such examples as he possessed ; but what there is upon the furniture will perhaps give pause to those who declaim against the strong colours of all modern tapestries as if their vividness were improper. It is true that a new tapestry is a strident and usually an unpleasant object to the cultivated eye, but if it were otherwise it would not live, as Gobelins and Beauvais do, to delight a later generation with their exquisite delicacy of colour and lovely harmony of tone. All these fine examples have been strident in their day, and Monsieur Guiffrey, the director of the aforementioned factory, is obviously right in his refusal to be guided by that uninformed criticism which is for ever calling upon him to subdue his tones and make concession to the artistic demands of the day. If he did, those who come after us would have but ghostly hangings whereby to recognize the tapestry skill of this generation, for all colours, even the fastest, must always fade down four or five tones at least. It must be the ambition of every director of Gobelins, Beauvais, or elsewhere to leave behind him examples not only of the craftsmanship but also of the foresight of his factory, and to rival if he can such specimens as the Beauvais tapestry which is on the carved and gilt chairs here illustrated." Visitors to the Paris Exhibition of 1900 will remember the utter crudity of the specimens of Gobelins then exhibited, some reproduc- tions from the paintings of the great French artist Gustave Moreau having been coloured with a brightness of tone which required the brilliancy of an Oriental sun and surroundings to be even passable to the pampered eye of the " modern-antiquer " ; but, hard as it may be to endure artistic torture for the sake of one's heirs and their descendants, it is useless cavilling at the ephemerality of modern textile productions, even of the best class, if the manufacturer is compelled by the demand of the day to " work to time " for some hurried reception or Royal visit, and to deprive his colours of their 83 Oriental Carpets depth and brilliancy and permanency in order that the finished effect may suggest that the goods had " come over with William the Conqueror " when the family settled on these hospitable shores. After dealing with the arts of Egypt, Assyria, Persia, India, Greece, and Italy, in the necessarily superficial skimming of the surface a single chapter admits of, it is time to give some attention to the arts of France. In doing so it is well to bear in mind that, while the great nations of the Plains had unlimited labour at their command, and generally built on the flat, the handling of huge masses was to a great degree simplified ; and while the sculptural arts of Greece were conceived in, and designed for, the open air of the heavens, and those of Rome undertaken upon a scale in accordance with the large spirit of world-conquest in which the humblest plebeian shared, and the climate rendered possible in its unrestrained display, which in the way of triumphal processions would accustom the people to a lavishness of ornament and colour that each succeeding Emperor would endeavour to surpass, it was not until the age of Clovis, and after he had defeated and slain Alaric the Goth at the battle of Vougle, near Poictiers, that Paris, in the year a.d. 507, was made the capital of France. Charlemagne, crowned King in a.d. 768, after conquering Saxony and Lombardy, was crowned Emperor of the West on December 25, a.d. 800. The crown of the ancient Gothic kings, at the Musee Cluny, Paris, gives life to the barbaric invasions from which the country suffered in the earlier periods of its history ; while the jewelled chalice of the first Archbishop of Reims, who baptized Clovis in a.d. 496, points again to the influence the Church has always had in the production of art treasures, in which, in view of their destined use, it may be presumed, the artists excelled themselves as much as did the oft-quoted Maksoud of Kashan. A writer in The St. James' 's Gazette on March 18, 1904, gave his verdict as to the means by which the French arrived at their superiority in all matters pertaining to the cuisine. He said, " The critical faculty is ever alert in France, warring with mediocrity and incompleteness," and this seems to sum up the whole French attitude towards Art ; they are not satisfied with a broad general effect ; every detail that goes to build up the whole must be as perfect as the constant exercise of the critical faculty will secure, and the nation is sufficiently artistic by nature, and intelligently broad in its outlook upon life, to prevent this perfection of detail degenerating into the minute elaboration of parts which characterizes most of the Oriental efforts in the same direction. 84 Contemporary Arts The Morning Post of October 15, 1908, in reviewing a book by Frank Rutter, entitled The Path to Paris, makes the following interesting comment : " A last word upon this volume ought not to omit a piece of very rare accuracy. On p. 213 the author speaks of St. Denis as the 'birthplace' of Gothic architecture. It was ; and very few people know it. The author is evidently well read in history." A well-known book of reference mentions that the famous abbey and church of St. Denis was founded by Dagobert about 630, the remains of St. Denis being placed there in 636. On August 6, 7, and 8, 1793, the Republicans demolished most of the Royal tombs, and in October following the bodies were taken from their coffins and cast into a pit ; the lead was melted, and the gold and jewels were taken to Paris. By a decree of Bonaparte, dated February 20, 1806, the church (which had been turned into a cattle-market) was ordered to be cleansed and redecorated as " the future burial-place of the Emperors of France." Interesting as the history and vicissitudes of St. Denis may be, the claim put forward above is of paramount importance from an artistic point of view, and forms a fitting prelude to a consideration of France's position in the world of Art, as the inheritor of the mantle which, falling alternately from the shoulders of Raphael, Michael Angelo, Titian, Paul Veronese, and Tintoretto, left Italy with a remembrance of great days of such Olympian heights as apparently to crush out all hopes of modern rivalry. An illustration of an old doorway at St. Germain-des-Pres, pre- sumably in the sixth century, portrays a richness of carving in the figures on either side which is artistically thrown into relief by the plain simplicity of the door itself, and it is in this sort of artistic reserve that enduring effects are obtained, modern tendencies being in the direction of making up for the want of inspiration by mere elaboration of detail. It is quite impossible to notice particularly the many noble buildings which dignify France. The Cathedrals of Reims, Rouen, and Tours can be mentioned among ecclesiastical buildings ; the old Chateau of Blois of the time of Louis XII., and the chateaux of Chambord, Chenonceaux, and Amboise, created by Francois I. ; lovers of architecture have also to thank Francois I. for many of the glories of Fontainebleau and a generous patronage of the arts of Italy, resulting in the acquisition of examples of the great artists, which must have had the best effect upon the impressionable instincts of his subjects. The beautiful Gallery of Francois I. and the splendid Music Room of Henri II. will be familiar to all visitors to Fontainebleau, and it may be said that 85 6 a Oriental Carpets the associations with the monarchs already mentioned, and with Henri IV., add a charm to the later associations up to the period of Napoleon I., which renders this palace the most interesting of those with which easy access makes the world familiar. The artistic tastes of the great cardinals, Richelieu and Mazarin, and the practically unlimited power they had in fostering the Arts, have to be taken into account in appreciating the advances made by France towards its position as the nation which has carried forward the highest traditions of the Italian school ; this is said with the reservation that by instinct and temperament the French have given distinctive features to their arts, which have placed them beyond the imputation of being merely imitators ; and further, it is to be remembered that, while the scale of Italian Art was, so to say, that of Cities, the Art of France is essentially that of the Palace, and even indeed in many directions the Art of the Boudoir. It may not occur to many how far the marriage of Charles I. with Princess Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henri IV. and Marie de Medicis of France, may have been responsible for the development of the artistic tastes which led to the acquisition of the fine gallery of paintings to be referred to later ; it is a matter for still further speculation how far this country would have progressed artistically side by side with France if circumstances had permitted the free use of the talent which, through his marriage connection with the French kings, would have doubtless been placed at his disposal. The golden period of the reign of Louis XIV., " Le Grand Siecle," extended from the death of Mazarin in 1661 to the death of Colbert in 1683, after which, with Louvois in full power, urging the King to expend vast sums on Versailles, and ministering to his passion for War, Glory, Dominion, and the Self- Worship which his successes gradually stirred up in the mind of Louis XIV., the way was paved for the great Revolution, from the effects of which France is only now recovering. Jean-Baptiste Colbert was born at Reims in 16 19, and it may be news to some that in Life and Labour, by Samuel Smiles, he is thus referred to : " Though Colbert was the son of a cloth and wine merchant (' negociant en draps et en vin '), he traced his descent from an old Scotch family, the Cuthberts of Castle Hill ; while Maximilian de Bethune, Duke of Sully, traced his descent from the Beatons or Bethunes in the county of Fife." I continue the excerpt to include the name of Sully, because in his work Le Grand Siecle, Emile Bourgeois has occasion to say, " Sully enriched the State by a wise economy, which was seconded by a King who was as 86 Contemporary Arts parsimonious as he was brave, a soldier King at the head of his army, and the father of his people. Colbert upheld the State, in spite of the luxurious ostentation of a master who lavished the wealth of the kingdom in order to make his reign glorious." This contrast of the support given by Henri IV. to his Minister Sully, as compared with the treatment latterly accorded to Colbert by Louis XIV., is supplemented later by a suggestion of the feeling of the people, who, forgetting the sacrifices made by Colbert in the study of their interests, were ready to tear his body to pieces after his death. M. Bourgeois writes of the great Minister of Commerce, of whom France should be proud: "We recognize to-day what Colbert accomplished for the good of the State ; but, sad to relate, he worked for those incapable of appreciating his services. The reply of a merchant named Hazon, whom the great Minister had consulted, illustrates this. Hazon said to Colbert, ' You found the State coach overturned on one side of the road, and you turned it over on the other.' " M. Bourgeois briefly recounts what France owed to the exertions of Colbert, whom, it is only fair to say, for the first eleven years Louis XIV. freely supported with the full weight of his personal influence, and with his purse — in the first place in giving the new industries the patronage implied by the title " Royal," and next by giving handsome premiums to those who successfully introduced them into the country. With due acknowledgments to the author, I will borrow freely from his pages as follows. From the year 1663 to 1672, Colbert successively established some new manufacture. Superfine cloths, previously bought from England and Holland, were made at Abbeville. The manufacture of finished silks pro- duced a return of some 50,000,000 livres, which, at first reduced from the necessity of having to import the raw silk, was reinstated by the cultivation of the mulberry tree, which fed the silk-producing worm. In 1666, fine Venetian glass was made, and in time the finest products of Venice, which had previously supplied all Europe, were successfully imitated. Persian and Turkey carpets were surpassed at La Savonnerie. Flanders tapestries gave place to those of Gobelins. The vast Gobelin enclosure was occupied by over 800 workpeople, of whom 300 were lodged on the premises ; the leading painters of the day directed the work, both from their own designs and from those of the great Italian masters. The Gobelins also manufactured inlaid-work, an admirable kind of mosaic ; and the art of marqueterie was cultivated to perfection. 87 Oriental Carpets The following extremely interesting account of the Gobelins Tapestry, from The Times of January 10, 1893, throws a light upon the subject not readily obtainable through ordinary channels of information : " Gobelins Tapestry. — The United States Consul- General in Paris, in a recent report to the Department of State on French tapestries, gives some interesting information in regard to the famous Gobelins factory. It was founded in 1607 by Henry IV., in the scarlet dye works originally established in the fifteenth century by Jehan Gobelins. In 1662 it was bought by Louis XIV., on the advice of Colbert, and formed into the ' Manufacture des Meubles de la Couronne,' with 800 workmen directed by the most celebrated artists. After the death of Louis XIV., the factory reverted to its original work of making tapestry only. The national factory of Gobelins is now divided into three sections, dye shops, tapestry shops, and carpet workshops. The first not only produce every colour, but twenty or thirty shades of each. The execution of the tapestry is so slow that an artist cannot produce more than a fourth of a square yard in a year. In 1826 the manufacture of carpets was added. These are remarkable for their softness and the evenness of their tissue. Some of them take five to ten years to produce, and cost from 60,000 f. to 1 50,000 f. Several tapestries of special importance exhibited at the Gobelins are mentioned by the Consul-General. A portrait of Louis XIV. by Rigaud is considered the chef-d'oeuvre. A special account of the method of making the tapestry, by Mr. Debray, an expert, is also given in the report. This gentleman says that the value of Gobelins is on the average 3000 f. to 4000 f. per square metre, while that of the Beauvais tapestry is as much as 7000 f. The characteristics of Gobelins are large historical scenes and reproductions from celebrated paintings. Sales to private persons are only permitted by the special authority of the Minister of Fine Arts. To the Gobelins factory is joined the carpet factory of La Savonnerie (the building in which this work was first commenced was originally a soap factory), in which velvet carpets, reproducing historical and mythological subjects, are manu- factured in the same way as velvets. The artists at Gobelins receive very high salaries. Hand-looms only are employed, and tapestries of the ordinary dimensions require on the average three years. The manufacture of silk tapestries at Nimes has been declining since 1750, and there, as at Aubusson, it is in private hands. At Beauvais as well as Gobelins the manufacture is controlled by the State. Cotton warps, called boyaux, are employed ; the weft is of twofold wool, and is a species of Australian mohair wool, denominated laine Plate VII Plate VII ORIENTAL CARPET Size 12-7 x 6-1 Warp — 10 knots to the inch Weft — 1 1 knots to the inch I I O KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Contemporary Arts brodee, its characteristic being that it is open and firm. The wefts are dyed by expert chemists and dyers, by the old method of wood dyes, such as indigo, cochineal, and curcuma. Part wool and part silk tapestries are also manufactured, and a limited number of all silk." Another manufactory was established at Beauvais ; the first manufacturer employed 600 workpeople. The manufacture of lace was established with the aid of 30 responsible workers from Venice and 200 from Flanders. The manufacture of Sedan cloth, and that of Aubusson tapestries, which had declined and failed, were re- established. Rich brocades, in which the silk was woven with gold and silver thread, were revived in Lyons and Tours. These and many other activities bore witness to the energy and statesmanship of the great man, to which M. Bourgeois bears loyal testimony, saying that France undoubtedly owes to Colbert her industries and commerce, and consequently the wealth which, however much it may be diminished in times of war, always comes back again in times of peace. The languishing state of trade in 1702 was un- gratefully attributed to Colbert, and one writer, Bois-Guillebert, asserted that decadence had set in from 1660. It was precisely the contrary. France had never been so prosperous as from the death of Cardinal Mazarin to the war of 1689, in which war the State, beginning to decline, was reinforced by the vigour that Colbert had infused into all its members. However, no arguments will convince those who refuse to be convinced. Thus in England, in the most flourishing times, there will be a hundred papers to prove that she is ruined. It was easy in France to decry the Minister of Finance with the populace, because taxes always have to be paid, and he is held responsible who has to collect them ; there exists in financial matters as much prejudice and ignorance as in philosophy. In contrast to the English writer to whom I shall shortly refer, M. Bourgeois cites, as Colbert's greatest mistake, his not having dared to encourage the exportation of corn, whereas the former cites the war with Holland as the blot upon his administration. Agri- culture had been neglected during the stormy times of Richelieu's ministry, and this was aggravated in the civil war of the Fronde. A famine in 1661 finally ruined the country — a ruin, however, which Nature, seconded by work, is always ready to repair. Parliament passed in this unfortunate year a decree which was apparently wise in principle but which was nearly as fatal in its ultimate consequences as any of the decrees which tore the country asunder during the civil wars. Corn factors were forbidden under the severest penalties 89 Oriental Carpets to form any association amongst themselves, and were particularly forbidden to hoard corn. What was good in a passing famine became pernicious in the long run, and discouraged all agriculture. To have reversed the decree during a time of crisis and prejudice would have been to incite the people to rebellion. In this state of affairs, the Ministry had no other alternative than to buy in foreign markets, at a high price, the very corn the French had sold in years of abundance. The people were fed, but at a heavy cost to the State. However, with the general good order to which Colbert had brought the finances, this loss was easily borne. The fear of the same difficulty occurring again, however, led to the stopping of corn exports, and even to the restriction of dealings between neighbouring provinces ; and even in good times corn could only be sold by means of a special request to the authorities. This fatal policy seemed necessary after the experience of the past. All expert opinion feared that free dealings in corn might eventually cause its repurchase at high prices from other nations, to whom it had been sold at low prices by the home cultivator, owing to their present interests and want of foresight. Thus much for M. Emile Bourgeois. I can only plead my admiration of his great countryman as a reason for endeavouring to place forward as adequately as possible some portion of the career of a man who should not only be admired but also imitated. For the same reason, I shall take the liberty of quoting freely from the admirable Chapter I., by A. J. Grant, M.A., King's College, Professor of History in the University of Leeds, contributed to The Catnbridge Modern History, which will be found in the fifth volume, "The Age of Louis XIV.," published in 1908. I do this with all the more pleasure as in 1904, at a meeting of the Library Congress at Newcastle, reported in The St. 'James's Gazette on August 31, Sir William Bailey asserted that "Oxford and Cambridge have done absolutely nothing to promote the industrial position of the country, because it is considered very low indeed to apply learning to the art of getting a living." I should imagine that the Syndics of the University of Cambridge will not object to my calling attention to one instance where suggestive information can be found which as an object-lesson is simply invaluable at the present juncture. Mr. Grant writes, through the medium of the Editors : " It has been told in an earlier volume how Fouquet had used the troubles of the Fronde to amass for himself an enormous fortune by methods even more corrupt than the moral standard of the time allowed. Mazarin had known what he was doing, had winked at it, and had 90 Contemporary Arts probably shared in the profits. But the new master of France had an authority and a spirit which placed him above such temptations ; and the wealth and the position of Fouquet were such that he was the most real rival of the royal power. Colbert had already marked the dishonest gains of Fouquet and had reported them to Mazarin ; but no action had been taken. His counsels had more weight with Louis XIV., and the overthrow and trial of Fouquet was the first serious measure of his reign. " The chief agent in pressing on the trial of Fouquet had been Colbert. He was sprung from a family engaged in commerce, and had at first thought of commerce as his destined career. " Colbert was neither a philanthropist nor a philosopher. The relief of the poor is often mentioned in his projects, but it seems rather a conventional phrase than a deeply cherished aim. " Yet, while neither philanthropist nor philosopher, he was a man of business, with a passionate enthusiasm for detail, industry, and efficiency. And, though not an original thinker, there is something revolutionary in his general objects : for he wished to make of France, in spite of all her feudal, aristocratic, and military traditions, a commercial State ; to transfer her ambition from war to finance ; to manage her policy, not with an eye to glory, but on sound business principles. " The man himself is clearly revealed in his projects, his letters, and the correspondence and memoirs of the time. Madame de Sevigne calls him the ' North Star,' in allusion both to his fixity of purpose and the coldness of his temperament. Industry with him ceased to be an effort and became a passion. The labour which he so readily underwent himself he exacted from others. He loved to work his way into all the details of business ; to determine the methods by which it could be simplified and improved ; and then to carry out the reform in spite of all obstacles thrown in his way by tradition, corruption, and the carelessness of the King. " As a man of business, Colbert, while he sought to open out new sources of income for the State, desired also to see the State managed on its present lines with economy and efficiency. " His general industrial scheme is easily summarized. He desired to turn France into a busy hive of industry, to promote and direct those industries by the action of the State, to protect them from the rivalry of foreign countries by high protective tariffs ; and then to open up trade in the commodities produced by improving the internal communication of France, by establishing trade with distant lands, and defending the country by an increased and remodelled fleet. 9i Oriental Carpets " In 1663 he drew up a statement of the various articles imported into France and declared that they ought to be produced on French soil. Some of them had formerly been produced in France, but had disappeared ; others had always come from abroad. Domestic manufactures must be revived and stimulated ; foreign manufactures must be planted in the land. Many industries he found in the exclusive possession of foreign countries. Colbert was determined to break through these monopolies and to transfer these industries to French soil. He offered rewards to foreign workmen — English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Venetian — to come and settle in France and establish a centre for the manufacture of their various articles on French territory. At the same time he punished severely Frenchmen who tried to transfer their industrial knowledge to a foreign soil. For the rest, all France must work hard. The pauperizing alms- giving of the monasteries must be limited ; the admission of peasants into the celibate Orders of the Church must be discouraged. The King was to take the lead in the endeavour. Chief among the Royal industries was the Gobelins factory, which soon gained a great celebrity for its tapestries ; but there were more than a hundred other establishments that bore the title of Royal. The example thus given would, it was hoped, be widely followed. Religious establish- ments were encouraged to manufacture ; municipalities were directed to turn their attention to industry ; there were honours and State aid for those who laboured, and the great Minister's bitterest opposition visited all idlers. " The industries of France were nearly all in the hands of trade- guilds, and it was through these that Colbert brought the influence of the State to bear on the manufacturers. A famous edict of 1671 on the weaving and dyeing of cloth will show to what lengths he was ready to go. If bad cloth is produced, specimens of it are to be exposed on a stake with a ticket attached giving the name of the delinquent. If the same fault is committed again, the master or the workman who is at fault shall be censured in the meeting of the guild. In the event of a third offence the guilty person shall himself be tied to the post for two hours with a specimen of the faulty product tied to him. " We stand amazed at the different subjects which came under the survey of Colbert, and at the minute attention which he was able to bestow on them. There is assuredly no French statesman besides him whose energy flows through so many channels until we come to Napoleon. " It was the supreme misfortune of France that Louis XIV., with 92 Contemporary Arts all his great qualities of intelligence and character, had so imperfect a sympathy with Colbert's aims. What might not Colbert have done if he had served a Frederick the Great ! " The struggle between Colbert and Louvois for their master's support was very keen ; but it was decided in favour of Louvois. For some years before his death Colbert had suffered from gout, and this decision seems to have overwhelmed him. He died in September 1683, almost in disgrace." The fine portrait forming the frontispiece to this chapter bears the inscription, " ioannes bap. Colbert regi a consiliis, reginae a secretioribusmandatis, baro de seignelay. — Champaigne Pinxit Nanteuil sculpebat 1660." Colbert is thus represented in the very prime of life : having gained the confidence of his royal master and mistress, he was within a year of the day on which the great minister Mazarin recommended him to Louis XIV., at a time when, with death staring him in the face, he recognized the necessity of leaving behind him one upon whose capacity and faithful service to King and country he had doubtless had ample opportunities of satis- fying himself. Only brief reference is possible to the Arts of France. It cannot be denied that the prosperity of a country is most affected by the Arts as applied to commerce, and in this direction Colbert by his unceasing efforts left a legacy in the deeply-rooted results of his policy, which for some centuries gave to his country a paramount influence in matters artistic, which the great Exhibition of 1900 clearly showed to remain as firmly fixed in the minds of all nations as the importance of the exhibits sent practically proved. In one direction or another the French of all classes are artistic to the finger- tips. They have the defects of the temperament ; but there are compensations which leave little cause for regret. Any mention of the period of Louis XIV. must necessarily include a reference to the vast agglomeration of buildings comprehensively known as " Versailles." The original chateau of Versailles was built for Louis XIII. by the architect Lemercier. In 1662 Louis XIV., finding the palace convenient and suitable to his pleasures, began to enlarge it, and in 1663, 1664, 1665, and for a fourth time in 1668, gave those magnificent fetes which the illustrations of the time show to have been unexampled in lavishness. Levau was the first architect entrusted by the monarch with the extensions which the increased importance of the fetes, hunting-parties, and official receptions rendered necessary. From 1675 to 1682 the palace was transformed, and on May 6 of the latter year Louis XIV., abandoning Paris and 93 Oriental Carpets St. Germain, fixed his residence at Versailles, which remained the seat of the Government until October 6, 1789. Jules Hardouin- Mansart (1646 -1708) followed Levau in 1676, and under his directions vast additions were made to the palace ; his name will be remembered mainly in connection with the architectural works which brought the group of buildings into their present shape. Mansart, the artist Lebrun (1619-1690), and Le Notre, the great landscape gardener who laid out the magnificent grounds of Versailles, and superintended the construction of the fountains and water-basins, which gave such brilliancy to the court receptions and illuminations, had under their orders the following : — Decorative Artists : Berain, Henri de Gissey, Lepautre, Vigarani. Painters : Audran, Baptiste, Coypel, Blain de Fontenay, Delafosse, Houasse, Jouvenet, Mignard, Van der Meulen. Sculptors : Coustou, Coyzevox, Girardon, Legros, Lehongre, Magnier, Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Raon, Tuby, Van Cleve. Wood-Carvers : Jacques Caffieri, who was also metal-founder, chaser, and cabinetmaker ; Pierre Taupin, Temporiti. Metal-Founders and Chasers : Claude Ballin, Dominique Cucci, Ambroise Duval, the two Kellers, and the two Goberts. Gilder : Goy. The royal manufactory of Gobelins, directed by Lebrun, made after his designs some splendid silver-gilt decorative pieces, mosaics, and some fine furniture by Andre Boulle, Oppenord, and Poitou, and of course some of the grand tapestries for which the manufactory was famous. In addition to the architects already named must be mentioned Blondel, Dorbay, Claude Perrault, Robert de Cotte, and Lassurance, who all had their share in the superb results which have made the palace world-renowned, and, owing to its size, unapproach- able in its uniform magnificence. Louis XIV. is said to have expended 500,000,000 francs upon the palace and grounds, to which sum must be added the unknown amount represented by the apparently gratuitous but in many cases really enforced labour of the surrounding peasantry, who worked by thousands, and, when paid, were very scantily rewarded. Paid workmen, and those subject by statute to give their services gratuitously, to the number of some 20,000, with 6000 horses, were employed in the month of August 1684, and in May 1685 there were 36,000 workmen engaged in and about the palace. In conclusion, it must be mentioned that this vast labour, in which colossal sums were expended, was in the first instance controlled by Colbert, and then by Louvois, both of whom conducted the 94 Contemporary Arts complication of affairs with economy, energy, capacity, and integrity. Some idea of the unbounded extravagance with which Louis XIV. gratified his love of magnificence and change may be gained when it is mentioned that, having caused from 1670 to 1674 the erection of what was called the Porcelain Trianon (owing to portions of the buildings and four pavilions having been faced with porcelain tiles), he tired of this, and, causing it to be demolished in 1687, had the present building, known as the Grand Trianon, erected from the plans of Mansart from 1687 to 1691, although it was not until April 28, 1694, that Louis XIV. slept in his royal chamber for the first time. The Petit Trianon, a perfect model in its way, built by the orders of Louis XV., was begun in 1762 and finished in 1768 ; it was in this chateau that the King had the first warning of the illness which, attacking him on April 27, 1774, proved fatal on May 10, at Versailles, to which palace he had been removed. The history of Versailles, and the two Trianons, with the beauti- ful decorations and furniture rendered familiar by the names attached to the various rooms, is sufficiently suggested by the names of La Valliere, Madame de Montespan, Madame de Maintenon, and Mesdames Pompadour and Du Barry, most of whom in their turn added to the richness of the apartments they occupied and of the buildings they were interested in ; it is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and there can be no doubt that the lavish encourage- ment given to the best artists of the day to work to the full extent of their genius in enabling one favourite to vie with and surpass her predecessor resulted in an achievement in art of all kinds which has made France famous with all nations for the utmost extreme of luxurious refinement, accompanied by the finest exhibition of the genius which can be allowed to the "Little Masters." In addition to the painters of the Grand Period specially work- ing at Versailles, must be mentioned Philip de Champaigne (1602- 1674), the painter of the portrait of Colbert from which Nanteuil (1623 [25 ?]-i678) engraved the frontispiece already referred to; Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) ; Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743) ; and Jules Romain, who designed for the Gobelins some of the beautiful tapestries made for Fontainebleau. Pierre Puget (1 622-1 694) and Jean Warin (1604- 1672) must be spoken of among sculptors ; while visitors to the Wallace Collection will expect mention of the splendid furniture of Andre Charles Boulle (1642- 173 2), which in its fine brass inlaying provokes comparison with the effect char- acteristic of the cloisonne porcelain familiar to lovers of Japanese art. 95 Oriental Carpets Eighteenth Century France means in its broad aspect the reigns of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. and the fair and frail ladies already mentioned, of whom Madame de Pompadour can be spoken of as not only having the artistic instinct herself, but also as being capable of exercising its patronage with some discernment. The ill-fated Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette in following a reign in which riotous extravagance and licence were only redeemed in some measure by the encouragement which was given to the Arts, which ministered to the brilliancy of the period while it led to disasters — these two victims of the legacy originally left by Louis XIV. are perhaps in most minds best known from their ultimate fate, and from the splendid specimens of Art which gave the most enduring lustre to their reign, although it is possible that from the highest standard the Art, whilst exquisitely refined and elegant in its style, may in many of its aspects be characterized as frivolous. It is only possible to catalogue the bare names of the many artists who in France created a period which under the general name of " Eighteenth Century French Art " is perhaps the most brilliant — which in sculpture, painting, decoration, furnishing, jewellery, and the production of the artistic trifles of personal use and adornment, rivalled the times of the Medici, and the later times when, under the influence of the great Italian masters, Art moved heavenwards in a fashion which left room only for the Art of which we are now speaking, Art essentially of this world, which in some of its aspects touches off the foibles and weaknesses (not to say dissipation) of the times in a fashion that could not well have been anticipated by those who directly or indirectly contributed to their production. Among the painters of the period, La Tour, Nattier, Perroneau, Vanloo, Largilliere, and Vigee Lebrun will be best known by the portraits which display to perfection the elegance and frivolity of the age ; Boucher, Lancret, Watteau, Pater, Greuze, and Fragonard equally give expression to a gaiety and ideal indoor and outdoor existence which in its latter aspect completely eclipsed the Arcadians of classical days. Clodion and Falconet, in sculpture, produced those exquisite statuettes which perhaps correspond with the delightfully quaint Tanagra terra-cottas gracing the homes of the ancients ; Houdon is best known by his portrait busts, of which that of Voltaire is the most familiar. Visitors to the Louvre are familiar with the suite of rooms devoted to the furnishing arts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Here can be seen and studied to perfection the tapestries, carpets, furniture, and other decorative objects of the period, extending 9 6 Contemporary Arts from Louis XIV. to Louis XVI., which, inimitable in their way, reflect glory upon times that, except from an artistic point of view, will not bear close examination. The French Engraving of the eighteenth century opens up a large subject, and includes along series of illustrated books, which of their kind are exquisite specimens of art, and in this direction at least, as far as discovery has yet gone, nothing is to be learned from the ancients. The delightful exhibition of the Royal Amateur Art Society, held at Lord Howard de Walden's house in Belgrave Square in March 1905, will recall to those privileged to be present the beautiful coloured prints of Debucourt and Janinet, and the splendid coloured mezzotint of Henry IV. of Navarre, engraved by E. Gautier Dagoty in 1740. The work of Saint-Aubin, Cochin, Chardin, Moreau le Jeune, Gravelot, Eisen, and Marillier, and also of De Launay, Le Prince, Badouin, Le Bas, and other admirable artists, will recall to many, original works, and examples engraved from the works of Fragonard, Boucher, and other painters, which, quite perfect in their execution, are in many cases of historical importance, recording episodes and incidents which would otherwise have been lost. The only parallel to a fertility of production almost inconceivable to those who have not been infected with its charm, is the corresponding period in which our own Rowlandson and George Morland in colour print, and J. R. Smith, Valentine Green, and other masters of mezzotint, produced the works which now bring such fabulous prices, of which the record, 1200 guineas, in 1905, for a portrait of Lady Bampfylde after Reynolds, a first state proof of T. Watson's plate, serves to introduce this fine artist, whose work ranks with that of the two mezzotinters named. A very fine exhibition of coloured prints, miniatures, water- colour sketches, of French and English artists, together with medals and engraved stones, was held at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, in 1906 ; and in addition to an even finer display than that held at Seaford House in 1905, this exhibition included some examples of the exquisitely delicate Biscuit de Sevres, which, however, contained nothing equal to three pieces in the Palazzo Durazzo Pallavicini, Genoa, entitled " Virtue crowned by the Graces," " Diana," and " The Judgment of Paris," beyond which art surely could not go. The French Illustrated Books of the Eighteenth Century are as remarkable in their way as the Violins of Cremona or the Carpets of Persia ; they occupy a distinct and very interesting position in the domain of Art. Issued with all the lavishness and licence of the period, they display a refinement and elegance in drawing and 97 7 Oriental Carpets composition, and a perfect mastery in the art of translating the original designs to the copperplate, in which few realize how much of the detail is due to the engraver ; some space may be claimed for the description of a few examples, especially as the high prices of engravings and mezzotints during the past few years denote a grow- ing understanding and appreciation of the Arts, and the sale of the " Happer Japanese Prints " (to be referred to again) shows that the subject is "in the air." One of the most important of the books under notice is Moreau le Jeune's Monument du Costume, which illustrates in unique fashion the costumes of the period. This is a large folio volume, and the plates of the second and third series by Moreau (the first is illustrated by Freudeberg) are of such importance that they are generally sold separately from the complete work with the brief descriptive text, which makes the set difficult to obtain, and correspondingly dear. In the year 1897, when this book first came under my notice, I was offered the second series, which had just come into the hands of a London bookseller from the sale of the library of a country mansion. The part of the work referred to was in the original dull blue " sugar-paper " wraps, and was consequently in the state in which it had come from the publisher's hands in 1777, or just 120 years previously. It may be mentioned that the French publishers of the period, and indeed to the present day, issue their finest works in paper covers, especially when valuable plates are included ; this ensures copies coming into the hands of subscribers without the bad effects resulting from the pressure in binding both to the text and to the plates. It may not be supposed that pressure on the text would be of any importance ; but anybody who has handled books in the sheets, direct from the press, will have noticed a slight indentation of the paper from the type, just relieving the page of the monotony of the flat effect which afterwards accentuates the fact that the book has been " machine-printed." The effect on the plates, unless handled in the most careful manner, is of more importance. If the tissue which ought to protect each plate is missing, a very unpleasant re-impression or " set-off" is caused. The inking of the plate is not absolutely fixed ; a sort of halo, or reflection from the plate, is impressed upon the opposing page, and this is anathema to a " faddy " collector. I have seen books bound by Derome with this eyesore, which no length of time removes. Another reason for issuing these high-class books in the wrap or broche (as the French call it) is that it enables each collector to bind his copy according to his particular fancy ; this, as it sometimes 98 Contemporary Arts includes the impression of arms upon the back and sides, is a concession which those who like the idea of a fine library being handed down to posterity, with marks of successive ownership, value as the custom deserves. To return to the particular part under consideration. The edges of the wraps, and of the plates, were naturally frayed and worn to some extent by the handling they had received, but in no way to prejudice the plates, which each had the coveted " A.P.D.R.," and were in immaculate condition. Each of the three parts of the com- plete work has 1 2 plates ; so, as in such pristine condition each plate was worth from ^ioto ^15, sold separately, the part as it stood was worth anything from £100 to £150. I should like to think that I refrained from purchase on account of the possibility of the auction sale referred to not being quite bo?ia Jide ; but the plain truth is that, not being yet well acquainted with the class of book of which the Monument du Costume may almost be said to stand at the head, I did not understand the somewhat ragged and forlorn look the part had, especially as at that time the modern bindings of Lortic and Chambolle-Duru occupied my attention. To cut the story short, I did not avail myself of the opportunity, and thus lost the chance of acquiring the treasure for the modest sum of £25. A few weeks later, realizing that the chance of such a copy, under such circum- stances, would never arise again, and having come to some under- standing of the vagaries of the French school of book-collecting, I repaired to the shop, and with ill-concealed eagerness inquired for the part. Alas ! it had not only been sold a few days previously, but was already in the hands of the binder to receive a nice new modern morocco coat, which, in addition to the waste of cost in time and material, reduced the margins of the plates, and, as the event proved, reduced the price at the same time to at least 50 per cent of its original value. I begged permission to go and see the book in the process of binding, and, although I had not at that time penetrated into the hidden mysteries of the art, I could not but feel a pang on beholding the ragged edges, betokening the full size of the plate, nicely trimmed, and, if my memory serves, the book itself just in the process when it is time to be helped into its morocco jacket, and prior to the gold tooling, which it was a satisfaction some time later to find had been done with some reserve, and with the best taste the English binder could command. To conclude, I had the melancholy pleasure of seeing the book again a year or two later, when it was sold at Christie's for 99 Oriental Carpets about £70 ; I was perhaps foolish enough to inform a book- seller at my side of some of the circumstances under which I had first seen the book, and ventured to give him some of my recent information as to its value ; he replied, very pertinently, that if I thought so highly of the book, why did I not bid for it ? Both Mr. Percy Fitzgerald and Mr. Andrew Lang will understand that, as I had lost the joy of possessing the book in its early freshness, its possession in a brand-new garb would be a constant reminder of " what might have been." I did not speak of this to the gentle- man to whom I have referred, and with whom I was acquainted ; he did not buy the book himself, and I have never heard of it since. I have occasion in the division dealing with Oriental Carpets to mention cases where the dealer, having unknowingly sold a carpet at much below its actual value, has been mulcted for many times its original cost on some accident betraying its real value. The dealer has to pay. It is a fine point in ethics in what moral position I should have stood had I purchased the book at the price asked, £25, and had afterwards found out its value. This is a little conundrum which I will leave my readers to amuse themselves with ; I simply relate the facts as an interesting experience in book-collect- ing ; the relation may strike a chord of memory in others who may have had the same experience, and who, I am sure, will see that the episode ended without loss of that conscientiousness which particularly characterizes book-collectors. I have before me a cutting from an old catalogue of the great Paris bookseller Morgand, bearing the No. 12, dated November 1880. As an example of the manner in which books of this class are regarded by such collectors as those of the haute ecole, to whom reference will be made later, I reproduce the entry verbatim, while anticipating the permission of M. Edouard Rahir, on whose shoulders the mantle of M. Damascene Morgand has descended. 7017. — Seconde Suite d'estampes pour servir a l'histoire des modes et du costume en France dans le XVI1P siecle. Annee 1776. A Paris, de Timprimerie de P vault, 1777, in-fol., fig. Troisieme Suite d'estampes pour servir a l'histoire des modes et du costume en France dans le XVIIP siecle, annee 1783. A Pavis, de V impvimevie de Pvault, 1783, in-fol., fig. Ensemble deux parties en un vol. in-fol., mar. rouge, dos orne, fil., tr. dor. (Petit). 20,000 (francs). Precieux recueil avant la lettre des 24 gravures dessinees par J.-M. Moreau et gravees par Mavtini, Tvieve, Helman, Baquoy, Guttenberg, Delaunay jeune, Halbou, Romanet, Camligue, Dambvun, Thomas, Delignon, Malbeste, Patas et Simonet. 100 Contemporary Arts Cet exemplaire contient le texte si rare de la 3' suite, dont on ne connait jusqu'a present que quelques exemplaires. II manque, dans la 3 e suite, le texte de la planche intitulee : Le Vrai Bonheur, que nous cherchons a acquerir avec la gravure avant la lettre. Cette derniere est avec la lettre. On y a joint la planche, avec la lettre, intitulee : ha Matinee, dessinee par Freudeberg et gravee par Bosse, qui fait partie de la suite du " Monument du costume." La premiere suite de ces Estampes est decrite sous le no. 6731. The particularity with which the above catalogue entry has been made will probably come as a surprise to readers whose acquaintance with books is limited to Mudie, or perhaps to the railway stall. The price asked for the volume, £800, must be considered in relation to the important facts that the first suite is missing, and that the binding is by the modern binder Petit. On the other hand, the plates are proofs before letters, a rare state, which will be appreciated by collectors of books of the class, and of prints, which really fall into the same class of collecting, for with comparatively few exceptions the text of these books leaves much to be desired, to put the case in a very mild form. I have no particulars of the plates by Freudeberg ; but, while having a special value in completing the set, the potential value of the series of plates by Moreau gives the whole work its importance, and, as already remarked, single plates have a value which bring them well within the scope of the print collector. It is not uninteresting to note that at the Behague sale, pre- sumably at the Hotel Drouot, Paris, the three suites comprising the set realized 22,620 francs in 1880. The plates were proofs before letters ; but no mention is made either of the text or the binding in the record I have. It is not undesirable to advise those who may be tempted to indulge in this expensive form of book-collecting that the Second Suite d'Estampes was published in 1777 in a reduced size ; and makes a very charming set of plates, as one can see by the set for the whole series engraved by Dubouchet, and published by Lemonnier, Paris, 1883. The original edition of 1777 is fully described by M. Morgand, and No. 7018 in his catalogue immediately follows the suite first mentioned. As both the large and the small plates are in this second suite, dated 1777, and issued simultaneously by Prault, Paris, they were, it is evident, designedly published to accommodate those to whom the large plates would not be attractive. The smaller plates each had a verse engraved below the design. It is interesting 101 7 a Oriental Carpets to note from the description referred to that Moreau personally- superintended the publication, as the following extract shows : — " Ces charmantes reductions ont ete executees sous les yeux de Moreau ; sur la premiere planche : ' La Declaration de la grossesse,' on lit : se se vend chez M. Moreau, Cour du Mai, au Palais, a I' hotel de la Tresorerie." The plates bear the letters A.P.D.R., which are the marks of early impressions of the plates, and mean "Avec Privilege du Roy." For the benefit of the unwary, and to provide against this eulogy of a very attractive book, it is well to mention that the original worn plates were made use of for another edition, particulars of which will be the best safeguard : Moreau. Monument du Costume Physique et Moral de la fin du dix-huitieme Siecle ; ou Tableaux de la Vie (Texte par Retif de la Bretonne), 26 large engravings by Moreau le Jeune, fine impressions, with uncut margins, half bound, very rare. Atlas fol. Neuwied sur le Rhin, 1789. This copy, originally purchased in 1897 f° r £, l 7 '• IOS -> was s °ld at Sotheby's on July 27, 1898, for £12 : 10s., and the fact will give some indication of the losses the amateur is likely to meet. I purchased the volume originally, to get a full idea at my leisure of the beauty of the first set of 12 plates, which I missed buying under circumstances already related. A very slight acquaintance with the worn impressions, coupled with increased knowledge, warned me that the book was not worthy to be included in a collection of any pretensions, and I accordingly adopted the only means of relieving one's library ; that is, through the medium of Sotheby, Christie, or Puttick & Simpson — and now I will impart a piece of information which may be of use to book-buyers. However much the best book- sellers may endeavour to persuade one to the contrary, they do not like " exchanges," and after a few experiences I realized that cash transactions make excellent friends ; and (without, I hope, betraying confidences I have been happy enough to have extended to me) I may perhaps whisper that the book-buyer who does not try to make " bargains " will probably be treated with special consideration by the Princes of the Trade, and shown books ; and if he is very good, manuscripts ; which will more than compensate him for what a keen commercial buyer would regard as extravagant foolishness ; he will, moreover, gain a knowledge in handling fine things which will save him money at every turn, for it is safe to say that after having once seen the real thing, the chances of being misled in any 102 Contemporary Arts direction are considerably reduced, treacherous as the eye is without continual practice. This is of course a truism ; but it is astonishing how, in spite of this, the genuine " old master," the " original Stradivari," and the " Armenian " faked carpet still disgust those who buy in good faith, and resent the imposition afterwards in a way which creates an entirely undeserved prejudice. I am quite willing to confess that the expansion of the single page devoted in the first instance to " Eighteenth Century French Illustrated Books " is the result of reading the following paragraph in "The Literary Gossip" column of The Athenaeum for May i, 1909 : "The 195,250 francs paid last Saturday at the Hotel Drouot for the Vicomte de Janze's copy of Moliere's CEwvres, 1773, seems to be the highest price ever paid at auction for a printed book. This edition is undoubtedly the most beautiful of all the many issues of Moliere, and contains thirty-three original drawings in sepia for the illustrations." The secret of the high price is revealed in the last two lines. The original drawings are by Moreau le Jeune, who as designer and engraver is regarded as the great master of book illustration of eighteenth-century France, and I am not aware that her efforts in this direction have ever been surpassed in their particular line ; they are regarded in the light of a distinct school of artistic genius, which has brought the cognomen the " Little Masters." With the set of plates to the Monument du Costume, and the Laborde Choix de Chansons, soon to be mentioned, the edition of Moliere, dated 1773, makes a trio of works which represent Moreau at his best in the matter of book-illustrating. In view of the importance of the book, the following particulars will be of interest : — Moliere. OZuvres, avec des Remarques Grammaticales, des Avertis- semens, et des Observations sur chaque Piece par M. Bret, First Edition {with the star leaves 66-67 and 80-8 1), portrait by Mignard, and 33 full-page plates, and 6 vignettes after Moreau, engraved by Baquoy, de Launay, Duclos, de Ghendt, etc. 6 volumes. A Paris, par la Compagnie des Libr aires Associis, 1773. The star pages referred to take the places of two cancelled leaves, and the presence of these two pages denotes the first edition. Two of the plates, " L'Avare " and " Le Misanthrope," were engraved on soft copper, and, except in the earliest impressions, are coarse and unsatisfactory. A special merit attaches to the plate " Le Sicilien," which contains a portrait of Moreau (seated at the easel, holding the palette and maulstick), designed and engraved by the artist himself. 103 Oriental Carpets This plate also is one of the tests of an early copy. Moreau has very lightly etched his signature on the plate, and the merit of the earliest impressions attaches to the copy in which the signature comes out most clearly. It must be noted that the points referred to are to be considered with a careful examination of the plates as a whole, as unless the whole of the impressions, or at least a great part, were taken at the same time as the " test " plates, the latter form no criterion as to the excellence of the other plates, however good they may be in themselves. It is clear that very excellent impressions of one plate, or all three plates, may accompany impressions from the rest of the plates which have been taken later and are not of the same quality. I have no data by me, but am under the impression that the six vignettes are designed and engraved by Moreau. To give an additional interest to the following particulars of the third example of Moreau's work as a designer and engraver, I make an extract from catalogue No. 55 of June 1902, representing one of the many fine books which tempted the clientele of M. Edouard Rahir, of Paris, successor to M. Damascene Morgand : 42,267. — La Borde. Choix de Chansons, mises en musique par M. De La Borde, ornees d'estampes par J.-M. Moreau. Paris, de Lormel, 1773, 4 tomes en 2 vol. in-8, front., texte et musique graves, mar. verte, dos orne, fil., tr. dor. (Cape). 8000 (francs). Precieux exemplaire contenant la suite des 25 figures dessinees et gravees par Moreau, en superbes epreuves d 'artiste, avant la lettre. Ces figures sont justement considerees comme un des chefs-d'oeuvre de l'illustration au siecle dernier (sic). Les 75 figures de Le Bar bier, Le Bouteux, etc., sont en tres belles epreuves, elles ne se rencontrent jamais avant la lettre. L'exemplaire contient le portrait de La Borde, dit a la lyre, en epreuve avant la date. The above description omits the name of St. Quentin, who designed some of the y$ plates in the last three books ; and also that the engravers Masquelier and Nee carried out the designs of the three artists who completed the book after La Borde had very injudiciously quarrelled with Moreau. The words and music were engraved by Moria and Mile Vendome, and the book was dedicated to "Madame la Dauphine, Marie Antoinette," of whom Moreau designed and engraved a most delightful medallion, which was considered an excellent likeness. The book is incomplete, and deprived of a good deal of its value, unless the portrait of La Borde is included ; of this portrait 104 Contemporary Arts Cohen, the great authority on eighteenth-century illustrated books, writes : " Le joli portrait du compositeur dit a la Lyre, grave apres coup (en 1774) par Masquelier d'apres Denon, n'appartient pas au livre ; mais il est important de l'y ajouter." It will be seen from these details, and those which follow upon the same book, that the points for consideration in collecting are endless, and present a variety in the pursuit after perfection which converts the sedate gathering together of the Classics, Shakespeare Folios, and First Editions, into something approaching the true " sporting " instinct. I have omitted to refer to the comparatively low price asked for the La Borde copy in M. Rahir's catalogue ; it will be noticed that the binder, Cape, is not of the first class ; and that, further, the colour of the binding, green, although passable enough in Derome, is not a favourite colour in modern bindings, and (it may be presumed) is only used in connection with books of such class as the La Borde by special commission from perhaps an amateur, or where the possibility of approaching the rich plum- coloured tint of the Derome red is not sufficiently promising to make a direct comparison in colour desirable. At the expense of some repetition, I reproduce a few remarks upon La Borde's remarkable tour de force which are contained in a book privately printed in a very limited edition and not likely to come into the hands of the general reader. In regarding the high price set upon the ideal copy, which will probably make many an amateur dream of some day possessing it, and in turning over its pages while luxuriously reclining upon the Mumtaz Mahal Carpet, it must be mentioned that the 25 plates by Moreau, designed and engraved with his own hand, have all the personal expression of an original work by the artist, and that with a binding such as that described the book has some of the merit attaching to such a carpet as the Ardebil, in which the artist Maksoud has in every detail of the design and colouring done work closely corresponding with that which gives Moreau's masterpiece its immense value. Further, if any advantage can be claimed in the comparison, I think it will be conceded that it rests with the carpet. Maksoud, year by year, during the lifetime he was engaged upon the work, practically wove his body, if not his soul, into the fabric, which stands to-day, still living in the matured expression of its several qualities, the emblem of a race of artist weavers whose works bring the present into the closest touch with a period which the boldest will only venture to guess at. 105 Oriental Carpets " Laborde's Choix de Chansons, issued in four volumes in 1773, is interesting from the fact that the whole of the words and music are engraved on plates ; but its real value rests in the 100 plates with which it is illustrated, the first twenty-five of which, designed and engraved by Moreau, probably account for three -fourths of the large amount which the book realizes at the present day. To give an idea of the cost of adding such a book to one's library — and no collection of books of this class is complete without it — it may be mentioned that a good example in the ordinary state of the plates, bound in the original calf, or a fine modern binding, will cost close upon £100 ; an example of the same state of the plates, bound in a fine binding by Derome, in the rich red for which he was famous, will cost anything up to ^300, according to the quality of the impressions from the plates and the general condition of the binding. As to a perfect specimen of the book, with all the luxury of the earliest impressions from the plates in first proof states — including the eaux fortes or etchings, and the rare portraits of M. Laborde a la Lyre and of Madame Laborde enceinte — and bound in one of the superb bindings of the period, with doublure, tooled in the highest style of the art, the covers perhaps enriched with mosaics of coloured leathers — such an example, which is of the greatest rarity, and only very occasionally comes under the public eye through the exigencies of a sale, is simply worth any amount a rich collector will give who desires to raise the standard of his collection, and astonish his friends, and the connoisseurs privileged to share in the glory of its possession. It is difficult to price such a set of volumes as I have described, if even such a one exists — with the marks of distinguished ownership, and the eclat due to a unique example, £5000 might not be considered too much. It will suffice to say that an example, bound by the late M. Cuzin of Paris, from the original parts, and therefore the fullest size of the page, was at one time priced in the catalogue of the great French bookseller Damascene Morgand at 25,000 francs. At this price it is more than probable that it passed into the possession of a collector whose hold upon it will only be loosened by death, or by such a change of taste as induced its original owner, M. Eugene Paillet, to part with his complete collection, and turn his attention to modern Editions de Luxe, in which all the refinements of choice illustrations, and various grades of papers, and limits of issue, offered attractions to those who either from taste, or from considerations of pocket, did not attempt to emulate the class of collectors (whose ranks include such con- noisseurs as the Due d'Aumale and Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild) 106 Contemporary Arts who were able to add to their collections and gratify their tastes to a height which has probably been the ruin of many less wealthy collectors. " The magnificent collection of the Due d'Aumale is now open to book-lovers at the beautiful Chateau of Chantilly, which he left to the French nation ; it is related of the late noble owner, and the library now referred to, that when showing his choicest books to friends and visitors, he provided white gloves before allowing them to handle the volumes — a measure of precaution which will be fully appreciated by those familiar with the minute differences in condition which place one copy above another in the comparison to which such collectors as those mentioned would in friendly rivalry subject their treasures in competition for pride of place. Before leaving this subject of the French illustrated books of the eighteenth century, it may be mentioned, for the benefit of those disposed to try its fascinations, that excepting only the extremely rare examples which have come straight from the publisher's hands in the original limp covers, with the plates and extra portraits in the proof states already mentioned, the most desirable condition of the book is when clothed in a fine binding by Derome, or some other great contem- porary binder ; and that a decided point of value rests in the colour being of the particular shade known as ' Derome Red,' the manu- facture of which seems to be as much a lost art as that of the famous amber varnish used by the great Cremona violin-makers, or of the Tyrian purple of ancient times." In concluding this lengthy notice of only one of the artists of a school of Designers and Engravers to whom the great authority, H. Cohen, in his Guide de I' Amateur de Litres a Gravures du XVIII e Steele, cinquieme edition, augmentee par R. Portalis, devotes some 400 pages, a few words may be said as to the bindings of some of the earlier French classics, when the books issued by the Aldine and Elzevir presses, and first editions of Racine and Moliere, were measured to a fraction, and battles were fought rivalling the " Battle of the Books," upon points of height and other knotty considerations of connoisseurship, which the rush of present-day life makes one regard as the worst possible waste of time. Such are the bindings executed for Grolier, which bear this handsome tribute to his liberality and broad-mindedness — "10. grolierii et amicorum." Jean Grolier was, appropriately enough, born in the ancient city of Lyons, and I may be excused for wishing that he had been con- temporary with Joseph Marie Jacquard, instead of being born in 1479. After acquiring some 3000 books, most of which would be 107 Oriental Carpets bound in a style which will make the name " Grolier " famous for all time, he died in Paris in 1565, and his library was dispersed in 1675. Only about 350 of the books formerly owned by Grolier are known to exist, and they have naturally become the great prizes of their class in book-collecting. It remains to mention the bindings of Nicolas and Clovis Eve, Le Gascon, Padeloup, and Derome le Jeune, the most renowned of the Derome family, which were prized by such collectors and book-lovers as Francis I., Henry III., Marie de Medicis, Diana de Poitiers, Madame de Pompadour, Madame Du Barry, Mazarin, Colbert, De Thou, Longepierre, Count von Hoym, and other sovereigns, statesmen, literary men, book-collectors, and celebrities too numerous to mention. A work on the subject of book stamps has now been advised for some months, and when issued it may do something to revive the ancient and honourable custom of impressing the Arms on the covers of books worthy of being associated with similar devices to those above referred to, which have rescued from oblivion many whose names deserve to be handed down to posterity. It may be supposed that careful discrimination will be exercised in the selection of volumes for the honour, which in itself will be a recommendation to the practice. By a very remarkable coincidence, the work referred to close upon midnight on May 30 came to hand early in the morning of the following day, May 31, and I therefore have the pleasure of calling attention to the handsome and beautifully produced volume entitled English Heraldic Book -Stamps, by Mr. Cyril Davenport, V.D., F.S.A., who, it will be remembered, was associated with Lady Randolph Churchill in connection with the beautiful reproductions of historical bindings which clothed the 10 volumes of The Anglo- Saxon Review, a set of which should be on every book-lover's shelves, if only for the sake of the bindings and the illustrated descriptions which accompany each volume. It is perhaps not unfair to say that if a publication of the artistic importance of The Anglo-Saxon Review had been undertaken in France, the amount of support which would certainly have followed would have continued the work upon the same lines as the admirable Gazette des Beaux-Arts, which, now in its fifty-first year, has, in addition to the ordinary monthly part, issued from the year 1896 a very fine Edition de Luxe, on Japanese vellum paper, of which the illustrations and contents are well worthy the attention of all lovers of the Fine Arts. To give some idea of the nature and scope of Mr. Davenport's volume, I venture to reproduce the wording upon the loose paper 108 LES LIVRES ILLUSTRES DU XVIII e SIECLE Facsimile letter from Edouaed Rahir zt Cii., Paris (See Analysis) -^-Cc-c^^c^ -t£x~- xy/// -'/ ■' G>4ot^vte7^>^z~&c^ f— *^2^40^t^L~ O .I'd*. &/u£cie^e&. X.. tyl- ^*- ^/fCz^y>a_, ■^J -&&+-&**>' ^osttv, ^t*^t * rt^c- c/ / cs+»6&LS <£L*~x** *u. ^w^m^l, -/fey , s^-"-*/. ^i*. a &_£sftstJC~S fJKf- ^e^c^. //" e^ie^- 'ut^ %■ --^ ■L/J^&] OCcjeyz*^* f^a^^&e^ , ■/'/ / s (^/ - p'PC&lsfst^Za ^^CsOc^&vt^o -fe**' 4*^£z<*"ix^c**? -ZLt^c*f'£&& — {pW~0-<&^C0^f 6£e~-"C4L' "f/YG Contemporary Arts wrap which protects the red buckram covers, very happily calling to mind the " Derome Red," which is shibboleth to the book- collector. " Herein is presented a valuable collection of about three hundred English Armorial Bearings, which appear, mostly in gold, on the outside of books. Each coat-of-arms has been carefully copied from the original stamp, and the accuracy of these drawings can be fully relied on. With each coat is an heraldic description and a short biographical note concerning the owner. " A complete series of English Royal Book-Stamps from Henry VII. to His present Majesty will be found in this book. Such a series is itself of much importance ; the various changes in the Royal coat-of-arms are historically of very great interest, and in many cases they are pictorially of much beauty. " Besides the Royal coats, those of all the great book collectors will be found here, and a host of others as well — the Sheldons, Woodhull, Horace Walpole, Robert Harley, Sir Robert Cotton, and many more whose libraries are now widely dispersed." As Mr. Davenport's fine work seems to indicate that there is an appreciation for the royal and noble hobby of Book-Collecting, I take the present opportunity of reproducing in facsimile a list of the principal Livres illustres du XVIII s siecle, very kindly handed to me through the agency of M. Edouard Rahir on May 5, 1902. I have never seen any list of the sort so comprehensive in its inclusion of the best of everything of its class, and the amateur who acquires the range of books named will have formed a library on the subject which will be an ever present pleasure to himself, and the joy and envy of the privileged few whom a genuine lover of books will allow to handle his treasured copies ; this in spite of M. Jean Grolier, whose generosity in giving others the benefit of his collection has doubtless done as much to perpetuate his name as the books and bindings themselves. It seems late in this division to refer to the fine old Chateau of Chantilly above mentioned ; but it has so recently come under the notice of visitors to France that it may be excusable to make brief mention of it now. The original chateau dates back to the tenth century, and belonged successively to the Laval, d'Orgemont, and Montmorency families ; feudal lordship being granted to the Constable Anne de Montmorency, he gave orders to the architect Jean Bullant to build a chateau by the side of the old fortress, which resulted in a pile of buildings representative of the best style of architecture of its kind of the sixteenth century. This passed by 109 Oriental Carpets marriage to the House of Conde, of which famous family the conqueror of Rocroi lived there during the glorious period of Louis XIV. ; at this time Le Notre laid out the gardens, and arranged the water-basins and fountains which excited the admiration of Bousset. A new chateau took the place of the old buildings about this period, and this again was destroyed in 1793. Then came Louis-Henri de Bourbon, who built the splendid stables which exist to-day. The domain of Chantilly, belonging to the Due d'Aumale, with its noble art collections, was presented to the Institute of France after he had restored the old portions of the chateau and reconstructed the later buildings after the plans of M. Daumet. The magnificent staircase and other modern portions of the chateau give a fine example of the old-world luxury and state of the noble families of France, who, whatever their faults may have been under the example of their rulers, gave tone and weight to the nation. To attempt a suggestion of what France has been in the world of Art during the nineteenth century is to flounder in a labyrinth from which one could hardly emerge with credit. Prud'hon, Gerome, Delaroche, Delacroix, Isabey, Gerard, Ingres, Horace Vernet, Meissonier, Edouard Detaille, Bonnat, Carolus Duran, David, Bastien-Lepage, Benjamin Constant, A. de Neuville, Puvis de Chavannes, and the great lady painter Rosa Bonheur, who held in France the same position as our own Lady Butler of " Roll- Call " and " Quatre-Bras " fame — these artists, and the great school of Barbizon painters, including Millet, Rousseau, Corot, Troyon, Jacque, Diaz, Daubigny, Dupre, and the last living representative of the school, Harpignies, make a list worthily upholding France's claim as the inheritor of the artistic spirit of Italy, which seems to have been content to rest upon the laurels gained by the great masters who made her fame. In Music it is right to speak of Berlioz, Bizet, and Gounod. Rodin, the great sculptor, has yet, it is hoped, many years to practise his art, which in the estima- tion of competent critics has all the merits of the naturalistic methods so successfully carried out in the Barbizon School of paint- ing. RafFet deserves mention for the admirable lithographs illustrat- ing real and idealized episodes in the career of the great Napoleon, the mention of whose name gives opportunity for speaking of the very distinctive style which, under the first Empire (1804-18 14), produced specimens of artistic furniture, hangings, and interior decorations which, while not having the very highest artistic claims, have merits which may yet cause a revival in a form in which the somewhat academical severity at first affected may be softened down 1 10 Contemporary Arts by greater ease and flexibility in the forms furnished in some part by the artists Prud'hon and David, and later by the decorative artists Percier and Fontaine. Spanish Art necessitates first the mention of the great palace of the Alhambra, which even to-day speaks eloquently of the glories of the ancient Moorish kings of Granada. Magnificently situated upon a hill, and surrounded by fine mountainous scenery, the palace is enclosed within a wall over a mile in circuit, towers at intervals breaking the monotony which might otherwise have prejudiced the picturesqueness of the tout ensemble. The palace was originally planned in 1248 by Ibn-'l-Ahmar, and was completed about 13 14 by his grandson Mohammed III. ; later still, Yusuf I. regilt and repainted the palace, which the dryness of the Spanish climate has preserved in some parts. The " Court of the Fish-Pond " and the " Court of the Lions," with their porticoes, pillared halls, cool chambers, small gardens, fountains, and mosaic pavements, speak still of the luxury of the rulers of the time ; while the lightness and elegance of the columns and arches, the richness of the ornamentation, and the colouring (almost entirely confined to the three primary colours blue, red, and gold) have permanently fixed a style which has to be reckoned with in any attempt to deal with the Art characteristics of the nations. The addition of the splendid " Venus and Cupid " to the National Gallery, at the enormous sum of £45,000, has given a notoriety to the name of Velasquez which it is probable the great artist would deplore if he could express his views, while a very small portion of the large sum named would have enabled him philosophically to endure the period of his career when he was in disgrace at Court, and for a time caused him to take for his models the lame, the halt, and the blind, which has given a somewhat sordid aspect to his art in some examples, while enabling him to portray humanity in its least attractive presentment in a masterly fashion approved by Mr. George Clausen, who in a lecture given at the London Institution in 1904, entitled " The Development of Painting," used these words : " The work of the primitives led up to the three greatest influences in Art — Titian, Rembrandt, and Velasquez. The Italian was pre-eminent in colour, the Dutchman in imagination and mystery, the Spaniard in the realistic appearance of things." Naturally, it is necessary to go to the Prado Gallery, Madrid, to see the Master in his best and most varied methods ; but, in addition to the picture already named, there are other excellent examples of his portraits and a hunting scene in the National Gallery, and a portrait of a Spanish Lady in the Wallace in Oriental Carpets Collection. His masterpiece of portraiture, " Pope Innocent X.," is in the Doria Gallery, Rome, which again illustrates the difficulties the student has to face in dealing comprehensively with the art of any particular master ; for whatever may be the merits of mechanical colour reproduction, the full scope of an artist's genius can only be gauged by his actual work. It is only necessary to mention briefly the great Murillo, whose work, scattered among the great galleries of the world, is as familiar to lovers of Art as the best of the Italian school ; his Madonnas, with their heavenly expression, rivalling those of Raphael himself, while having an ethereal effect of pose and colour which give him the merit attaching to his own particular individualistic treatment. Goya (born in Aragon, March 30, 1746 ; died at Bordeaux, April 16, 1828) carried on the traditions of the great artists mentioned, but upon lines entirely his own ; he painted many portraits and genre subjects, and two pictures entitled " La Maja clothed " and " La Maja nude," the latter of which is pre- sumably as rare as the " Venus " of Velasquez, it being said that Spanish prejudices are averse to the representation of the nude female form. It remains to speak of the great Dutchman Rembrandt, who excelled not only in his painting, but also and with equal lustre in his etching, an art to which reference has not yet been made ; examples of his work are sufficiently well known to make further comment unnecessary, after having recorded the dictum of Mr. Clausen. Peter Paul Rubens is spoken of in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and ILngravers as having been born in Westphalia, his father being an alderman of Antwerp : so I leave his nationality to individual tastes, and select the magnificent Rubens Room, in Devonshire House, as representative of his art, which in its bold effective choice of subject, and in the handling and colouring of the figures and accessories, gives him a place among the artists of world-wide fame. The splendid Medici pictures in the Louvre, Paris, by this artist, twenty-one in all, are said to be largely the work of his pupils, but have received inspiring touches from his own brush, which entitle them to be ranked among his works. According to the British Museum authorities, the greatest or most representative names in English Literature are Chaucer, Caxton, Tyndale, Spenser, Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton, Locke, Addison, Swift, Pope, Gibbon, Wordsworth, Scott, Byron, Carlyle, Macaulay, Tennyson, and Browning. The Victoria and Albert Museum, opened on June 26, 1909, includes, with other admirable architec- 112 Contemporary Arts tural features, a series of " Niches of Fame," within which can be seen effigies of British representatives of Art, the recording rolls below which contain the following names, conveniently supplement- ing those mentioned above. Without any attempt at classification, my notes read as follows : Saint Dunstan, William Torel, William Caxton, George Heriot, Huntingdon Shaw, Thomas Tompion, T. Chippendale, J. Wedgwood, Roger Payne, William Morris, Grinling Gibbons, John Bacon, John Flaxman, F. L. Chantrey, John H. Foley, Alfred Stevens, W. Hogarth, J. Reynolds, T. Gainsborough, G. Romney, R. Cosway, J. M. W. Turner, J. Constable, G. F. Watts, F. Leighton, J. E. Millais, Wykeham, John Thorpe, Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, W. Chambers, and Charles Barry. It is an open question how far any name in the records of British Art is entitled to rank with the greatest names of ancient times, although upon a pillar of the staircase leading to the Lecture Theatre and Picture Gallery of the old South Kensington Museum (now included in the Victoria and Albert Museum), Phidias, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, and Turner are allied together, through the medium of peculiarly inartistic yellow and white glazed tiles, which remind the observer of Napoleon's dictum that "There are but two ways of bequeathing the likeness of great men to posterity — by marble or by bronze." With only a bowing acquaintance with the admirable arrange- ments made for displaying the treasures of the Vatican and the Louvre, it is nevertheless impossible for any lover of his country not to regret that a decorative and artistic portion of the national collections referred to below should be housed in a fashion which leaves room for vexation when reflecting that a foreigner's tribute to any claims this country may have to be regarded as artistic depends so largely upon what is to be seen in our Public Galleries and Museums. Thanks to the patriotism and generosity of Sir Richard and Lady Wallace, we have a collection which stands apart from all collections of its class ; but the nation can only claim the credit of having complied with the very reasonable provisions made as to the works of art being adequately arranged and handed down to those whose unique heritage it is. In comparing the splendid suite of rooms in the Louvre, exhibiting the Art and Artistic Industries of the Periods of Louis XIV., Louis XV., and Louis XVI., with the way the Jones Collection of French Furniture and Objets d 'Art has been displayed since its acquisition by the nation in 1882, one may be excused for wondering why some of the many experts available have not been called in to place matters upon a proper footing. 113 8 Oriental Carpets Entering by the staircase already referred to, one comes to Room 99, paved with octagonal red tiles, with a diamond-shaped tile of greenish hue. The artistic aspect of this room is agreeably diver- sified by a neat border of open iron grating, forming a square, and incidentally emitting the useful and doubtless necessary heat to prevent the magnificent " Salisbury Cathedral " and the grand sketch of " The Hay Wain," both by Constable, from suffering the ex- tremes of our rigorous and exacting climate. Two long galleries, divided by pillars, lead from the above-named, which acts as a kind of ante-room. Here are to be seen some of the finest examples of the best period of French Decorative Art, and some more modern reproductions which are admirable in their way. It is possible to derive pleasure and benefit from the treasures shown ; but it is useless to deny the fact that the continued presence of the tiled floor with its inharmonious and aggressive colour, and the intrusion of the open iron grating, which crosses the entire width of each gallery in five sections, robs the effect in the same way that bare and sounding floors remove at once from the senses the feeling of luxurious ease without which Art is a mere name, in the sense that, however beautiful the object, its power of conveying its inspired effect is lost when the observer is suffering torture. Who could appreciate the noblest work of God-given genius when upon the rack or otherwise in torture ? This may be putting the case extremely ; but it is a mere truism to say that a diamond or other precious stone, however beautiful in itself, is nevertheless given its full lustre by appropriate setting ; that a picture of the most superlative intrinsic merits is enhanced in effect by a frame suitable to its nature and subject ; or yet that artistic furniture and other artistic objects are not seen to advantage unless the building which covers them, the rooms which contain them, and the whole surroundings are in harmony not only with their " class," but also with that indefinite quality of school and style which only a trained eye can arrive at. The truth of these trite observations is fully realized by those whose business it is to teach others who, having neither the time nor the instinct to gain the requisite knowledge, have the wisdom to place themselves in the best hands, and it is a subject for congratulation that such houses as those described by Mr. Beresford-Chancellor in his Private Palaces of London, and many grand mansions in the country, bear witness to the fact that experts of talent, if not genius, are not wanting to those desiring their services, and who, in employ- ing them, recognize that the artistic instinct does not depend upon cash or even brains, while both are undoubtedly necessary if the 114 Contemporary Arts services of the inspired few are to be made the best use of. Many wealthy possessors of the most delightfully artistic surroundings, and the possessors of works of art of just the right school, and even the fortunate owners of Persian and Indian carpets of the finest period, owe their artistic treasures to inspirations derived from Bond Street, Oxford Street, Kensington, and Tottenham Court Road, not to say such Sale-Rooms as Christie's, Sotheby's, and others, where the fortunate Londoner can acquire a knowledge of Art in its practical aspect, without the expenditure of a single penny. It is by no means suggested that Art has to be sought in London only. Art collections to be seen in such centres as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, and in even some of the smaller country towns, denote in the most satisfactory fashion that appreciation of Art is not wanting in this country, which makes it all the more necessary that the Government of the day should keep it well in mind, with the result perhaps that when London feels itself able to rival the great Paris Exhibition of 1900, nations may vie with one another to entrust the country with their treasures, which they will certainly not do while such an exhibition as the Jones Collection is allowed to suggest that Art is secondary to considerations of economy and utility, a fact which the rejected Original Design for the National Gallery, and the failure to adopt Mr. Speaight's full scheme for the Marble Arch Improvement, unfortunately makes too manifest. Reference having been made to the ante-room containing the Constable pictures, it may be added that at the other end of the divided galleries containing the Jones Collection there is a small hall leading to the offices of the Director and Secretary. This hall had in March last cases displaying the first three Shakespeare Folios and other English works, some examples of eighteenth-century French furniture, and a cabinet exhibiting the merits of the "Vernis Martin" process. The Shakespeare Folios and other books are now included in Rooms 103 and 106. It may be added that this hall also is tiled to match the rest of the floor, while it is pleasantly diversified by omission of the iron gratings, which, by the way, conveyed the impression that valuable books do not require the same care and attention as other works of art. To meet the objection of economists who are short-sighted enough to regard anything in the shape of luxury or display as a bad example to the nation at large, and to the rising generation particularly, let it be noted that there is a great difference between the lavish cultivation of the Arts at the nation's expense, which in the case of France preluded the Revolution, and which has reduced Italy and Spain JI 5 Oriental Carpets to a condition of genteel poverty, and a sufficient regard to the appropriateness and good taste which the large body of furnishing experts throughout the country leave no excuse for omitting to prac- tise in the National Collections especially. Open iron gratings may be necessary, but they should certainly be unobtrusive ; tiles of any description whatever are an eyesore, and too suggestive in their effect on the senses of the " clang of the wooden shoon " ; truly, they are clean and economical, but the same can be said of linoleum, which nevertheless no self-respecting householder would dream of using with surroundings in which artistic considerations are of importance. Leaving Great Britain's claims to be regarded as artistic in the sense in which being so is a second nature in France and Italy especially, it is pleasant to feel that in the direction of mechanical and industrial efficiency this country of ours has from the first been a pioneer, and even to the present day holds its own, in spite of the fact that the lessons taught, and the hardly-won results, have been quietly appropriated by other countries, who are now in a position to undersell our own manufacturers. I venture to borrow another of the Maximes de Napoleon, from Mr. Arthur L. Humphreys' collec- tion : " The sciences which honour the human understanding, the arts which embellish life, and transmit great actions to posterity, ought to be specially patronized by an independent Government." It is an undoubted fact that genius in all directions makes itself felt in spite of the most adverse conditions. " Bounty-fed" Art is open to the greatest objections ; but there is room for providing openings for budding talent upon competitive lines which, used in connection with our growing public buildings and their valuable collections, under the direction and control of a capable body of experts, with a responsible permanent Minister, will speedily remove the impression that the somewhat frigid character of the British temperament is not con- ducive to the expression of Art in its most searching aspects, of which unfortunately, however, a highly-strung nervous temperament seems to be the penalty. Perhaps, after all, things are well enough as they are, in the sense that there is something unstable in artistic natures which does not always make for good citizenship. Homes of Art have not infrequently proved themselves subject to the ferment of a restless desire for change at any cost, which when stirred up leads to Revolu- tion, a price too great to pay for an Art which could outdo Nature itself. Thank God, we have our Shakespeare, although when (in, say, a thousand years) archaeologists carefully uncover the steel room in which Mr. Pierpont Morgan has placed his set of the four Folios, 116 Contemporary Arts examination of the printing and paper will not convey a high opinion of an art which rose to its highest eminence some 1 50 years before the first Folio was printed. What, again, is to be said of the artistic know- ledge and appreciation of the ruling classes when, after listening for years to the plays put forward by Shakespeare with little regard for any consideration but the exercise of the divine afflatus, they allowed two comparatively poor actors to undertake the burden and expense of issuing the glorious plays which might otherwise have perished ? In spite of the call for three more editions, which it may be supposed was possible through the support of the middle and lower classes, who by their understanding of his merit made his fortune, the Fourth Edition, that of 1685, is the worst printed edition of them all. It is not to the credit of Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, that he failed to use the great position and influence he had in playing the part of a Medici to the humbly-born genius. If he had done so, and risen above the intellectual contempt for anything in the shape of business which eventually led to his disgrace and ruin, the two greatest men any nation has produced would have gone down together, united in their efforts for their nation's advance- ment, and at the present day we should not have to deplore the neglect of the greatest author of modern times, and the slur upon the reputation of the man who excelled all men of his time in every branch of study he undertook. In his Novum Organum, Lord Bacon calls for examination of the curiously diffused effect of a small body of saffron when placed in a large body of water ; if he had followed up this clue with the business instinct of pecuniary advantage, or with even the desire of following upon the lines later adopted by the great French Minister of Commerce, Colbert, the discovery of aniline dyes would certainly have resulted ; this country would be artistically a century in advance of its present position ; and the millions of money annually spent in imported dye goods would have remained in this country. It may be said that the earlier introduction of aniline dyes would not have been an unmixed good ; but this is a mistake. The French in their Gobelin Tapestries, Savonnerie Carpets, and other important fabrics, have contrived to preserve the old merits of their artistic industries ; but a generally diffused prosperity in any country depends upon the well-being of the large number of men and women who themselves are able to live in comfort, and, with the aid of machinery, place Art within the reach of all. With the comparatively limited range of colours, the time necessary for the processes of dyeing, and the expense of the old wood and natural mineral dyes themselves, 117 8 a Oriental Carpets not forgetting the cochineal insect, it would not be possible to produce the artistic woollen, cotton, and mercerized and silk fabrics which decorate our houses at anything like the cost at which the most exacting requirements in decoration can be met nowadays. Removal of the difficulties is largely in consequence of the discovery and development of the aniline-dye industry, the origin of which is supposed to be derived from the curious pertinacity of an intelligent man who, perceiving the variety of colours caused by the introduction of ordinary gas tar into water, at last found means of producing these colours by artificial means ; thus a great industry was established. However fugitive some of the cruder processes may be, there are others, notably the Alizarin, in which variety of effect and permanency can be obtained, comparing favourably with the best results of ancient times ; and it is to be noted that even the dyeing of the best period of Oriental Carpets by no means always came up to the highest standard. Collectors are familiar enough with certain shades of blue and red which in course of time have completely disappeared, leaving an absolute blank, surrounded with dyes of other colours which have lasted for centuries, with only the natural sinking caused by time and exposure, to which the present rich, smooth, subdued effects are largely due. There can be no doubt that the lack of discrimination shown by the Indian Government in permitting aniline dyes largely to displace the older and better methods of the natives is to be deplored. After the influence exercised by Akbar the Great, and up to the time when India came fully under the sway of this country, through an intelli- gent fostering by a Minister of Commerce such as other countries possess, this remnant of a great artistic industry might still be usefully employing the artistic instinct still available in India, and our Empire would have gained in the eyes of all nations by the development of an industry which, as far as carpets are concerned, has occupied a high position since the days of its inception. In a book entitled Hindu Castes and Sects, by Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, M.A., D.L., a footnote refers to the importation of machine-made piece-goods, and the following remarks are reproduced from what one assumes to be a report from Mr. Risley on Indian Weaving, which, it must be noted, embraces all fabrics, principally cotton, and a very small proportion of carpet-weavers : " Although the Tantis admit weaving to be their immemorial profession, many of them have of late years been driven by the influx of cheap machine- made goods to betake themselves to agriculture. It is difficult or impossible to say with any approach to accuracy what proportion of 118 Contemporary Arts the caste have abandoned their original craft in favour of trade or agriculture. The Uttara Kula Tantis of Western Bengal have, on the whole, adhered to weaving, and it is popularly believed that their comparative poverty is mainly due to their attachment to the traditional occupation of the caste. Among the Aswini or Moriali about one-third are supposed to have given up weaving and settled down as regular cultivators " (Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal, vol. ii. p. 301). The author of the book quoted at the opening of the above paragraph follows with his own comment, which, coming from a native gentleman, illustrates very forcibly the wide differences between the social life of this country and that of our Indian Empire : " // must be exceedingly difficult for a foreigner to appreciate exactly the story of human misery implied in the above. If thirty-three per cent of any class of Tantis have reconciled themselves, by hard necessity, to the handling of the plough, perhaps another thirty-three per cent died of sheer star- vation, before the survivors in the struggle could think of giving up their ancestral looms and shuttles, and adopting such a plebeian occupation as agriculture" When I visited the Yerrowda Jail near Poona in 1886, I found carpet-weaving being carried on apparently under the best conditions, and was particularly impressed by the handsome artistic design and colouring of a carpet then in process of being made by five or seven natives — much the largest carpet of the class I have ever seen. The late Mr. G. W. Steevens, in his book In India, published in 1899, gives an interesting account of the weaving carried on in the jail above referred to, and speaks of the " big fifty-seven-foot carpet," which, apparently referring to the width of the loom, marks a very unusual size. The book in question was, I believe, written as the result of Mr. Steevens's visit to India when he accompanied the newly- appointed Viceroy, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, the mention of whose name is sufficient to cause any lover of his country to deplore the circumstances which led to his resignation of the high position he had at the time occupied for some years, to the benefit of the Empire at large, and the more immediate benefit of the vast country committed to his charge, in which by the exercise of his wide statesmanship, and the instinctive taste for artistic industries, well illustrated by the short extract heading the following chapter, he was already making his influence felt in directions which might in course of time have restored something at least of the old prestige attaching to the textiles of the country. It was my good fortune to be present in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening, August 3, 1898, on the occasion 119 Oriental Carpets of the debate on the " Open Door," in connection with the policy of the Government in China. Mr. Yerburgh (Chester), opening the debate in support of an amendment to reduce the vote by £500, made an eloquent and impressive speech in favour of aiding the Chinese Government if that Government were threatened for giving concessions to British subjects. Mr. Yerburgh said, " The general policy of this country in China was summed up in the phrase, ' The open door and equal opportunities ,' " which might well form the motto of an Industrial Association having for its aim the open door to British and Imperial Industries and the Arts in other countries, in the same way as our doors are freely opened to them. In a long and closely-argued answer to Mr. Yerburgh — in which, with amusing self-confidence, he touched upon a charge of misrepre- sentation (" Yes ; but I am attempting to guide my hon. friend to the logical conclusion which his own mind is apparently unable to grasp ") — Mr. Curzon dealt with the intricate subject with a wealth of detail which suggested a thorough command of all the points and a complete mastery of the local conditions affecting the policy of the Government. As I had visited India (in 1886 and 1887), the debate was of particular interest to me in respect of the difficulties presented in dealing with native life, which is so completely at variance with our own, and this cannot fail to strike any visitor to such a city as Bombay, with its flourishing industries and enormous native popula- tion. What specially impressed me about Mr. Curzon was the confidence with which he handled his subject, in spite of constant interruptions — the sort of confidence which, as events proved, was as natural for him to display in a crowded House as in his own drawing- room ; or with as much ease and assurance on the back of an elephant as he doubtless displayed when representing his Sovereign at a full Durbar such as was never before seen and probably never will be again. This confidence, which is not shaken under the most trying conditions, is particularly wanted in dealing with native life, and under the kaleidoscopic conditions of caste and feeling, which make India a land of surprises ; the native mind is instantly conscious of irresolution and weakness, and never fails to take advantage of it ; whereas it just as readily responds to the opposite qualities of a stern discipline and firmness of mind, which in the case of men like Lawrence, Havelock, Nicholson, and other heroes saved the great Empire for this country in 1857. To resume the endeavour to give some account of the position taken by Great Britain in the domain of the Arts. In the late Mr. Charles I. Elton's Origins of Eng/ish History, he writes that "The 120 Plate VIII Plate VIII ORIENTAL CARPET Size 15-9 x 7-2 Warp — II knots to the inch Weft — 11 knots to the inch 121 KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Contemporary Arts authentic history of Britain begins in the age of Alexander the Great, in the fourth century before Christ." The following descrip- tion of the dress and ornaments of a later period probably represents the stage to which Art had arrived. Mr. Elton writes : " They had learned the art of using alternate colours for the warp and woof, so as to bring out a pattern of stripes and squares. The cloth, says Diodorus, was covered with an infinite number of little squares and lines, ' as if it had been sprinkled with flowers,' or was striped with crossing bars, which formed a chequered design. The favourite colour was red or a ' pretty crimson ' : ' such colours as an honest- minded person had no cause to blame, nor the world reason to cry out upon.' " The above is written of the Gauls, who invaded Britain some fifty years before the Romans, and presumably repre- sents the civilization introduced by them ; a fair idea can be therefore arrived at as to the state of Art before this period — probably very immature. Abbeys existed in Britain in the seventh century, and were the precursors of the great Cathedrals, which after the Norman Conquest became the pride of the country. They would be so still had it not been for the gross abuses which Erasmus called attention to in his writings, with continuous and increasing vehemence and scorn, from the period when as a boy of fifteen he narrowly escaped being condemned to a monastic life, to a period fifty years later, in 1532, when he denounced the degenerate followers of St. Francis. Following the example set by Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII. in 1 535 instituted an inquiry into the abuses, and in the following year began the suppression of the smaller Abbeys, which, gradually ex- tending to the largest and most powerful, as the results of a formidable insurrection known as the " Pilgrimage of Grace," resulted in a final blow to the ancient Church and the overthrow of the entire monastic system. The work was entrusted to the hands of Thomas Cromwell, whose ruthless efficiency in carrying out the will of his master earned for him the name of " Hammer of the Monks." It is singular that in a period of a little over a hundred years from the time above named, when Thomas Cromwell exercised his over-zealous energies in sweeping away the magnificent records of a greater age, it should have been the probably unwilling fate of the Great Protector, Oliver Cromwell, under the influence of the fanatic Puritan faction, which he was powerless to resist, to complete the vandalism so effectually begun, and from which hardly a church of any importance escaped. The incalculable loss sustained by the 121 Oriental Carpets nation can never be fully told ; but some sense of the priceless tale of artistic woe can be arrived at by reading what Mr. Edward S. Prior has to say in The Cathedral Builders in England : " On all sides were statues and monumental effigies ; walls and windows were bright with painting ; on the altars were reliefs and images of gold and silver. There were bronzes and alabasters, enamels and ivories, jewelled and chased coffers, chalices, illuminated service books, needlework and embroideries. Everywhere were screens and shrines, stallworks and canopies, on which the devices of wrought metal and carved wood were lavished." In this record no mention is made of Carpets, and the vow of humility and a life of austerity might be supposed to preclude the existence of any articles contributing to the personal comfort of the monks ; but, with the knowledge that occasionally the " old Adam " assailed the mortal natures of the later descendants of the early founders of the various Orders, it is fair to presume that within the precincts of the Abbeys, as in the Mosques and Palaces of the East, the monks, so clever in the arts of illumination, would occasionally furnish designs for carpets, intended perhaps for some royal patron, whose support would be of the greatest advantage in ameliorating the general oppression ; and it is not unfair to presume that now and then a choice example of the art would find its way to the sanctums of the Priors and Abbots, whose life of vicissitude, consequent upon the times, might be somewhat alleviated by the soft suggestion of ease which a carpet of the right type never fails to produce. I have in my possession the photograph of a carpet bearing the initials E.R., the Royal Arms, and the date 1570, which might well be typical of the class of carpet referred to ; the work evidently being hand-made, of heavy, somewhat coarse texture, and of a design which might well have been derived from some traveller to eastern climes. Some space must be given to Westminster Abbey, the best known, if not the greatest, ecclesiastical building in this country. Founded about 970, with Wulsin as its first Abbot, it was splendidly rebuilt by Edward the Confessor (1055-1065) ; again rebuilt in magnificent style by Henry III. (1 220-1269) > an< ^ was successively added to by Edward II., Edward III., Richard II., George I., and George II. The Chapel of the Annunciation, or chantry of Henry V., was built in the reign of Henry VI. ; the very beautiful Lady Chapel, or chapel of Henry VII. (an elaborate example of the last phase of the old Gothic style), was begun by Henry VII., and completed by Henry VIII., who subsequently suppressed the Abbey 122 Contemporary Arts and made it into a Bishopric. The burial-place of thirteen Kings of England, including Henry III., Edward I., Edward III., Richard II., Henry V., Henry VII., Edward VI., James I., Charles II., William III., and George II., as well as of five Queens in their own right, and the Queens of many of the Kings, it also contains memorials to many of the great men whose names honour the place which paid them their last tribute of Fame. William the Conqueror was crowned there ; the late Queen Victoria celebrated her Jubilee there, on June 21, 1887 ; and the coronation of King Edward VII., first arranged for June 26, 1902, but postponed on account of a surgical operation, was celebrated in the Abbey on August 9 of the same year. To justify this lengthy notice, I may add that (not forgetting the great churches of Rome, Florence, Milan, and Genoa, and St. Paul's, London) Westminster Abbey has upon the steps leading to the High Altar the only Oriental Carpet which appears to have any pretensions to merit. The fact is worthy of record. Beginning with the Cathedral of St. Albans, to which the dates 1 077-1 093 are assigned, Mr. Prior, in The Cathedral Builders in England, including Canterbury, York, Salisbury, Lincoln, Durham, Wells, Winchester, Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester, surveys all the great Cathedrals this country can boast of, treating each with a wealth of detail and artistic insight which is relieved to the lay reader by many interesting reproductions from old plates, and sketches, forming an invaluable illustrated catalogue of the vast heritage still left to us. In the great fire of 1666, Old St. Paul's (with which the name of Inigo Jones is closely associated) was com- pletely destroyed. This gave Sir Christopher Wren his chance, and in 1675 he obtained the royal assent to a design which was afterwards modified into the existing Cathedral. After repeated difficulties, successfully overcome, the Choir was opened on December 2, 1697, twenty-two years after the laying of the first stone, the occasion being a thanksgiving for the Peace of Ryswick, under which " Louis XIV. unwillingly ratified and recognized the title of William III. to the throne of England. Under it England maintained her right to live under the constitution of her own choosing, and the inde- pendence of the Church of all foreign authority." Surely a more fitting occasion could not have been selected for marking the first step in the erection of a building which more than any other in this country stands as symbol of the Protestant Faith, and which at the time of its erection was particularly needed as an emblem of a stead- fastness in religious purpose, the moral effect of which has been 123 Oriental Carpets carried down to the present day. It is not pleasant to read of the interference, amounting to persecution, which embittered the later years of Wren's life, until in 171 8, the "eighty-sixth of his age, and the forty-ninth of his office," his patent was suspended, and he retired to his house at Hampton Court, where he resumed with delight the philosophical studies that had probably enabled him to endure the attacks of his enemies with the equanimity of a great mind. Sir Christopher Wren died some five years after the date of his suspension, "In the year of our Lord 1723, and of his age 91," as the inscription on his tomb records. In pursuance of the intention of only dealing with the most striking features of our national arts, either as being part and parcel of the national life, or of such general interest as to form the more or less everyday commonplaces which thrust themselves under notice, I merely chronicle Windsor Castle as coming next to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's in the minds of the people, and pass on to the Houses of Parliament. The " Palace of Westminster," as it is officially called, was begun in 1837 by f acm g tn e Thames embankment with granite. Sir Charles Barry, who gained the first premium in the Houses of Parliament competition in 1836, presumably superintended the preliminary work, and, carrying out his designs for the buildings, was continuously engaged upon them from 1840 to i860, when, on his death in that year, the work was completed by his son, Edward Middleton Barry. Although criticism has not been wanting, the Houses of Parlia- ment will remain as a worthy symbol of the Constitutions of the country, and a striking memorial of the architect Sir Charles Barry, whose travels in France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt, from the years 18 17 to 1820, probably account for a breadth of view which enabled him to plan so successfully on a large scale without any suggestion of " crowding," and to deal with minor architectural features and sculptures with elaboration and delicacy of treatment without in any degree spoiling the generally broad effect of the whole group of buildings, or conveying any of the weakness of mere " prettiness," except in so far as the term might be applied to the Cathedral of Milan, which probably had its share in the result arrived at. It has already been mentioned that, on the death of Sir Charles Barry, his son, Mr. Edward Middleton Barry, continued the work which at his death was still in progress. In the Dictionary of National Biography, among the works assigned to him are the " New 124 Contemporary Arts Palace, Westminster, 1 866-1 868," and "new picture galleries added to the National Gallery, 1 871-1875." The Original Design for the National Gallery may not be generally known ; but to all interested in the subject, and in architecture generally, the reproduction given in The Art Journal of March 1901 cannot fail to inspire admiration for the designer, and keen regret that the Government of the day had not the artistic appreciation and enthusiasm necessary for risking some financial difficulty in the cause of Art, and that in consequence the nation has been deprived of a building which in its main splendid and imposing cupola recalls to mind the Capitol in Washington, and which in view of the improvements at present going on would have made of Trafalgar Square a worthy rival to the Place de la Concorde, Paris. Reverting to a period which under happier auspices might for over twenty years have coincided with the Great Century of France, in which her arts and industries received the greatest stimulus and arrived at the highest perfection, I will deal with the artistic proclivities of King Charles I., who, born in 1600, was executed in 1649, at the early age of forty-nine ; Louis XIV. of France came to the throne in 1643, and did not resign the reins of government until 171 5. It will be seen from these dates that had our King Charles lived to the average span of seventy years the two reigns would have run side by side for the space of twenty-one years, with a result to the artistic progress and development of this country the loss of which alone is sufficient to bring poignant regrets for the untimely close of his reign. In an extremely interesting monograph by Mr. Claude Phillips, entitled The Picture Gallery of Charles I., some insight is given as to the artistic taste and judgment which brought for King Charles I., when Prince of Wales, this flattering testimony from the great painter Rubens, in a letter addressed to his friend Valavez, on January 10, 1625 : " Monsieur le Prince de Galles est le prince le plus amateur de la peinture qui soit au monde." It is quite impossible to enumerate the treasures which in the short space of twenty years, as mentioned by Mr. Phillips, were " brought together in the palaces of Whitehall, St. James's, and Hampton Court, and the minor royal residences of which the chief were Greenwich, Nonesuch, Oatlands, and Wimbleton." The book must be studied in order to gain an adequate impression of what the nation lost when the larger portion of the collection was scattered to all the quarters of the globe. Many of them are now in the Louvre ; the Prado, Madrid ; the Hermitage, St. Petersburg ; the Imperial Gallery, Vienna, and other 125 Oriental Carpets foreign public galleries and private collections. Fortunately, some of the leading examples — such as " Peace and War," by Rubens, " The Education of Cupid," by Correggio (now in the National Gallery), and masterpieces by Albert Diirer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Andrea Mantegna, Lorenzo Lotto, Tintoretto, Palma Giovine, Mabuse, and another example by Correggio — are to be found in the royal palaces of Windsor Castle and Hampton Court ; but the glory of the collection as a whole is gone, and one can share Mr. Phillips's regret that England, having for a quarter of a century held possession of a gathering of the Art Masters of all Nations, should now not only have occasion to regret its dispersion, but also be reminded of the reason, which Englishmen of all shades of political thought and opinion would be happy to forget. The mere mention is sufficient of such names as John Flaxman (1755- 1826) and Alfred Stevens (1818-1875) among Sculptors, although the latter artist brings the Wellington Statue in St. Paul's to mind, in view of the somewhat acrimonious discussion as to doing it full justice. Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723- 1792), Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)^. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), and John Constable (1776-1837) among Painters instantly occur. Without wishing to give any invidious distinction, it may be remarked that of all British Artists there is not one of whom it can be more truthfully said that the impressionist Nature schools of all nations owe as much to John Constable as Art generally does to the example of the classical masters, taken individually. The artists of the Barbizon School at least, of whom Henri Harpignies is happily a living example, would be probably the first to acknowledge the debt. It must not be supposed that particular reference to such names as Hogarth, Romney, Morland, Raeburn, Hoppner, Lawrence, Etty, and others equally notable implies either ignorance of their work or a desire to draw inferences by omission. This division is primarily intended in the first place to attribute to the origin of the Carpet some of the proved facts as to other more enduring arts, which have sur- vived not by reason of their superiority, but from the happy accidents of the materials in which they were expressed, or the chances arising from the estimation of some great personage, who, fortunately for their preservation, wished such " penates " to be close at hand when the great awakening arrived. Another reason for making a special feature of Contemporary Arts is a wish to call attention to interest- ing features of the fine old Oriental Carpets, Runners, and Rugs, which in their way are as well worthy of regard as any of the other 126 Contemporary Arts fields of Art, in which from their convenience of handling, and in many cases from the fact that they are more in the current fashion, a personal preference is perhaps quite naturally shown. It must be conceded that the question of space for the proper display of some of the finest specimens of Palace woven carpets is much against Carpets being displayed as pictures are. Even the Ardebil Carpet, since its acquisition in 1893, has had to undergo the humiliation of having its merits overlooked from the fact that in the temporary annexe, space did not allow of its being placed with the inscription occupying the same position as it did at the sacred Mosque of Ardebil. It now (October 16, 1909) occupies the place of honour at the end of the West Central Court, Room 42, in the splendid new buildings of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Although the presence of two ventilators immediately above prevents its head from being allowed to rear aloft in old-time grandeur, the Ardebil Carpet may be permitted to recline in dignified and well- earned repose. Having referred to the debt owing by the Barbizon and other schools to Constable, I may be excused for referring to George Morland (176 3- 1804), whose works have in the past few years received the attention which they deserve. The style of his art, both in design and colouring, has always reminded me of the delicacy and charm of some of the great French artists, of whom Boucher and Fragonard come to mind. I ask those who may regard this as fanciful to look at Fragonard's " Les Hazards Heureux de L'Escarpolette " (in the Wallace Collection), which, while having none of the happy domestic life portrayed by the English artist, has yet a sufficient suggestion in the method of work and the colouring to make the comparison interesting ; as indeed it is also with some of the Barbizon Masters, whose subjects are more in accord with British tastes. Those who are fortunate enough to possess the fine edition de luxe George Morland, his Life and Works, by Sir Walter Gilbey and Mr. E. D. Cuming, will agree with me that there is a quality in Morland's art which is almost foreign to the English methods, and more in accordance with the schools with which I have ventured to associate him. Those who visited the Manchester Jubilee Exhibition of 1887 will remember the exhibition of paintings, which, illustrative of British Art of the Victorian era, was unique at the time, and will probably never be surpassed. The exhibition was remarkable not only for the quality and variety of the works gathered together, but also for the admirable manner in which they were displayed, each 127 Oriental Carpets picture and its position having apparently been studied with the desire to illustrate adequately the many and varied schools and periods, and a desire to do full justice to each individual work, not only by the position in which it was placed, but also by the examples in juxtaposition — a matter of the first importance. I understood at the time that the merit of the exhibition rested with the Messrs. Agnew, whose name would be a guarantee of the care with which pictures would be guarded from injury, and also of the certainty of full justice being done to their merits — facts which we shall do well to bear in mind in the event of such an Exhibition as London in time should be able to afford as an object-lesson to foreign nations. The opening of the Buckingham Palace improvements, with the Victoria Memorial, may afford this opportunity, especially in view of the fact that the association of the Prince Consort with the first British Exhibition of 1851 makes such an event as a Memorial International Exhibition a graceful tribute to a Royal couple the memory of whose devoted affection should be one of the finest humanizing influences a nation could desire. My object in referring to the Manchester exhibition of pictures is only to record the names of some prominent artists whose works were not represented in the recent Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, which latter affords an excellent opportunity for briefly noticing some prominent British Artists, and of including some foreign painters whose works have not been included in this attempted survey of personal impressions. I have no records, but, if my memory serves, the Manchester Exhibition included fine examples of David Cox ; a charming col- lection of works by Birket Foster, which impressed me at the time by their delicate freshness and spontaneity ; and examples of Frederick Walker (1 840-1 875), whose untimely death was a great loss to British Art. A representative selection of the works of Ford Madox Brown offers some inducement for a slight digression in the interests of " methods of work," which have intimate bearing on Art generally, and perhaps particularly on the Oriental Art of Carpet- weaving, in which the inspiration of the moment is frequently of the greatest importance to the finished result. Among other fine examples of the Pre-Raphaelite School to be seen in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a picture by Ford Madox Brown entitled " The Last of England," and a very interesting notice of the picture is given in the recently published catalogue, from which I venture to quote somewhat fully. The picture represents himself and his wife, with their little baby, as 128 Contemporary Arts emigrants taking their last farewell of England. " To ensure the peculiar look of light all round, which objects have on a dull day at sea, it was painted for the most part in the open air on dull days, and when the flesh was painted, on cold days. The minuteness of detail which would be visible under such conditions of broad day- light the artist thought it necessary to imitate, as bringing the pathos of the subject more home to the beholder." It seems hardly fair to continue extracting leading items from another author's work ; but the desire to illustrate various aspects of Art production over- comes my objection, my object being to show that the common belief that Art is entirely spontaneous, the mere outcome of a speci- ally endowed nature, is as fallacious as the common idea that the prizes of life fall to those luckily born ; the real truth being that the constant and continual study of Nature and humanity in their meanest and most grandiose aspects is as necessary to the man of genius as to those more modestly endowed, the chief difference in the achieved results being that the first has some hope of becoming immortal, while the latter has to be content with having accomplished the utmost possible in the circumstances and conditions under which he had his part in the world ; the merit in both cases is equal, the balance resting with that " inspiration " which we accept but are unable to explain. In a Diary kept by Ford Madox Brown between the years 1847 and 1856 the following extracts are almost too intimate, if not sacred, to permit of general reading ; but they throw such an interest- ing light upon the evolution of Art that they may be considered permissible: "At the beginning of '53 I worked for about six weeks at the picture of ' Last of England,' Emma coming to sit to me, in the most inhuman weather, from Highgate. This work representing an outdoor scene without sunlight, I painted at it chiefly out of doors, when the snow was lying upon the ground. The madder ribbons of the bonnet took me four weeks to paint. . . . Set to work on the female head of the Emigrant picture from Emma, a complete portrait. Scraped out the head of the man because it had cracked all over. This is the first time a head has ever served me so — three days' work gone smash because of the cursed zinc white I laid over the ground. Settled that I would paint the woman in Emma's shepherd-plaid shawl, instead of the large blue and green plaid, as in the sketch. Thus is a serious affair settled, which has caused me much perplexity. . . . Worked at the resumed coat of the Emigrant, from the one I had made on purpose two winters ago, at Hampstead, and have worn since then, it being horrid vulgar. . . . 129 9 Oriental Carpets 'January 3^, 1855. — To work by twelve at the fringes of the shawl — finished it by one. Triumphantly stripped the lay figure, and set the place somewhat to rights, and restored poor Emma her shawl, which she had done without the half of the winter. The shawl is at length finished, thank the powers above." Such are a few of the doubtless daily conscientious efforts to " paint with brains," for the constant striving after perfection in even the most trivial details, as they may seem, means a wear and tear which, accompanied by a strain to make ends meet, puts demands upon the brain which in many cases end in the asylum, or in an abstention from artistic effort, which to some is worse than death. To return to the Exhibition. It is appropriate to refer to the works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, W. Holman Hunt, Sir J. E. Millais, and Edward C. Burne-Jones (as he then was), all of the Pre-Raphaelite School, and in their way eminent exponents of the art, highly individual in its style, and impossible to accept whole-heartedly after being " saturated " with the art practised by the great masters as seen in the galleries of Rome and Florence, and as displayed in com- paratively recent times by the masters of the Barbizon School, and with the art of Maris, Mauve, Israels, and other exponents of Nature's School, which is perennial, and, when subject to the caprices of exceptional individuality in opposing directions, has the habit of inflicting reproofs which do not encourage repeated attempts. As an example of a form of art which has admirers, but cannot be said to suggest the desirability of extension beyond the limits of the gifted few who have produced imperishable works, I recall the picture by Holman Hunt, " The Scapegoat," which, if my memory serves, was in the selection of pictures now under consideration. This picture was included in the collection of Sir W. Cuthbert Quilter, at the recent sale which adds one more to the notable records of Christie's. The Morning Post of July 10, 1909, referring to this sale, writes as follows : " A number of distinguished men were among the audience. Mr. A. J. Balfour was present for a while ; so were the Earl of Coventry, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Sir Charles Holroyd, Sir Walter Armstrong, and Mr. D. S. MacColl. The National Art Collections Fund was likewise represented, and it was rumoured that this very useful body were anxious to secure Holman Hunt's ' The Scapegoat ' for the purpose of presenting it to the Tate Gallery ; but unless Mr. Byworth, who bought it at 2000 guineas, acted on their behalf, they failed of their object. This figure is an advance on the sums hitherto paid at auction for the picture — £498 : 15s. in 1862, £504 in 1878, and £1417 : 10s. in 130 Contemporary Arts 1887. 'The Scapegoat,' whatever its artistic merits, is a landmark in British art. No one can doubt its sincerity, and the motive that inspired the picture has a wide appeal ; hence its abiding popularity. In his Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brother- hood Mr. Hunt gives an interesting account of the genesis of the picture and its various stages of progress." Turning to the splendid series of portraits by the late George Frederick Watts, which formed a prominent feature of one of the principal rooms, even at this distance of time the impression remains of the plain, simple, direct portrayal of what was most dignified and impressive in the subjects. Familiar acquaintance alone enables one to say how far character is caught by the artist ; but one had the feeling that, G. F. Watts being responsible for the pictures, the general air of nobility conveyed would be suffi- ciently justified in those whose names will be handed down for many ages through a medium which (it is curious to reflect) the great Oriental nations, Egypt, Assyria, Persia, India, China, and Japan, seem to have dispensed with, to the great advantage of the textile arts, which have undoubtedly taken its place. This digression offers an excuse for referring to the extracts from the Diary of Ford Madox Brown, which brought to my mind what the weavers in the carpet trade now call " working for the King " ; this means that when a mistake is made in the woven fabric, the portion woven (if not too extensive) has to be unpicked and woven again ; the work of unpicking and the time wasted in doing this, and weaving it again, naturally not entering into the wages paid. It is pathetic to read of the wasted effort of Madox Brown's three days' work, ruined by the faulty material ; but who stops to think of the many occasions when the artist Maksoud of Kashan patiently unpicked work which, through error in design, colour, or on occasion faulty dyeing, would necessitate this process to enable him to arrive at the absolute perfection which almost every stitch in the carpet displays ? It is the knowledge of these human touches that invests such productions with an additional interest which it is well worth the while of those still unfamiliar with the art within the Carpet to cultivate ; it by no means requires the exercise of technical, historical, connoisseur, or expert knowledge to arrive at this stage of appreciation, and it will be found that the study of these " sentimental " considerations in the most ancient of arts will bring a corresponding appreciation of the many other kindred arts, which, I hold, have been directly or indirectly derived from Carpet-making, the father of all the arts. J 3! Oriental Carpets With the desire to do as much justice to British painting as the accident of having greater sources of information has enabled me to do to French, as far as limits of space allowed, I avail myself of the recent " Exhibition of Modern Works in Painting and Sculpture," forming the collection of the late Mr. George M'Culloch, which was held at the Royal Academy of Arts from January 4 to March 1 3 of this year. Thanks to the intimation of a friend, I was able to make a hasty round of the Galleries on March 11, or just two days before the Exhibition closed, a fact which I relate merely because I was struck with the beggarly attendance — at the utmost estimate, 500 lovers of Art. I presume an average attendance of 2000 persons on ordinary days, and from 3000 to 4000 on "crush" days, would represent the appreciation of the British public of the yearly efforts of the artists who give themselves up body and soul for their pleasure and delectation. The scanty attendance struck me, because the general impression conveyed by the collection was that it contained some of the choicest pictures of the past twenty years of Royal Academy Exhibitions, and that some fine examples of modern foreign painters were exhibited. The Exhibition as a whole im- pressed me as being vastly superior to the collection at the Tate Gallery, which is perhaps explained by the fact that leading artists prefer the open purse of the amateur to the tender mercies of the members of the Chantrey Bequest Committee. The following pictures which attracted my attention are taken from the catalogue in their paged order, and the list is intended to give the names of artists who have not been mentioned in connection with the Manchester Exhibition : — Jules Bastien-Lepage Sir L. Alma-Tadema, R.A. Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A. Jules Bastien-Lepage Sir Luke Fildes, R.A. Lord Leighton, P.R.A. Edwin A. Abbey, R.A. Michael Munkacsy Sir W. Q. Orchardson, R.A. George Clausen, R.A. William Adolphe Bouguereau Henry Harpignies Jules Bastien-Lepage Solomon J. Solomon, R.A. H. W. B. Davis, R.A. Lord Leighton, P.R.A. " The Potato Gatherers." "The Sculpture Gallery." " Love among the Ruins." "Sir Isumbras at the Ford." " Pauvre Fauvette." " The Al-fresco Toilet." " The Garden of the Hesperides." " Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and the Lady Anne." " TSte-a-TSte." "The Young Duke." " Ploughing." " Cupid and Psyche." " Une Soiree d'automne." " Pas Meche." "The Judgment of Paris." "Now came still Evening on." " The Daphnephoria." 132 Plate IX Plate IX ORIENTAL CARPET Size 12-3 x 6-3 Warp — 10 knots to the inch Weft — 10 knots to the inch IOO KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) *MsmMBM Contemporary Arts Edwin A. Abbey, R.A. David Farquharson, A. R.A. A. Holmbert The Hon. John Collier Joseph Farquharson, A. R.A. Peter Graham, R.A. J. Seymour Lucas, R.A. B. W. Leader, R.A. Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. Henrietta Rae Arthur Hacker, A. R.A Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. T. Sidney Cooper, R.A. James Maris Elizabeth Butler (Lady Butler) J. A. McNeill Whistler " Lear and Cordelia." "Full Moon and Springtide." "The Connoisseur." " A Glass of Wine with Caesar Borgia." " Cauld blaws the Wind frae East to West." "Caledonia Stern and Wild." " The Call to Arms." " Worcester Cathedral." "The Sleeping Princess." " Psyche before the Throne of Venus." " ' Vae Victis,' the Sack of Morocco by the Almohades." " Psyche's Wedding." " Cattle." "A Dutch Landscape." " Inkerman." " Portrait of the Painter." John M. Swan, R.A. Auguste Rodin E. Onslow Ford, R.A. E. Onslow Ford, R.A. SCULPTURE Bronze Group Marble Bronze Statue Bronze Bust " Orpheus." "The Kiss." " Echo." "Portrait of the late George McCulloch, Esq." My selection was necessarily made in haste, perhaps even at random, and is not intended in any sense to record representative British Artists, except in so far as my own personal preferences for those represented in the collection were concerned. I was pleased to see that Lord Leighton's " Garden of Hesperides " looked even richer and fuller in the colouring than when first exhibited at the Royal Academy, upon which occasion, if my memory serves, it occupied a space on the right-hand wall of the very room in which it was last seen in the place of honour at the end of the room, an improvement in position and light which may account for the better effect of colouring. The picture by George Clausen, " Ploughing," had to my mind a curious resemblance to the two pictures by the ill-fated young artist Bastien-Lepage, " The Potato Gatherers " and " Pauvre Fauvette " ; the latter, however, impressed one as being Nature in its fortuitous aspects, whereas the figures in Mr. Clausen's picture conveyed the impression of having been " rigged out " for the occasion. Sir J. E. Millais' " Sir Isumbras at the Ford " was a genuine treat to me, not having any recollection of having seen it in the Manchester Exhibition, although doubtless there. The pictures by Sir Edward Burne-Jones also gave me great pleasure, although my appreciation of this artist is always present in comparison with the splendid series of four pictures called " The Briar Rose." It 133 9« Oriental Carpets was perhaps a little unfortunate for Mr. Solomon J. Solomon that his picture, " The Judgment of Paris," was placed in such a position as to invite comparison with M. Bouguereau's " Cupid and Psyche," the delightfully delicate flesh tints of which, thrown into contrasting relief by the somewhat daring blue of Cupid's floating mantle, caused the Englishman's picture to appear washed out ; Mrs. Grundy doubtless prevented the adoption of a bolder moulding and colouring, which the French school of painting permits, to the great benefit of the art. It may not be out of place here to recall to the minds of those who have seen it, the very fine picture by M. Bouguereau which, some twenty-five years ago, formed one of the great features of the handsome bar-room attached to the Hoffmann Restaurant, New York. This picture was entitled " Satyr and Nymphs," and cost 20,000 dollars, a quite considerable sum at that time for a modern picture ; the proprietor doubtless found it a good investment, which no lover of Art can grudge him, for there are many worse excuses for having a drink than the pleasure of paying an insignificant sum to inspect a really fine work of art. I remember seeing at the old Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, some fine cabinet paintings after the style of Meissonier, which one hardly expected to find amid such surroundings. The portrait of Mr. Whistler, by the artist himself, interested me greatly, for reasons to follow ; I therefore reproduce the item in the catalogue recording the picture : 299. — " Portrait of the Painter," J. A. McNeill Whistler. Born 1834 ; died 1903. Half figure, seated to 1., looking round at the spectator ; grey coat, black velvet cap ; in his r. hand he holds two paint-brushes. Signed with a butterfly. Canvas, 29J by 21 J in. In passing straight from this work to item No. 353, " Group. — Marble. ' The Kiss.' Auguste Rodin," which I happened to do in my desire to see this work of the French master sculptor, one could not fail to be struck by the correspondence in the methods of the two artists, albeit in such distinct mediums. In both works there was the same indefinite feeling that something was wanting ; but upon considering what could be added, or taken away, to improve the impression conveyed to the eye and mind, the conviction was forced upon one that, from whatever point of view art of such individual characteristics was seen, both works would suffer irretriev- ably by being reduced in any way to conform with the conventional standard established by the traditional veneration for the Italian school of painting and sculpture. 134 Contemporary Arts I have ventured to say elsewhere that while I have a whole- hearted admiration for genuine expressions of genius, however far removed from the accepted standard of the Old Masters (and in music Wagner and Tschaikovsky broke away successfully from many of the old conventions), yet, if the Pre-Raphaelite, Impressionist, Art Nouveau Schools, and such artists as Whistler and Rodin are right, then Phidias, Praxiteles, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, and Velasquez are open to criticism. Lord Byron, when he died in 1824, left behind him in his room at Missolonghi fifteen stanzas of a XVIIth Canto to Don Juan, four- teen of which were included in the splendid edition of the poem published by Mr. John Murray in 1903. The Vth verse, for the use of which I make due acknowledgment, is exquisitely appro- priate to the doubt expressed above. It may be said that the poet probably relieves the minds of many who may not be able to accept quite philosophically the new order of things in all the directions which will result when the problem of aerial flight is successfully solved, and, for instance, the art student, after carefully viewing the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum, will be able to extract a pair of wings of the latest pattern from his waistcoat pocket, and while the impression is fresh in his mind fly to the Constantinople Museum, and, inspecting the superb Alexander Sarco- phagus, determine in his mind how far the art of Phidias laid the foundations of a masterpiece, in which he would find interest in making up his mind as to whether Praxiteles, Scopas, or Lysippus was directly or indirectly responsible for the actual work. He would find additional interest in conjecturing to what extent the said Parthenon sculptures inspired the exquisite colouring of the Alexander Sarcophagus, which seems from the accounts of Michaelis and Walters to combine in inimitable fashion the arts of sculpture and painting, calling me back to Rodin and Whistler, who, if the idea had only occurred to them, might have been associated with Mr. Brock, and made of the Victoria Memorial the Eighth Wonder of the World. Facilities in travelling and communication, and the arts of photography and reproduction in monotone and colour, have had such an enormous influence in making the works of the great artists in architecture, sculpture, and painting familiar to the world, that it cannot be said what will be the result when, it being possible to pass the greatest distances from point to point without the delays consequent upon changing stations, and dispensing even with the hotel, the present differences of opinion resulting from want of *3S Oriental Carpets direct comparison of actual work will further elucidate points which have been knotty, simply because opportunities of comparative examination have stood in the way of reconciling differences between experts, which are conceivable when one relies upon (for instance) the actual Alexander Sarcophagus as it is to be seen at Constanti- nople, and others upon even the most perfectly produced colour representations of the sculptured and painted effects, which at the very best can only give the vaguest ideas of points such as the modelling of the figures, and the extent to which they are "under- cut," which may supply the key to the whole situation. The world owes much to the poet of whom the late Mr. Swin- burne, in Under the Microscope, wrote : " In Byron the mighty past and in Tennyson the petty present is incarnate ; other giants of less prominence are ranked behind the former, other pigmies of less proportion are gathered about the latter ; but throughout it is assumed that no fairer example than either could be found of the best that his age had to show." The debt of gratitude due for Sardanapalus, Cain, and Don Juan will be added to in the eyes of those with little facility in expressing their thoughts in words, by the following stanza, which in its worldly wisdom is characteristic of the noble author and his unfinished masterpoem : — DON JUAN— CANTO THE SEVENTEENTH V There is a common-place book argument, Which glibly glides from every tongue ; When any dare a new light to present, " If you are right, then everybody's wrong ! " Suppose the converse of this precedent So often urged, so loudly and so long ; " If you are wrong, then everybody's right ! " Was ever everybody yet so quite ? The above stanza is very appropriate to the endeavour recently made to create an interest in the scheme to complete the reproduction of the Parthenon on the Calton Hill, Edinburgh. Mr. William Mitchell, S.S.C., with an influence and eloquence which will probably always be a marvel to the citizens of Edinburgh, succeeded in extract- ing a grant of ioo guineas from the Corporation, for the purpose of bringing the project before the world at large. Ten thousand copies of an " Appeal to the Scottish People " were issued with the sanction and approval of the Town Council, as expressed in a letter from the Town Clerk, Mr. Thomas Hunter. With characteristic caution this letter concluded with these words : "The Town Council, while not committing themselves to approval of Mr. Mitchell's 136 Contemporary Arts views, invite your attention to the questions discussed in the pamphlet." Owing to an entire absence of response, I undertook the issue of an edition de luxe, entitled The Edinburgh Parthenon, in which, with the idea of at least attracting the notice of book- lovers, I used to some purpose the knowledge acquired from many years' collection of the finest French eighteenth-century and more modern books of a similarly high class, and I venture to think that no better example of book production in the matter of printing, paper, coloured illustrations, plan-printing, and general style has been put forward in this country. This edition de luxe consisted of 500 copies, and was issued gratuitously to the leading literary institutions and book-collectors in the civilized world, under the direction of a bookseller in London, whose name for some fifty years has been one to conjure with. The response to the 10,000 copies of the "Appeal" and the 500 copies of the edition de luxe (which latter studiously avoided anything in the suggestion of " begging ") would be handsomely covered by a " pony," which, for the benefit of the uninitiated, I translate as £25. I must confess to an intention to leave the whole subject severely alone, with the feeling that to urge any claims for the completion of a building of such archaeological, antiquarian, and artistic recom- mendations as the Parthenon would be worse than useless, and I should have contented myself with the bare contrast of the unfinished Medici Tomb in Florence and the inartistic abortion on the Calton Hill, which seems to quite satisfy the Edinburgh people. My reason for mentioning the matter of the Edinburgh Par- thenon here is that some few days ago I received from the dis- tinguished Scottish Sculptor, Mr. Pittendrigh Macgillivray, a very choicely printed copy of The Sculptures of the Parthenon, the title of which bears the additional information, " Lecture by Pittendrigh Macgillivray, R.S.A., Edinburgh, 1908." I am under the impression that the only reason Mr. Macgillivray was not associated with Mr. Mitchell and myself was a complete divergence in our political views ; Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Macgillivray being fervid Scotsmen, while, unfortunately for the success of the project, I happened to be an Englishman, with very pronounced views as to the necessity of Unity of Empire, if the British Empire is to escape the fate of ancient nations of at one time almost equal world- wide power and importance. Having been responsible for the conventional phrase, "Art has no nationality," I venture now to expand it into "Art has neither religion, 137 Oriental Carpets nationality, nor politics," and as I do not think that any difference of opinion on any of these points should stand in the way of what may become a question of Art Imperialism, I take this opportunity of making a suggestion which may commend itself to those who have failed to respond to the recent invitation to subscribe for the purchase of Holbein's picture, the "Duchess of Milan," which, with its artistic merits and cracked panel, has some of the virtues attached to the superb ruin on the Acropolis, Athens. With the remembrance of the effort of one man, Mr. Cecil John Rhodes, P.C., to promote the harmony of nations by inviting the young elect of all countries to partake of the hospitality of the ancient University of Oxford, the British Empire should not be slow in following up such an admirable lead in the literary and social direc- tion, by endeavouring to do something in the same way for Art, and a golden opportunity awaits our future Minister of Art and Commerce on the Calton Hill, Edinburgh ; for in spite of the utter rebuff with which my innocent interference with Scottish domestic affairs has been received, there is no denying the fact that the Calton Hill site is beyond question one which, in holding its own with the Acropolis, and the site of the Casino, Monte Carlo, can be said to be one of the choice spots on God's earth. To complete the Edinburgh Parthenon, with all its wealth of external and internal sculpture, might well take twenty years. With an open invitation to the young sculptors of all countries, upon the lines of the Rhodes Scholarships, a school of Architecture and Sculpture could be established in connection with the Parthenon reproduction, which would be of the greatest benefit in promoting good feeling among nations, which could surely be done in connection with an art which, not requiring the fervour of the sister art of painting, would tend to a solidity of mutual interest among the students, which might on some future day result in an influence, such as that of Phidias and Michael Angelo, which would tend to the best possible results, and incidentally relieve this and other countries of a war burden, reducing the cost of the building and sculptures to an amount which, in the light of a " peace-offering," would be contemptible in its insignificance. Presuming an amount of £2,000,000 would be required to complete the Parthenon itself, and the subsidiary buildings so admirably planned by Mr. Henry F. Kerr, A.R.I.B.A. ; if spread over twenty years, which would be desirable in the interests of the international entente ', a sum of only £100,000 per annum would be required for the work to be carried out on such lines as to 138 Contemporary Arts secure the hearty co-operation of the leading sculptors of the British Empire, without entailing any sacrifice on their part which might tend to rob their efforts of the full benefit of the inspiration which nowadays is easily crushed out by the barren acknowledgment of " tardy thanks and scant praise." I first entered into correspondence with Mr. Mitchell with regard to the Parthenon on July 18, 1906, and attributing the failure of the project to the differences of opinion arising solely from nationality and politics, I have on more than one occasion suggested my being made either a "Jonah " or a " Scapegoat," and I am now willing to be made both ; for there is no reason why a project, admirable in itself, should be allowed to fall to the ground because (as I imagine) I still strongly approve of Mr. David Scott-MoncriefFs suggestion (in a letter dated November 14, 1906, reproduced in facsimile in the edition de luxe) of completing the National Monument (as some know it in Edinburgh) in commemoration of the Union of 1707 ; whereas I have found in the course of a long correspondence that there are Scotsmen of undoubted loyalty and patriotism who regard that event with decidedly mixed feelings. No apology should be needed for introducing the subject of the Edinburgh Parthenon here ; it is a matter of not only artistic but national importance. There is no reason why the Calton Hill, Edinburgh, should not be made worthy of the following description of the Acropolis, from Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Athens, the first portion of which, published March 1837, remams to this day a brilliant example of " an interrupted design" (see Plate XXI). " The Acropolis that towered above the homes and thoroughfares of men — a spot too sacred for human habitation — became, to use a proverbial phrase, ' a City of the Gods.' The citizen was everywhere to be reminded of the majesty of the State — his patriotism was to be increased by the pride in her beauty — his taste to be elevated by the spectacle of her splendour. Thus flocked to Athens all who throughout Greece were eminent in Art. Sculptors and architects vied with each other in adorning the young Empress of the Seas ; then rose the masterpieces of Phidias, of Callicrates, of Mnesicles, which, even either in their broken remains, or in the feeble copies of imitators less inspired, still command so intense a wonder, and furnish models so immortal. And if, so to speak, their bones and relics excite our awe and envy, as testifying of a lovelier and grander race, which the deluge of time has swept away, what, in that day, must have been their brilliant effect — unmutilated in their fair proportions — fresh in all their lineaments and hues ? For their 139 Oriental Carpets beauty was not limited to the symmetry of arch and column, nor their materials confined to the marbles of Pentelicus and Paros. Even the exterior of the temples glowed with the richest harmony of colours, and was decorated with the purest gold ; an atmosphere peculiarly favourable both to the display and the preservation of art, permitted to external pediments and friezes all the minuteness of ornament — all the brilliancy of colours ; — such as in the interior of Italian churches may yet be seen — vitiated, in the last, by a gaudy and barbarous taste. Nor did the Athenians spare any cost upon the works that were, like the tombs and tripods of their heroes, to be the monuments of a nation to distant ages, and to transmit the most irrefragable proof ' that the power of ancient Greece was not an idle legend.' The whole democracy were animated with the passion of Pericles ; and when Phidias recommended marble as a cheaper material than ivory for the great statue of Minerva, it was for that reason that ivory was preferred by the unanimous voice of the assembly. Thus, whether it were extravagance or magnificence, the blame in one case, the admiration in another, rests not more with the minister than the populace. It was, indeed, the great characteristic of those works, that they were entirely the creations of the people : without the people, Pericles could not have built a temple, or engaged a sculptor. The miracles of that day resulted from the enthusiasm of a population yet young — full of the first ardour for the Beautiful — dedicating to the State, as to a mistress, the trophies honourably won, or the treasures injuriously extorted — and uniting the resources of a nation with the energy of an individual, because the toil, the cost, were borne by those who succeeded to the enjoyment and arrogated the glory." It is pleasant to be able to record the names of artists to whom this country owes so much in the way of interior decorations and furniture. The brothers Adam, Robert (1728-1792) and James (d. 1794), were both architects to King George III., and probably owed much to the advantages the position afforded in improving the street architecture of London, Edinburgh, and other important towns ; in addition, they designed a number of important mansions through- out the country. It is not improbable that their names are better known now on account of a classical and well-defined style which with the utmost simplicity combines an ease and elegance leaving no room for any suggestion of bald severity. The Greek architects and sculptors left little room for anything impressively individualistic in these directions ; but, fortunately perhaps, in the matter of interior decorations and furniture especially, by the destruction of most of the 140 Contemporary Arts leading ancient examples, the former use of which is sufficiently proved by the recent discoveries by Mr. Theodore M. Davis, fully referred to in the earlier portion of this chapter, the field has been left open for all with the genius ready to take advantage of the opportunity, and those familiar with the original sketches of the brothers Adam, now in the Hans Soane Museum, London, will not hesitate to give them a leading place among the furnishing artists of all countries. Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) followed somewhat on the classical lines of the brothers Adam, but was even more severe in style, except in his later designs ; he moreover showed a particular preference for inlaid work, and is generally recognized by examples of old English mahogany inlaid with rose-wood, and boxwood and rose-wood inlaid with mahogany, most of which, it may safely be assumed, he was as happily innocent of as he certainly would not have been capable of producing, however active his life may have been. Thomas Chippendale (flourished 1760) was a man of sufficient pride in his profession to wish to avoid the stigma of being a mere " copyist," and found an outlet for his talents in a style which, while being on occasions severely simple, has in most of the examples of carved furniture attributed to him something of the florid effects of the French rococo style. The brothers Adam, Chippendale, and Sheraton all worthily upheld the best traditions of a classical style of furnishing which would have done credit to the remotest ages — in fact, would by no means have been out of place in many ancient palaces and mansions. It is now necessary, in conclusion, to deal with an artist, William Morris (1 834-1 896), whose career is so well within the memory of all, and his productions so much en evidence in all parts of the world, that it is perhaps premature, and may be regarded as impertinent, to attempt to give any particular account of his multifarious art interests. Anything but a brief reference to some of his achievements is rendered unnecessary by the monumental work of Mr. Aymer Vallance, The Art of William Morris ; and the two beautifully pro- duced volumes, The Life of William Morris, by Mr. J. W. Mackail, should be on the shelves of all interested in a strenuous artistic life, and it may be added lovers of books, for the two volumes in question are in all respects admirably produced, and a credit to the publishers and printers of the day. Reference must also be made to William Morris and his Art, the Easter Art Annual published in 1899, in connection with The Art 141 Oriental Carpets Journal, by Messrs. J. S. Virtue & Co., Ltd. ; and The Decora- tive Art of Sir E. Burne-Jones, extra number of The Art 'Journal, issued in 1900. The two artists dealt with in these two numbers were so intimately associated in their most important efforts that it is impossible to deal with their revival of the ancient and noble art of tapestry-weaving without more or less regarding them as one and the same person ; it is equally impossible to mention their names with- out associating them with Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1 828-1 882), from whom they both sought advice and received inspiration. The Easter Art Annual, The Life and Work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, published in 1902 by Messrs. Virtue, appropriately followed the similar volumes devoted to Mr. William Morris and Sir E. Burne-Jones, and the country may well be proud of the life-work of the three men whose names stand for an epoch of art effort which made its mark on the nineteenth century. The enormous energy displayed by Mr. William Morris in literature and art reminds one more of ancient and medieval days than of the somewhat dilettante nineteenth century, when the stimulus of lucrative commissions of a social and business nature were hardly outweighed by a divine afflatus which burned in the direction of the verdict of posterity. Mr. Morris exercised his talents as an artist first in the way of improvements in dyeing, which naturally led to textiles, in which tapestry, carpets, furniture coverings, and curtains of silk and cotton played alternate parts ; later, in connection with the house in Oxford Street associated with his name, he pro- duced some excellent examples of furniture. In addition to these activities, and others too numerous to mention, he interested himself in church glass, of which there is a fine example in St. Philip's, Birmingham. The Kelmscott Press should be mentioned, as the types he designed — first the "Golden Type," then the "Troy Type," and, in consequence of this proving too large for the contemplated " Chaucer," the " Chaucer Type " — all bear evidence to the trend of his tastes, which, like his personality, seemed made for earlier times. It is probable that both Mr. William Morris and Sir Edward Burne-Jones will as artists live longer in connection with the splendid tapestries, with which they worked in the happiest associa- tion, than in any other direction of their respective talents. It is quite impossible to do much more than mention some of the more interesting pieces ; but, taking first the coloured illustrations in the two Art Annuals already referred to, a piece entitled " Flora," with a full-length figure by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and ornament by William Morris, and a pendant, " Pomona," mentioned in the second 142 Contemporary Arts volume of Mr. Mackail's work, were both probably executed by Morris & Co. in 1886. "The Vision of the Holy Grail," executed from a coloured drawing by H. Dearie, was designed, as regards the figures, by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and, being executed by Morris & Co. (1891), it may be presumed that the forest background and the flowers in the foreground were either drawn by or inspired by William Morris. " The Passing of Venus " is described in the Burne-Jones Annual as a " Design for Arras Tapestry from the Water-Colour Sketch by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. By per- mission of the Executors." All these pieces, as far as can be judged from the coloured reproductions, have the breadth and nobility of treatment to be expected from the artists concerned. Mr. Mackail refers, in his second volume of Morris's Life, to a Lecture upon Tapestry Weaving, given November 1, 1888, at the first exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Society, at which three Arras tapestries from the Merton Abbey looms were shown ; it was also mentioned that the " great series of tapestries from the Morte (T Arthur now hung at Stanmore Hall were then being put in hand." Later in the same volume it is mentioned that a tapestry entitled " Peace," exhibited at the 1889 Arts and Crafts Exhibition, was sold for £160 ; and in 1890 "the magnificent Arras tapestry, ' The Adoration of the Kings,' which now hangs in Exeter Chapel, Oxford," was finished. I seem to remember having seen, through the courtesy of Messrs. Morris & Co., Oxford Street, London, some few years after the death of Mr. William Morris, a very superb set of four tapestries illustrating the " Quest of the Holy Grail," which in design, colour, and texture were worthy of the highest traditions of the art. From the time they were exhibited, it is to be presumed that they were left unfinished at Mr. Morris's death ; but the impressiveness of the drawing, and the exquisite colouring, seemed to suggest the full partnership of the two great artists. It may seem invidious to criticize the works of such great men ; but there is room for regret that in working on the lines of their particular individualities and inspirations both William Morris and E. Burne-Jones could not, while legitimately founding their art upon the art of the great past, have sufficiently withdrawn themselves from the spirit of antiquity to prevent a certain feeling that when the influence of their names has worn off there may be a danger of at least some of their art-work being regarded much in the light of " modern-antique." This thought arises in contrasting their art in the direction of painting, decoration, and the textile arts with the 143 Oriental Carpets unique pedestal upon which Richard Wagner (i 8 13-1883), as poet- artist-musician, securely placed himself by his exercise of the three arts ; for it is impossible to consider his wonderful tone-dramas, which irresistibly call up a phantasmagorical line of ancient and medieval spirits, as in any degree inferior to anything created by Morris and Burne-Jones ; yet Wagner has infused into his music an originality and individuality of his own, which, while preserving the best qualities of the masters of the divine Art (he worshipped Beethoven), still leaves this foundation with a superstructure of his own, which moves his art forwards instead of backwards, and invests the mind with a profound conviction that, while being essentially the music of the present, it is equally that of the future ; and that in allowing his ardent spirit to throw itself a century ahead of the understanding and appreciation of his time, Wagner has made a bid for posterity which will very probably place him higher among the Immortals than his staunchest admirer can foresee in these times of change and craving for novelty. There has been occasion in this chapter to mention patrons of Art to whom the world is indebted for the patronage and support (if such terms can be used) which enabled the master minds in all directions to give of their best, without the sordid considerations of " where to find the next crust," which unhappily too often accompany the exclusive pursuit of the Fickle Goddess, in spite of the saying of Agathon, quoted by Aristotle in his Ethics (Bishop Welldon's translation) : Art fosters Fortune, Fortune fosters Art. None better deserves the position of Art-Patron of the highest type than Louis II. of Bavaria. In the lavishness and magnificence of his support and his loyal friendship to Wagner, he may well rank as king among those who by their actions clearly recognized that in the domains of art and literature Mind stands above any considerations of social, political, or worldly rank, and that as " Man is the measure of all things," so " Mind is the measure of man." The fuller acceptation of this fact may in the future lead to the uplifting of all matters appertaining to Art. It is to be hoped that the British Empire will be able to take its stand at the tribunal of Art Judgment of the Nations, and be able to bear comparison with ancient Greece, which is associated for all time with the name of Pericles, although in other respects his name might well have been counted among the lost, as he was probably shrewd enough to foresee — which suggestion is to his credit. It is 144 Plate X Plate X JACQUARD CARPET Size 12-4 x 6-9 Warp — 10 cords to the inch Weft — 10 cords to the inch 100 CORDS TO THE SCOJARE INCH (See Analysis) Contemporary Arts related in Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton's uncompleted Athens, its Rise and Fall, that Pericles, having been accused of too lavishly squandering the public funds on the new buildings which adorned the city, answered to the great tribunal before which he urged his defence, " If you think that I have expended too much, charge the sums to my account, not yours — but on this condition, let the edifices be inscribed with my name, not that of the Athenian people." The account goes on to say, " This mode of defence, though perhaps but an oratorical hyperbole, conveyed a rebuke which the Athenians were an audience calculated to answer but in one way- — they dis- missed the accusation and applauded the extravagance." This aptly illustrates the confidence with which Pericles had undertaken architectural works on a great scale, and at an enormous expense, which the greatest private fortune could not have sustained ; and, as the sequel shows, he was justified in his estimate of the support which he could expect from the bulk of the citizens, whose every- day artistic training (owing to the free exposure of the works of art which had preceded the Great Age) would cause them to appreciate the efforts which have resulted in the names Athens, the Acropolis, and Pericles being synonymous. I regret that my personal knowledge of Germany does not permit of my making more than the briefest reference to her arts, which, since the 1900 Exhibition and the introduction of that hybrid the " Art Nouveau," have shown a distinct tendency towards the grotesque, for no other expression will describe a style of art which, however passable in the hands of the master of the minute, has merely served as an excuse to those who, being entirely devoid of the first principles of an art worthy of the name, mislead those more deficient still with the glamour of " novelty," which, without the inspiration of genius, is the most frivolous will-o'-the-wisp. Germany's place in the art of the world is secure enough as the cradle and the home of modern printing ; and with such names as Bach, Beethoven, Meyerbeer, and Wagner, in the art of Music, whatever steps she may make in other directions, she will still be known as the home of an art which our own Browning has characterized : I state it thus : There is no truer truth obtainable By man than comes of Music. Austria, in organizing the great Carpet Exhibition of 189 1 in Vienna, has particular claims for consideration from all lovers of textile fabrics, and it is a genuine regret to me that an absolute lack 145 10 Oriental Carpets of any personal information on the subject of her arts prevents more than the mere record of her name. Thorwaldsen (1779- 1844), son of a sailor and born in Copenhagen, comes to the mind in marking a place for Denmark in this rough survey. His first serious effort was a colossal statue, "Jason," which at the time of its production created a sensation. " Mars," the " Three Graces," " The Muses," " Apollo," " Mercury," and " Adonis " give indication of the classical turn of his genius, made use of in restorations of the antique, which, however, were not entirely successful, owing to the lack of scientific advice. His last great artistic efforts were directed towards carrying out a commission from Napoleon I., " The Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon." China and Japan should be grouped with the ancient races ; but it will be conceded that the extremely individual character of their arts, jealously guarded from any contact with the influence of other nations, relegates their productions into a class by itself. Some few years ago a very choice collection of Chinese Porcelain was on exhibition at Messrs. Duveen's, Old Bond Street, for the benefit of the Artists' General Benevolent Institution, and was probably a revelation to those who, like myself, had the most primitive ideas of the exquisite refinements possible in a material requiring the greatest delicacy of handling in every process of creation, and the impressive effect obtainable by the simplest of means, which in itself is a test of the severest description. Whether the impression was due to the admirable and natural way in which each piece was displayed to the greatest advantage, without the slightest suggestion of an endeavour towards effect, or the genuine effects of an " art within art," the feeling engendered was that there was a reason in the fact that in whatever nation the art might be carried on — Germany with its " Dresden china," France with its " Sevres china," England with its "Worcester china" — the word "china" would be sufficiently understood of the people, and in its use carry on the tradition of the great art which will in itself ever make the nation famous. I venture to quote from the catalogue in question, which in an introduction by Francis Bennett-Goldney, F.S.A., entitled " Chinese Porcelain," gives some historical facts. It appears that the Emperor Hwang-ti appointed Ning-fong-tse Director of his Royal potteries about the year 2700 B.C. Certain improvements in the manufacture, connected with the introduction of superior kilns for firing, were recorded as belonging to 2255 B.C. There is nothing incredible in this early practice of the art, and the implied superiority due to the 146 Contemporary Arts thousands of years of continual experience, any more than there is in the equal prominence of the Persians in Carpet-weaving, due probably to the fact that from the beginnings of the nation some special turn of artistic genius led to the initiation of the industry, which would be passed down from generation to generation, with the same insistence of nature as other national characteristics are handed down, in which respects the Chinese and Japanese are unmistakable, probably owing to the restriction of all foreign settlers and the consequent purity of the races from any strange blood. There is no purpose to be served in merely quoting dates ; but a few of the class headings of the catalogue are suggestive — " Rose Family," " Black Family," " Green and Yellow Family " ; in which latter group I noted a very beautiful inverted pear-shaped vase with spreading base, green ground decorated with black star-honey- comb diaper, period K'ang Hsi, the shade of green being par- ticularly charming. " Coral Red Ground " ; " Blue and White," of which some most delightful specimens were shown, some large, as such specimens go, measuring 22 inches ; " Powder Blue with Blue Decoration " ; " Powder Blue with Green Family Decoration " ; " Self-Colour " ; " Rose Family Egg-Shell Porcelain " ; and " Green Family and Coloured Enamel Decoration." The mere recital of the names will be sufficient for the expert ; but to the tyro the soft- sounding delicacy of the attributions alone suffices to create a picture of ethereal effects, which carry their own charm. The beauty of the Chinese embroideries is well known and appreciated, although probably very few have seen the finest specimens, which would be made for the royal household ; reserva- tion being made of the soldiers of all nations, who during the Boxer revolt made sad havoc of treasures which the policy of nations should regard as sacred. Japan has within recent memory come so suddenly to the front in the art of warfare that it is impossible to say how soon her treasure- houses will be thrown open to the world, or how soon in consequence she will lose the charming freshness of her arts. The wonderful lacquer, inlaid with ivory, mother-of-pearl, or with the same material in high relief — with or without adjunct, the lacquer itself is wonder- ful, and the secret has never passed from its home. The bronzes, the carved ivories, also lacquered in silver and gold, the metal sword- hilts, the exquisitely embroidered silks, and (what is probably better known, from imitations freely offered to the unsophisticated passenger at Suez) " the real old Satsuma and cloisonne ware," at prices which 147 Oriental Carpets create astonishment by their moderation — there again the finest old pieces are known only to visitors to the country, with un- doubted credentials ; but in our London museums are to be seen sufficient examples to create the impression of an art which in its way is unique, and as much entitled to distinction as any practised by any nation. In Richard Muther's History of Modern Painting, in a chapter entitled " The Influence of the Japanese," the author gives illustrations after the Japanese masters, Hokusai, Korin, Okio, Hiroshige, Outa- maro, Kiyonaga, Harunobu, Toyokumi, and speaks of the great colourist Shunsho. He also mentions the artists in woodcut engrav- ing, Matahei and Icho and Moronobu, all of whom flourished in the seventeenth century, and whose names recall to mind the young artist Aubrey Beardsley, who undoubtedly received inspiration from the Japanese, although he did not need any assistance but his own genius to make a position for himself in a very brief space of time. Through the nature of his inspirations, and the want of a strong con- trolling artistic influence, he worked on occasions in an outre fashion, which may prejudice his reputation. Rowlandson also frequently passed the bounds of legitimate art, although such examples are somewhat redeemed by a cleverness which almost overcomes the choice of subject. The above brief notice of some of the Japanese masters of paint- ing and wood-engraving was written some months before the recent sensational sales of the " Happer Japanese Prints," some of the amounts realized for which probably surprised those whose acquaint- ance with the subject was limited to the bare knowledge that such masterpieces of line, form, and ethereal colouring existed. It would almost seem that, the conventional realms of Art collection being exhausted, the time has come for a closer attention to products offer- ing the attraction of novelty and genuine inspiration. Those who have been fortunate enough to pursue this fascinating line of some- what rare connoisseurship will have cause to congratulate themselves upon having been early in the field, for the results of the sale above mentioned are not unlikely to cause an appreciation in price of any- thing fine, similar to the steady and continuous advance in the prices obtained for examples of the Barbizon School of painting, which seems to have followed the value attached to the works of Jean Francois Millet (i 8 14-1875). It may not be as inappropriate to refer again to the great Barbizon artists here as may appear to be the case at first sight, although I will leave others to draw the analogy ; in the meantime the prices of two of Millet's greatest pictures may be of 148 Contemporary Arts interest. In the Almanack Hac/iette, 1894, among " Les Cinquante Tableaux les plus chers," the following entries appear : — J. F. Millet. " La Bergere," purchased by M. Chauchard of Paris for 1,000,000 francs, from the Collection Van Pragt. J. F. Millet. "L'Angelus," also purchased by M. Chauchard of Paris for 750,000 francs, from the Sutton Collection (U.S.A.). This information may be behind the times, but is interesting as a record which may not be within the reach of all. " L'Angelus " was exhibited at the Salon of 1859, and is recorded in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers as having been originally sold to an American for 1 500 francs. M. Chauchard's recent death is here noted. Without any disrespect to the really great Japanese masters of Art, it may be said that the transition from the grotesques of the country to the question of Savage Art is easy and natural. Probably the most striking feature of the arts of the Maoris and the American Indians is the art of tattooing, which, without the elaborate designs and diversity of colours of the Japanese, is probably more reminiscent of early ornamental forms, which possibly came to be regarded as sacred, before the priests (first, perhaps) and then their proselytes became the living victims of an "Art for Art's sake" which the most enthusiastic of Bohemians of other nations have only followed as a frolic. I have before me photographs of the old Maori king, Tawhiao, whose entire face (except the space by the high cheek-bones) is elaborately tattooed in sweeping lines starting from the nose and going to the hair of the forehead, radiating from a point between the eyebrows, fan-shaped. The lines, in sets of four, decorating the upper part of the face, terminate in a curious short curve ending the main forehead lines, and continuing from the lower straight bar of two lines, carrying on the four lines straight to the upper part of the ear. The nose is decorated with two close spiral circles, resembling the continuous spiral key-work on the back of the chair found in the tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou, bearing the names of " Queen Tiyi and Sat-amen." The chin and lower part of the cheek are also closely tattooed, and the whole design is interesting as exhibiting a form of art which on closer inquiry might lead to interesting developments. The Maori women, when married, are tattooed on the lips and on the chin, but in much less elaborate fashion than the men. The Maori Wharris or native huts have the immemorial peaked roof, with solid log supports, some of which are elaborately carved in the spiral fashion of their tattooing, but with the curves broken in 149 10 a Oriental Carpets a fashion which betokens some approach to artistic considerations, as avoiding the primitive key-work, which is the earliest form of the same class of decoration. The rafters forming the " porch " supports are also closely carved, the curves being made with artistic precision. The heads of the pillars bearing the roof are surmounted with a grotesque head, which would compare favourably with the most awe- inspiring example of the Japanese masks. The peak of the roof is also surmounted by a grotesque head, bearing a ridiculous resemblance to the shell forms of the Greek temples ; in fact, the huts, taking the earliest primitive shape, recall what is probably the earliest method of architectural construction, after the rude parallel beam supported on straight pillars — that is to say, the peaked roof so familiar in the homely cottages of this country and many others. A reference to the beautiful greenstone for which the country is famous, and which in the form of clubs the Maoris highly prize, closes our survey of the sculptured arts of New Zealand ; this greenstone, which is of exceptional hardness, is either plainly shaped in club form and highly polished, or carved into smaller ornaments, used as charms by the women. The native weaving is curious. In some cases the angular up- and-down pattern, and in the case of the King's cloak a diamond- shaped angular pattern, may well have been derived from the design of some primitive carpet. The women wear several very curious forms of cloaks — some of a white fibre, with long black threads placed at close and short intervals ; others with the material left plain, with a collar of similar hanging threads ; and in the case of a Maori married belle, whose rank probably entitled her to the consideration her mere name of Hariata Rongowhitiao deserves, the cloak is quainter than those yet described, consisting of a heavy collar of coarse dark fringe, of which the ends hang down far enough to form the cloak ; the upper part is decorated with four rows of black and white twisted threads, and at distant intervals the monotony of the dark threads is relieved by bands of seven thick white cords, which give a touch of " style " to the garment. A grotesque, carved in greenstone, and two long greenstone rods, and gold-mounted long greenstone ear- rings, mark an extreme of fashion which has the appearance of modernity too much to be regarded as quite characteristic of the quaint survivals of an earlier age. The Maoris are, I believe, regarded as the finest native race known, and certainly, as far as my experience has gone, they deserve this. In 1887 I was introduced in Wellington to two magnificent specimens of the pure-blooded Maoris, who represented their districts 150 Contemporary Arts in Parliament ; both must have stood at least 6 feet 3 inches in height, and were of massive proportions which made even this excess of average height more than remarkable. If my memory serves, neither of the men was tattooed, and (although I was unaware of the fact at the time) either of them would have made an excellent model for the splendid statue of King Khafra, already described as being found at Ghizeh, and now in the Cairo Museum. It is hard to account for the existence of such a race, in far-away New Zealand, except on the hypothesis of banishment suggested at the beginning of this chapter ; or that of ostracism, in which a com- pany of too powerful men, or rebels, might have been turned from their native shores in a ship, and with the fortune which sometimes attends the derelict, at last drifted to a land of which their own ignorance, and that of their late countrymen, would be the surest safeguard against their return. Some acquaintance with the easy delights of the North Island of New Zealand will account in a measure for the general apathy which follows a means of existence easily provided. The district round Ohinemutu, and a native village near by, Whakerewarewa, and as far as Wairoa to Tarawera and Rotorua, is called the Hot Lake district. Near this could once be seen two of the greatest natural curiosities in the world, as I have heard Americans familiar with the Yosemite Valley declare ; I refer to the Pink and White Terraces, formed by centuries of accumula- tions of a siliceous deposit, flowing from a natural hot spring down a series of platforms resembling stairs, also formed by Nature. As if to provide an attraction which would bring tourists from all parts of the world, and the consequent means of livelihood for the numerous natives, these wonders of Nature offered some compensation for the dangers of the whole district, which presents pitfalls to the unwary visitor on all sides, making the services of a guide absolutely necessary, to avoid the hot springs and thin crusty surface of the earth, which, if trodden upon, would mean death peculiarly sudden and atrocious. On Thursday, June 10, 1886, on our leaving Auckland in the Union S.S. Wairarapa, the report was that the previous evening there had been an eruption of Mt. Tarawera, in which both the Pink and White Terraces had been destroyed ; until the news came, the noise of the eruption was attributed to signals of distress fired by the Russian man-of-war, Vestnik, which during the heavy weather was thought to have struck a rock. Next year, May 8, 1887, I formed one of a party who, under the guidance of a half-caste Warbrick, rode over the district which had been the scene of the eruption. The whole country round was devastated by the eruption *5 J Oriental Carpets of liquid mud, thrown up by the Tarawera crater ; the small Lake Rotomahana having broken through the thin crust dividing it from what was supposed to have been an extinct volcano. The two terraces were some 30 or 40 feet under mud, which the rain, streaming down the hill of mud which covered the site of the terraces, had streaked in the strangest manner in veins and arteries, almost human in their appearance. There is no apparent reason for referring to this experience ; but in reading the archaeological data, upon which, presumably, periods are assigned which have bearing upon all works of art discovered in the locality, it is impossible to help considering how far such judg- ments must be influenced by freaks and phenomena of Nature, not to say such a complete upheaval of the bowels of the earth. Some of the sights in Whakerewarewa consist of natural pots in the ground with sufficient heat to bake eatables in ; also small springs of boiling water, in which potatoes can readily be cooked ; and with these conveniences, and the luxury of baths of all degrees of warmth, and at all times of the day, without the necessity of the least human exertion, it is not perhaps surprising that this magnificent native race is steadily deteriorating, and will probably in a century or so be in as low a state as the Australian aborigine. This rough-and-ready survey of some of the Arts of the Nations, from the earliest recorded period of Egypt to the primitive arts of the New Zealand Maori, the connection between which may be closer than has yet been established by science, leaves little more to be said than can be comprised in a brief record of some of the essential facts relating to the Oriental Carpet as a subject for the collector and connoisseur ; as a domestic necessity, in which utility is happily combined with Art ; and lastly, as an article of manufacture. Great Britain, France, Germany, and the United States are vying with one another in the production of all grades of carpets, runners, and rugs, which, in large measure faithful reproductions of the Oriental designs and colourings, bid fair to carry on a tradition which, dating from the beginning of things, will probably increase in importance and in artistic merit, until the end is as the beginning was, and the gradual decay of the nations of the world verifies the truth of the Ladder of Decline. Prosperity, Extravagance, Luxury, Decline, and Doom — that has been the record of the past, and will inevitably be a sequence of events, leaving the last sad relic of humanity forlornly sitting upon a mat made from the chance-found pelt of the worn-out four-footed beast which has for so many centuries been the best friend of man — for even with the horse, the 152 Contemporary Arts dog, and the cow (the three acres thrown in), how would the world stand at the present day if it were not for the sheep ? The unknown nation of which Noah and his family formed the only immediate descendants, Egypt, Assyria, and the Persia of the great days have passed away ; the India of the great Mogul dynasty has only been saved by the infusion of the practical element which has accepted the responsibility of her government, without by any means deriving the financial benefit envying nations imagine. In conquering Persia and India, Alexander the Great, with his handful of hardy soldiers, adopted habits and customs from these nations, and sowed the seeds of the luxurious effeminacy, resulting in decadence, which later still, on a larger scale, brought Rome to her knees at the bidding of Alaric the Goth, with his hordes of frugal warriors. The Arts flourished in unexampled splendour under the influence of the Medici ; and the Rome of the Caesars, under the great Medici Pope Leo X., raised her head again in a fashion which might have preluded the return of her old world-wide dominion ; but the seeds of luxury and corruption again took root. Having survived the internecine struggles of her several noble factions and the decay of her Church, she at last, owing to the patriotism of Garibaldi, attained her freedom ; but she is to-day the mere shadow of her former self. Spain is in little better case than Italy ; Russia has experienced the fate of even greater nations at the hands of Japan, which in size was as the Greece of the great Macedonian pitted against the hordes of Persia and India. France, under Louis XIV., XV., and XVI., was going the way of the other artistic nations already referred to, but was saved by the common-sense insistence of the nation at large, directed by the great man who acted as the solvent which welded the lopped-off golden trunk of royalty to the still artistic bronze-steeled legs and head which, in her sturdy bourgeois and peasant-bred Presidents, guide her towards a destinv which does not seem to have any limits. Germany, with the aid of the enormous indemnity exacted from France, has developed her commerce in a fashion which approaches the miraculous ; it has yet to be seen if she can stand prosperity as well as she endured the period which even after the height to which she was raised under Frederick the Great came nearly to national elimination. The United States is too young to rank among the ancient nations ; but in the short space of one hundred and thirty-three years of independent existence she has attained an extraordinary position among the older nations. She must not plume herself too much thereby ; Fortune has favoured her largely, and Fortune is J 53 Oriental Carpets fickle. With the aid of an artificial fostering of her domestic manufactures and industries, which has long passed its original needs, the United States has acquired a wealth which is by no means so widely diffused as her admirers would wish us to believe. Her marvellous railway system has placed the great centres of luxury within easy reach of her citizens, and the gradual progress of luxury has within the last few years led to a financial collapse, exposing a corruption which has weakened not only her financial institutions, but also the great benevolent and money-saving institutions which directly affect the populace at large ; confidence is not likely to be restored by the apparently speedy revival of the millionaire class, whose policy for the moment lies in the direction of bolstering up one another's interests. Repeating the dictum of the late Mr. Elton, that " the authentic history of Britain begins in the age of Alexander the Great, in the fourth century before Christ," it is worth while to record the vicissitudes through which the nation has come, and which through the fire of adversity has " licked it into shape," knocking the conceit out of her in a fashion which bodes well for the avoidance of the disasters which younger nations still have to face. Great Britain was invaded by the Romans in 55 B.C. ; and they did not relinquish their hold upon the country until a.d. 402-436. From this period the country was successively harassed by the Picts and Scots, the Saxons and the Danes ; until in 1066 the Norman invasion under William the Conqueror put an end to foreign and home claims to the throne of England, which, perhaps happily enough, decided for a time the fate of a country with an inefficient helm, and a steersman who had neither the support of his countrymen nor the personal power to resist the claims of the great man who relied upon an old promise of the throne, but probably had still more confidence in his own personality and the force behind him. June 15, 1 21 5, dates Magna Charta, and records the struggles of the Barons against the gross abuses caused and sanctioned by King John. The great civil wars of the Roses, of which the Lancastrians wore the red and the Yorkists the white as their emblems, lasted from 1455 to 1485, during which, it is said, 12 princes of the blood, 200 nobles, and 100,000 gentry and common people perished ; this probably represents a very small proportion of those who died from sheer poverty brought on by the unsettled state of the country. The lesser monasteries were suppressed in 1536, and the greater abbeys were similarly dealt with in 1539; and it can be assumed that among the poorer classes the loss in free doctoring and medicines, *54 Contemporary Arts and actual relief from the direr forms of poverty, must have left its traces for many a year. In July 1588, the danger of the Spanish invasion, and of an accompanying change in the established religion, was safely averted. The contest between King Charles I. and his Parliament, which began in 1641, was finally settled in 1649 by the execution of that monarch and the triumph of the Parliament and Oliver Cromwell, who successfully governed the country with an iron hand until his death, in 1658, paved the way to the Restoration of Charles II., after an interregnum of eleven years and four months. We have some indication of what the country passed through during this period of continual civil war, when it is mentioned that from the battle of Worcester on September 23, 1642, to the battle of Daventry on April 21, 1660, in which General Monk defeated General Lambert, thirty battles and sieges are definitely recorded as having been waged on English, Scotch, and Irish soil. From the period when William III. of Orange ascended the throne and ruled with Mary, daughter of King James II., who abdicated in 1688, domestic affairs went smoothly enough, until the first coalition against France in 1792, from which time until the battle of Waterloo, June 18, 181 5, England in naval and military encounters, and by moral and financial support given to other nations, was in a state of continual danger and alarm, the effect on the country's finances being sufficiently shown by the fact that her National Debt, which in 1792 was just under £240,000,000, rose to a little over £861,000,000 in the year of Waterloo. Sufficient has been said to prove that Great Britain has passed through vicissitudes unparalleled in the history of nations. Therein lies her strength, if she is still able and willing to benefit from a varied experience which seems to leave nothing to add, except a too great period of prosperity, which frequently is only the prelude to the final doom. Free Trade, advocated by Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (1776), was finally adopted in 1846, and was eminently successful until the gradual encroachment of Germany and the United States, taught by the lessons this country has freely given in the science of home, colonial, and foreign commercial develop- ment, aroused a sense of danger. It may be that the modification of our Free Trade principles to a sufficient form of Fair Trade will be all that is necessary to prevent the final decline, which probably the pinch of the past few years has prevented from setting in from a previous run of prosperity, which, by causing the easy realization of fine old businesses under the seductive lines of Limited Liability, has resulted in the " Super-man " being eliminated in favour of a Oriental Carpets joint control in which the divergence of opinion among Directors with little personal interest has prevented a uniformity and continuity of policy absolutely essential in the management of any business with widespread interests. Protection may be a bitter pill to swallow ; but it may prove to be the medicine which will stave off a worse fate. If an average of general prosperity could be arrived at in the British Empire, which would mean to every father of a family not only the three acres and a cow naively suggested by Mr. Jesse Collings, but also the only real essential luxuries humanity requires — a five-shillings-a-week house, a five-pound carpet, a pound violin and bow, and a pound edition of Shakespeare's Works — the Empire would need have no fear of suffering the fate of the great races of antiquity, and with a contented mind could, after the noonday meal, realize the perfect happiness which the family representatives of her varied home and colonial population would find in practically carrying out the pleasures of life according to the following perversion of Mr. FitzGerald's Omar, for which I apologize : — Reclining on a Carpet 'neath a Bough, A Violin, a Book of Verse — and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness — Ah, Wilderness were Paradise enow ! NATIONAL LOAN EXHIBITION, LONDON, 1909-1910 VAN DYCK (Flemish School, 1599-1641) 55. Marchesa Brignole-Sala, and her Son. 58. Portrait of Paola Adorno, Marchesa Brignole-Sala. Sir Anthony Van Dyck's masterpieces demand the whole-hearted admir- ation of artists, experts, connoisseurs, and amateurs of painting, but the two pictures noted above have further claims for recognition here. In No. 55 a carpet in the foreground is negligently arranged with studied artistic effect, in No. 5S the carpet itself and the meagre fringe is more decorously displayed, but a close study will reveal the marvellous judg- ment with which each serves as a foil to the whole composition, and a keynote to the colour effect. With Orientals the carpet can appropri- ately dominate the room, but in European rooms with choice paintings on the walls and objets cfart scattered around, the carpet has to accept the position of a clever and capable host, who subordinates his personality and talents to the pleasure of his guests, serving as a foil to the brilliant, and a magnet to draw out of the mediocre the best that is in them. Who will gainsay that the role is one deserving the respectful admiration and sympathetic applause of all ? 156 CARPETS RUNNERS AND RUGS CARPETS RUNNERS AND RUGS ■ft n SHAH ABBAS THE GREAT (See Analysis) CHAPTER III CARPETS RUNNERS AND RUGS In Persia you shall finde carpets of course thrummed wooll, the best of the world, and excellently coloured : those cities and townes you must repaire to, and you must use meanes to learne all the order of the dying of those thrummes, which are so died as neither raine, wine, nor yet vineger can staine : and if you may attaine to that cunning, you shall not need to feare dying of cloth : For if the colour holde in yarne and thrumme, it will holde much better in cloth. — Richard Hackluit, I 579. I saw yesterday a piece of ancient Persian, time of Shah Abbas (our Elizabeth's time) that fairly threw me on my back : I had no idea that such wonders could be done in carpets. — William Morris, 1877. Who that has once seen them can ever forget the imperishable colours, mellowed but uneffaced by time, the exquisite designs, and the predominant grace, of the genuine old Persian carpet? — Hon. George N. Curzon, M.P., 1892. By a strange but quite natural coincidence, the Oriental carpet expert, Sir George Birdwood ; the late Mr. Bernard Quaritch and Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, experts in Palaeography ; and Mr. Colin Stalker, the writer of an article on the Violin in Chambers's Encyclopaedia, have all assigned the date 5000 B.C. as the period from which their respective subjects derive their origin. With some show of reason the carpet can be claimed as having been the first in the field, both from the fact of its being as much a necessity as a luxury, and also because of the variety of materials, provided by Nature, from which it can be readily and economically made. The importance attached to carpets may be indicated by quoting some of the prices which fine examples have realized in recent years. Carpets and Rugs 1888. Goupil Sale, Paris. Persian Rug, size, 7x6 £1300 Do. Persian Rug, size, 7x6 ^800 Do. Three small Persian Rugs ^1500 1 893. The Ardebil Carpet, Persian, dated 1 539 ; size, 34-6 x 17-6 ; 380 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^2500 159 Oriental Carpets This carpet, which was first exhibited in England by Messrs. Vincent Robinson & Co., Ltd., was pur- chased for the nation at the price named, the sum of ^750 being contributed by A. W. Franks, C.B., E. Steinkoppf, William Morris, and J. E. Taylor. 1903. Henry G. Marquand Sale, New York. Royal Persian Rug of the fifteenth or early sixteenth century ; size, 1 1-10 x 6-1^ ; 600 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^7200 Do. Persian Carpet of middle sixteenth century ; size, 16-2x7-1; 195 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^3000 Do. Sixteenth-century Ispahan Carpet ; size, 22-8 x 9-5 ; 156 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^3000 Do. Old Rug of Middle Persia ; silk ; size, 6-1 1 x 4-10 ; 780 hand-tied knots to the square inch £2820 Do. Old Carpet of Middle Persia ; size, 9-9 x 8-5 ; 400 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^1400 Do. Old Persian Prayer Rug ; silk ; size, 5-5 x 3-8 ; 468 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^1400 Do. Antique Persian Prayer Rug ; size, $-6 x 4-3 ; 323 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^820 Do. Antique Rug of Western Persia ; size, 8-1 x 6-5 ; 168 hand-tied knots to the square inch ^800 It is possible that few in this country had any idea of the superb collection of Art treasures gathered together by Mr. Henry G. Mar- quand, which after his death were offered for sale at the Mendelssohn Hall, New York, beginning on Friday, January 23, 1903, and lasting until the 31st. The gross total approached that of the most import- ant sales of the same class held in this country. With the acuteness which characterizes the judgment Americans have shown in acquiring the finest works of art procurable, Mr. Marquand quietly brought together the collection of antique Oriental carpets and rugs, which one would have imagined to have been the finest ever gathered together in one collection, until the death of Mr. Yerkes, in 1905, led to the publication of the following account of the collection he had made, which appears to rival that already mentioned. The TLvening Standard and St. James's Gazette of December 30, 1905, said : " Mr. Yerkes has bequeathed his mansion in Fifth Avenue, with its splendid art galleries, to New York City. His bequest includes 23 rugs, said to be the finest and most costly in the world, ex- ceeding in value and beauty the collections of the Shah and the British Museum (sic). Mr. Yerkes had the designs of these carpets painted in the original colours, and had ten volumes containing them printed. Nine of these he presented to the most famous museums of the world. Among the carpets is a ' Holy Carpet,' for which 160 Carpets Runners and Rugs Mr. Yerkes paid 60,000 dollars (£12,000)." From this it appears that Mr. Charles T. Yerkes could claim to have paid the highest price ever given for an Oriental carpet, although if the Ardebil Carpet were offered for sale to-day, probably a dozen millionaire collectors would be only too happy to give at least £20,000 for the pleasure of owning such a unique specimen of Eastern Art. Owing to the kindness of Mr. Bernard Quaritch, the eminent bookseller, expert in all things pertaining to written and printed records of all ages and climes, I am able to offer some comparison between the prices of Oriental carpets and those of some fine examples of manuscripts and books which have passed through his hands. I have supplemented his list with a few Shakespearean items, which of recent years have advanced in price by leaps and bounds. They are extremely primitive examples of book -production. It is to be understood that the prices represent only a selection from the purchases made by Mr. Quaritch in the ordinary course of auction sales, and that private sales have in many cases largely exceeded those now referred to. A. Illuminated Manuscripts Crescentio (Petrus de), Le Livre de Rustican, etc. ; Folio ; fifteenth century £2600 Lot 207 of sale at Christie's of the Earl of Cork's Library, November 21-23, I 9°5- Graduale Romanum ; Large folio ; thirteenth century £1650 Lot 398 of sale at Sotheby's of Lord Amherst's Library ; December 3-5, 1908. Blake's Drawings to the Book of Job ; Folio ; 1825 ^5600 Lot 17 of sale at Sotheby's of original productions of Blake, the property of the Earl of Crewe ; March 30, 1903. B. Book printed from Blocks Biblia Pauper, block-book ; Small folio ; 37 of 40 leaves ; Bruges, about 1450 ^1290 Lot 14 of sale at Sotheby's of Bishop Gott's Library, March 20-21, 1908. C. Books printed from Movable Type Mazarin or Gutenberg Bible, on vellum ; Mainz, 1454- 1456 ; the first printed edition of the Bible, and the first book executed with metal types. The Perkins copy, purchased by the late Lord Ashburnham for £3400, and at the sale of the Ashburnham Library realized (Lot 436) ^4000 Sold June 28, 1897. 161 11 Oriental Carpets Psalterium Latinum, on vellum ; Small folio ; Mainz, 1459 ^495° Lot 1650 of sale at Sotheby's of Sir John Thorold's Library, December 1884. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales ; Small folio ; Caxton ; c. 1478 .£1880 Lot 1 1 82 of a miscellaneous sale at Sotheby's, June 18-23, 1896. Royal Book ; Small folio ; Caxton, 1487 £2225 Lot 987 of sale at Sotheby's, March 17, 1902. Malory, Morte d'Arthur ; Small folio ; Caxton, 1485 £, I 95° Lot 97 of sale at Sotheby's of the Osterley Park Library, Earl of Jersey, May 6-13, 1885. Le Fevre, Recueill of the Histories of Troye ; Small folio ; Bruges ; Caxton ; about 1475 .£1820 Lot 967 of sale at Sotheby's of the Osterley Park Library, Earl of Jersey, May 6-13, 1885. Cicero de Officiis ; Schoeffer, 1465 ; printed on vellum ^1 875 Trau Sale, Vienna, 1905. D. Shakespeariana First Folio, 1623 ; Second Folio, 1632 ; Third Folio, 1663 ; Fourth Folio, 1685 £10,000 Formerly the property of Mr. Macgeorge of Glasgow ; sold by private treaty to an American collector, 1905. First Folio, 1623. Van Antwerp Sale, 1907. Size, 13 x 8| in. £3600 First Folio, 1623. The original Bodleian copy. Purchased by private subscription, and presented to the Bodleian Library, 1906. Size, 13^x8^ in. £3000 First Folio, 1623. Sold by auction at Sotheby's, May 31, 1907. Size, 13x8^ in. £2400 Titus Andronicus, 1594. Unique copy, privately sold to an American collector in 1905. Size, Small quarto £2000 Henry VI. Part I., 1594. Sold by auction at Sotheby's, May 31-June 1, 1907. Size, Small quarto £1910 King Richard III., 1605. Sold by auction at Sotheby's, July 10, 1905. Size, Small quarto ^ I 75° Much Adoe about Nothing, 1600. Sold by auction at Sotheby's, December 6, 1905. Size, Small quarto £, l 57° Third Folio, 1663, with the 1664 tide-page. Sold by auction at Sotheby's, June 1, 1907. Size, I3jx8|- L l SS° Henry IV. Part II. (2nd issue). Sold by auction at Sotheby's, April 18, 1904. Size, Small quarto £, io 3S Henry IV. Part I., 1608. Sold by auction at Sotheby's, July 28-29, x 9°5- Size, Small quarto £1000 Having made reference to the fact that Shakespeare stands for England's niche in the record of Fame, I have particularized the ill- printed productions upon which his position in the world of letters 162 Carpets Runners and Rugs is based. It is to be noted that the original quartos of his plays, the earliest authorities available, correspond with the " Book of the Words " hawked in the streets on the occasion of performances of well-known plays. Admirers of Mr. George Bernard Shaw should note this : a collection of his Plays will in (say) two hundred years' time be a legacy which will give joy to the purchaser at the Sotheby of the period. What Shah Abbas the Great is to the Persian Carpet, and what Shakespeare is to Literature, so stands Stradivari as the master-creator of the Cremona Violin in its highest average development. As price is the measure of things mundane, the following record will usefully add to the comparison, in which I wish to indicate that it behoves all possessors of genuine antique carpets, of whatever country, to take the same care of them as of the examples of early printing, of comparatively recent first editions, and of the examples of the great days of violin-making, for it is to be noted that condition is the essential factor which stands between an ordinary set of the four Shakespeare Folios at £1000 and the unique set which an astute American bought for the apparently enormous sum of £10,000. To pursue the object-lesson into the musical realm, £500 will purchase a violin by Stradivari, whereas there are probably a dozen specimens of his best period which would readily bring £2000, and perhaps another half-dozen for which any price from that named to £5000 would not be considered too high. The Montreal Gazette of November 7, 1885, refers to the splendid violoncello played upon by the great artist Servais, for which, it mentions, his widow was asking 100,000 francs ; it was for sale at this price in Brussels. I am under the impression that this instrument has within the last few years been again sold for five thousand guineas. Antonio Stradivari, 1644-1737 Violoncello, dated 1 7 14 ; formerly belonging to Alexandre Batta of Paris ; purchased by Messrs. W. E. Hill & Sons, London ^3200 Violoncello, dated 17 1 1 ; priced by W. E. Hill & Sons at £2800 Violin, dated 1690; known as the "Tuscan" ; made for Cosmo III. de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Purchased by W. E. Hill & Sons in 1888 for £1000, and priced by them in 1890 at £2000 Violin, dated 1 7 1 6 ; originally bought by Alard, the distin- guished violinist, for £1000, and at his death in 1888 sold in behalf of the heirs to Mr. Robert Crawford of Leith for £2000 Violoncello ; small pattern, formerly owned by Duport, and later by Franchomme, who sold it for j£i6oo Violin, dated 17 16 ; formerly owned by Molique. Presented 163 Oriental Carpets to Herr Waldemar Meyer, through the generosity of Mr. Samson Fox, in 1889 £1250 Violin, with red varnish (the great player already owned instruments by the same maker with brown and yellow varnish). Presented to Dr. Joachim, on the occasion of his "Jubilee," in 1889 £1200 Violin, dated 1704, known as the " Betts " Strad., the instru- ment having been sold to Mr. Arthur Betts, as a " brand new copy," for the sum of ^1 : is. ; purchased by another dealer, Mr. George Hart, for £800 in 1878 ; he eventually consented to sell it in 1886 to the Due de Camposelice for £1200 Violin, dated 1722 ; sold by the Vicomte de Janze to the Due de Camposelice, through Mr. George Withers, the London dealer, in 1886, for £1200 Violin, dated 1722, known as the " Rode " ; purchased by W. E. Hill & Sons in 1890 for £1200 Viola, known as the " Macdonald " ; purchased at the Goding Sale in 1857 by Vuillaume, in behalf of the Vicomte de Janze, who in 1886 sold it to the Due de Camposelice for .£1200 Violin, dated 1714, known as the "Dolphin," owing to the lustrous tints of the varnish, upon wood of wonderfully rich and varied grain. Sold by Mr. David Laurie to Mr. Richard Bennett in 1882 for ^1100 Violin, dated 1717, known as the " Sasserno " ; purchased by Mr. David Johnson in 1887 for £1000 This list (compiled from Messrs. Hill & Sons' book, Antonio Stradivari, Miss Stainer's Violin-Makers, and my own records) excludes many well-known instruments ; but those named will suffice to arouse the interest of those to whom the collecting of violins may be as strange as investing " hard cash " in the Dodo's eggs (let alone a small fortune in an " old carpet "). I am afraid that my remarks up to the present may be regarded as frivolous ; but that is by no means the case. With an absolute lack of definite data, the course to possible facts has to be arrived at by suggestion. It cannot, I think, be denied that when, early in this twentieth century, prices such as those realized in the Marquand sale are possible in open auction, it can be reasonably regarded as proven that from the very beginning of things, and through the rise and fall of the greatest nations of the earth, the Carpet has emerged triumphant, and that in artistic merit it holds amongst the Art products of the world a position which only fails to attract attention by reason of the fact that in mere bulk of commercial figures it does not loom so large in the public eye as other raw and finished articles. The following suggestive historical inferences are interesting. 164 Plate XI Plate XI JACOUARD CARPET Size 12-0 x 6-9 Warp — 10 cords to the inch Weft — 10 cords to the inch IOO CORDS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) - - ■■■ ■ ^|??^^?T^^^r^"^!^^^^^^^"T^^^^^7*"55!'5 »uAu;i»MTt m JAllfm«uaiiAiiAii/.i»^i»nimuAir«l>/.i«HJ« ^^^^j^y^^yy^^j^j^^^y^^^jj^^j^yy^^^iiy^^^jjxjy : Carpets Runners and Rugs One of the most popular of the Vedic deities is Agni, the lord, the protector, the king of men, of whom Mr. Wilkins in his Hindu Mythology writes : " He is a guest in every home ; he despises no man, he lives in every family. He is therefore considered as a mediator between gods and men, and as a witness of their actions ; hence to the present day he is worshipped, and his blessing sought on all solemn occasions, as at marriage, death, etc." It is not im- probable that the lotus came to be regarded as a sacred flower (from its constant occurrence in relics of the past), to which something mysterious was attributed, because those to whom it was revealed could not have been expected to understand that its early use was simply on account of its offering fewer difficulties to the weaver, sculptor, and architect than other forms in Nature. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the Carpet was at last symbolized as the god Agni, the inference to those who have any familiarity with the language of Virgil being sufficiently obvious. Conspiracy, followed by tragedy, has been the first factor in the rise and fall of nations. It is not conceivable that, with the risk of torture and death upon discovery, a Cataline would make rendezvous in a flagged, tiled, or boarded chamber ; it is logically certain that the approach to the meeting-place would be made as silent as the nature of the business demanded, by means of runners deadening the sound in passages, the thickest of carpets to prevent the firm tread of the brave and the nervous shuffling of the coward from being heard ; and that, as a last measure of precaution, the portieres dividing the rooms would be supplemented with rugs. Either Burton or Balzac could have woven a Romance of the Carpet. The only man living who might rise to the occasion and bring the Carpet within the region of practical politics is Lord Curzon, whose evident artistic sympathies, energy, and influence with Eastern potentates would enable him to penetrate the heart of the mysteries which works hitherto published have failed to approach. It is said that Cleopatra caused herself to be smuggled into the presence of the victor of Actium in a bale of carpets ; and if the fascinations of her talents and person failed to arouse the sympathies and interest of the cool and level-headed Roman, it was probably because his attention was held by, perhaps, a first sight of the luxurious specimens of Persian manufacture which had surprised Alexander the Great when, after the battle of Issus, he inspected the appointments of the tents of Darius, hastily abandoned when the issue of events left no other course than flight. It must be remembered that the great Carpet Exhibition in 165 110 Oriental Carpets Vienna in 1891 really heralded the period in which our homely and domestic article of " commerce " was lifted from its more or less despised position to the realms of the artistic curio, which in this country culminated in the acquisition of the famous Ardebil Carpet by the authorities of the South Kensington Museum, aided by sundry gentlemen whose names have been mentioned in connection with a more particular description of the carpet itself. It is hard to realize how recent our knowledge of some of the finest artistic creations of human hands really is ; but the following extract from the " Chronological Table " concluding Professor Michaelis's oft-quoted Cetitury of Archaeological Discoveries will convey an impression of what still has to come to light in elucidation of the mysteries of origin and development still shrouding the Carpet. Byron's Curse of Minerva, published in 1 8 1 1 , will imply that Lord Elgin had succeeded in rescuing the fragments of the Parthenon sculptures, which were being rapidly consumed in the limekilns of the unsophisticated natives; but it was not until 18 16 that the Marbles were acquired by the British Museum. With this important artistic event as a basis, the following entries are copied verbatim from the record : — 1820. Aphrodite of Melos. 1829. Olympia : French excavations at the Temple of Zeus. 1831. Pompeii : mosaic, Alexander the Great. 1832. Thomsen distinguishes the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. 1837. Athens : Pennethorne discovers the horizontal curves on the Parthenon. 1837. Kramer on The Origin and Style of Greek Painted Pottery. 1839. Discovery of the Sophocles statue. 1843-6. Khorsabad excavated by Botta. 1 844. Chiusi : the Francois Vase. 1845-7. Layard excavates Nimrud. 1846. The "Apollo" of Tenea discovered. 1846-7. Penrose at Athens. 1849. Rome: the Apoxyomenos of Lysippos. 1849-51. Excavations at Kuyunjik by Layard and Rassam. 1853. First discoveries in caves in Southern France. 1853. The Marsyas of Myron recognized by Brunn. 1853. The Kairos of Lysippos recognized by Jahn. 1857. Halicarnassos : Newton uncovers the Mausoleum. 1863. Rome : Augustus from Prima Porta. 1863. Samothrace : Nike (Champoiseau). 1863. Friedrichs recognizes the Doryphoros of Polykleitos. 1868. Schliemann visits the Homeric sites. 166 1870-4 1871 1871 1872 1874 i8 7 5 1877 1878-86 1880 1887 1890-3 1900-8 Carpets Runners and Rugs Tanagra : the discovery of terra-cottas. Troy : Schliemann. Helbig recognizes the Diadumenos of Polykleitos. Michaelis, Der Parthenon. Mycenae : Schliemann. Olympia : the Nike of Paionios. Olympia : the Hermes of Praxiteles. Pergamon : Prussian excavations. Orchomenos : Schliemann. Sidon : tombs of princes, Alexander sarcophagus. Rome : investigations on the Pantheon. Knossos : Arthur Evans. Curiously enough, although referred to in the text, the table does not mention the wonderful discoveries of Mr. Theodore M. Davis at Biban el Moluk, of which I have made free use in the chapter entitled "Contemporary Arts." Discovered as recently as 1905, the tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou proves conclusively that an end has not yet come of the revelations of the past ; which behoves experts to be discreet in their attributions of origin and authenticity, and above all not to assume that everything that can be said has been said of that elusive and romantically suggestive relic of Eastern luxury, the Carpet. Reverting to the period of 1896, in which year the last of the ten parts of Oriental Carpets was issued by the Imperial Royal Austrian Commercial Museum, Vienna, the only important English works on the Carpet were Vincent J. Robinson's Eastern Carpets, 1882, which was of some rarity owing to the destruction of the litho- graphic stones ; a Second Series, under the same title, dated 1893 ; and The Holy Carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil, published in 1893 by Mr. Edward Stebbing. This magnificent tribute to the masterpiece of Maksoud of Kashan is perhaps the best of Carpet literature, recording as it does the superlative merits of a unique carpet, in the shape of photo- lithographic reductions from actual outline tracings from the carpet ; these were hand-coloured, and the issue was restricted to fifty copies. I am not aware of any further important contribution to Carpet literature until Mr. John Kimberly Mumford's Oriental Rugs, 1901, of which a third edition, with an entirely new series of plates, was issued in 1905. As Mr. Mumford says in his Preface, "Out of the years spent in the work, little time has been devoted to the fanciful or imaginative side of the subject," I may perhaps be excused for having revived the fanciful side, and for anticipating the time when the discovery of some ancient record will throw light upon the early 167 Oriental Carpets history and processes of manufacture of an artistic textile which, from the value of the materials and the skilled labour required, might just as well have invited the attention of King Menes of the first Egyptian dynasty, as it undoubtedly did that of Shah Abbas of Persia. Interest was aroused in literary circles in 1905 by the discovery of the first quarto edition of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, the existence of which was doubted, although it was entered on the "Stationers' Register" under the date February 6, 1594. A par- ticular interest attaches to this modern miracle, because, although duly recorded as above noted, its existence was not believed in. The papyrus of Aristotle's treatise on the Constitution of Athens was translated and issued with Introduction and Notes by F. G. Kenyon, M.A., in 1891, and a facsimile of a portion of the original gives tangible proof of the existence of a work which, as Mr. Kenyon writes, reappeared " after the lapse of a period which some scholars had reckoned at eighteen centuries, and which none could place at less than twelve, since it was last seen by mortal eye." Professor Michaelis records the discoveries of Schliemann of the ancient city of Troy, and by means of a photograph of a portion of the actual buildings uncovered, and a description of the internal arrangements of the palace of King Priam, gives a reality to the Homeric accounts of the famous siege and fall, which induces one to hope that the story of Penelope is the poetical record of actual fact, and that, inspired by the successful efforts of Mr. Theodore Davis, some enterprising millionaire may yet add to his museum something resembling the weaving frame in Flaxman's fine drawing, " Penelope surprised by the Suitors," which, originally engraved in Rome by Tommaso Piroli, and published in 1793, was reproduced by James Parker, and forms one of the grand series of outline drawings illus- trating The Iliad and The Odyssey, published March 1, 1805. Failing the fabric woven by Penelope, why should not the frame have survived, which, dating from the thirteenth century B.C., would seem quite modern compared with the very elegant bed of Iouiya and Touiyou, which may have been something in the way of an antique when the end came, and the sorrowing relatives commissioned the scribe who produced the Funeral Papyrus discovered in the tomb, and to which the date of about 1450 B.C. is assigned ? Arachne's fabled challenge to Minerva sanctions the invention of the art of Weaving being attributed to Woman, which is appro- priate enough in regard to the carpet's soft influence in the house, as the buffer, or " scapegoat " so to say, which interposes its 168 Carpets Runners and Rugs harmless person between the continually warring sexes, and, in so doing, promotes the harmony of the household. It is sad to turn from this innocent picture of the carpet's usefulness, and to find in many cases that its fancied defects provide a common ground upon which both master and mistress can unite in deploring the decadence of the carpet, as exemplified by the modern machine- made productions, which it is fondly believed to the present day " are not what they were forty years ago." Alas, householders fail to grasp the fact that, whereas at the period mentioned, the carpet, in the absence of any close or intimate knowledge of the finer Oriental fabrics, was prized not only on account of the fact that no invidious comparisons could be made, but also because, being one of the most expensive items of home-furnishing, the greatest care was taken to ensure its wearing to the extremest limits. Climate forbade emulating the Persian potentate who compelled the out- raged Mr. Anthony Jenkinson to remove his boots before placing his unappreciative feet upon the royal carpets, but as a substitute, floors and stairs, in many cases in season and out of season, had the carpets carefully covered with druggets, which bore the brunt of the wear, in the same way as the Jacquard Reproduction has to do service for the original antique which is fast becoming a subject for the connoisseur's cabinet or chest, instead of being the neglected recipient of gross ill-treatment meted out in ignorance — an ignorance which has no regard to the fact that a complete neglect of the most primitive common-sense precautions, not only deprives the owner of the full value of a still expensive fabric, but from the householder's point of view, worse still, mars the improved general effect of a house which would result from taking particular care to preserve the smooth, rich, " blooming " effect of the pile, and, by ordinary cleanliness, ensure the well-defined outlines of the design, and the full blending of the colour scheme, which is the knottiest difficulty the manufacturer has to contend with ; like the Poet, the Colourist is " Born, not Made." Some form of plaiting or weaving was undoubtedly Woman's first " Child of the Brain," and the fact is unfortunate, for, when the first practical evidences of Man's love appeared upon the scene, all the early experiences in weaving, which might have led her to the present day to have a decently " human " understanding of the natural little infantine troubles which the carpet is born to, and heir to, Woman's attention was completely distracted from the " father carpet," and transferred body, brain, and soul to one of the chief elements in its future destruction. 169 Oriental Carpets At whatever cost a " loop-pile " fabric, such as the Oriental " Khilim " and its lineal descendant, the Brussels carpet, may be made, it is only a matter of the simplest common sense to under- stand that if a child's tin toy dragged over the carpet, the projecting tag in a slovenly slipper or boot, or the claws of dog or cat are deliberately thrust into, or accidentally catch this loop, the result must of necessity be a pulled up or broken worsted thread, pulled up if the carpet is made of a long-stapled well-combed wool, broken if the quality of the worsted cannot stand the tension. It might be imagined that upon the sight of such a trivial disfigurement the mistress of the house would naturally either draw in the unbroken thread (which is easily done), or carefully clip the broken ends with a pair of domestic scissors. Such is not the case, and in this direction particularly, Woman shows the complete misunderstanding of Man (to be later referred to) which illustrates her inconsequential disposition, and further shows a guileless ignorance of cause and effect, which, in the past, as in the present, will compel her in spite of herself to confine her energies and functions in directions in which Man would never think of, and, if he thought, never dare to enter into competition with her. With a childish curiosity, when the small trouble of a " sprouting thread " (as it is technically called) appears, Woman, with perhaps infinite pains, will first try and see how far the unbroken thread will pull out, or, with a similar insistence, pull up the broken ends to gratify her spite at the carpet's fancied imperfections, and to convince the unhappy carpet- dealer " how badly it is wearing." Fancy the unamiable mistress of the house, who thus adds insult to injury in dragging at the well- woven threads, treating any member of her family in the same way, and, instead of cutting her " darling's " nails in the manner familiar to all, pulling at them with no unmeasured force to see " how firmly they are fixed in." The very idea is, of course, outrageous, and reminds one of some of the tortures of medieval ages, which in fact — speaking metaphorically — the carpet uncomplainingly endures. Again, as referred to elsewhere, the edge of a carpet, Oriental or European, offers the earliest condition of wear, and in the case of the Oriental this is effectively, and indeed picturesquely (in the light of honourable scars), remedied by "sewing over" the edges, or, in the case of a very delicate or badly frayed carpet, binding them with silk, of course in both cases with a coloured material which harmonises best with the colour effect of the carpet thus treated. To continue the " human " regard with which I wish to invest the carpet ; when these natural signs of age or unusual wear and tear 170 Carpets Runners and Rugs appear in the carpet, reflect for a moment that in the battles and commonplace accidents of life an arm or a leg is lost, an eye or an ear pays the penalty, hair comes out or falls off, the teeth have to give way to the exigencies of an over-refined civilization. Under these circumstances is the human being of any sex or age maltreated further, or placed in disgrace permanently in the category of human failures ? On the other hand, are not all the resources of human science and ingenuity called into play to " patch it up," and, after such artificial aids, have not many in past ages, and will not many in the ages to come, still enjoy life, without too much revolting the artistic susceptibilities of fellow-creatures ? And will not the " Brain," which may be said to correspond with the design and colour of the carpet, continue to exercise, unimpaired, the full intentions of its Creator ? Any woman with any pretensions to a thorough knowledge of housekeeping should be able to deal intelligently with all the little troubles every article of furniture in the house is subject to ; Man with his multifarious interests and frequently secret anxieties cannot be troubled with anything in the house, although, when egged on, as he frequently is, he has to " assert his authority," and deal with matters which his absence from the house totally unfits him to deal with fairly and justly. Woman is the worst offender in the matters I have called attention to, and, if I am to be sacrificed upon the altar of her vengeance for my temerity in telling her so, I shall feel a martyr's crown, gained in the interests of my own sex, as good a pass to the life to come, if not " immortality," as in being " killed by her kindness," or in waging battles at her caprices, or, say, in slaving, as many of her victims are compelled to do, to enable her to buy a fifty-guinea Worth Paquin or Russell & Allen gown to grace the festivities of Ascot, Goodwood, or Sandown, upon which occasions, if the day has been rough or dirty, or the gown has been torn in the well-bred scramble to get near royalty, she will make up her mind to give the discarded trifle to her maid, and, going home, will " take the change " out of the carpet, which has probably served her and her family well and faithfully for years. Coming back to Woman's early plaiting and weaving, a wood- cut in the Encyclopaedia Britamiica, " Prehistoric (Stone-Age) Flaxen Stuff," gives an excellent idea of the sort of fabric likely to have been at first produced, and the interweaving of the warp and weft again gives an hieroglyphic of the turnings and twistings of the feminine mind, which, in these respects, nearly approaches the Oriental. Having gone so far, in the interests of both, I might just as well be hanged for " a Sheep as a Lamb " ; so I will further 171 Oriental Carpets endeavour to tear away the veil which, for untold centuries, has enabled Woman, by her undoubted, incontrovertible, and be- worshipped charms, to conceal the fact that in sober truth and earnest she really knows nothing about housekeeping in the higher sense of the word, and that she ought instantly to turn it over to the Man who, from training and tradition, knows by sheer instinct how to treat every individual article of furnishing in the particular way which its method of manufacture demands. In that treasure-house of Wisdom, The Arabian Nights, compiled by a People who, being half-feminine in many of their qualities, have a closer understanding of Woman than the hardly -used European, the following extract occurs, as to which my common- place book records no place to which I can refer the reader : — " In these things place no confidence in a woman ; she never brings to her tongue what is in her heart ; she never speaks out what is on her tongue ; and she never tells what she is doing." If not the earliest at least the best known example of feminine weaving and wiles is Homer's account of Penelope's long-time successful effort to beguile the suitors who, with excusable eagerness and pertinacity, strove for the privilege of removing the impression left in her mind by the errant, and, as they probably endeavoured to convince her, peccant husband, the mighty wanderer, Ulysses. I trust that the prominence here given to that paragon of her sex, Penelope (Homer's, not Mr. Cosmo Stuart's), will do something to remove the prejudice which my championing of the carpet may have created in the feminine mind, although I confess myself entirely impenitent. An original note by Pope preludes the following extract from his delightful translation of The Odyssey, with which most will be content to find as much Pope (and his fellow-translators) as Homer himself, who doubtless also nods with approval when he finds humanity taking pleasure in the spirit of his writings, rather than pinning themselves down to the mere word, which the lapse of ages makes it difficult, if not impossible, to translate into the corresponding likeness and similitudes of modern life : — " It was an ancient custom to dedicate the finest pieces of weaving and embroidery to honour the funerals of the dead ; and these were usually wrought by the nearest relations in their life- time. Thus, in the twenty-second Iliad, Andromache laments that the body of Hector must be exposed to the air without these ornaments." — Pope. In the passage which follows, Antinoiis, replying to the 172 (A O w X >- M Q w -r. 5 OS w 0. O Carpets Runners and Rugs expostulations of Telemachus, complaining of the officious and unwelcome attentions paid by the Princes to Penelope, says, with haughty rage and stern mien : — " O insolence of youth ! whose tongue affords Such railing eloquence, and war of words. Studious thy country's worthies to defame, Thy erring voice displays thy mother's shame. Elusive of the bridal day, she gives Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives. Did not the sun, through heaven's wide azure roll'd, For three long years the royal fraud behold ? While she, laborious in delusion, spread The spacious loom, and mix'd the various thread, Where as to life the wondrous figures rise, Thus spoke th' inventive queen, with artful sighs : ' Though cold in death Ulysses breathes no more, Cease yet awhile to urge the bridal hour ; Cease, till to great Laertes I bequeath A task of grief, his ornaments of death. Lest, when the Fates his royal ashes claim, The Grecian matrons taint my spotless fame ; When he, whom living mighty realms obey'd, Shall want in death a shroud to grace his shade.' Thus she : at once the generous train complies, Nor fraud mistrusts in virtue's fair disguise. - The work she plied ; but, studious of delay, By night revers'd the labours of the day. While thrice the sun his annual journey made, The conscious lamp the midnight fraud survey'd ; Unheard, unseen, three years her arts prevail ; The fourth, her maid unfolds th' amazing tale. We saw, as unperceiv'd we took our stand, The backward labours of her faithless hand. Then urg'd, she perfects her illustrious toils ; A wondrous monument of female wiles ! " Flaxman's genius has sufficiently reproduced the scene of Penelope's midnight labours, while the traditional work of Mathilde, queen of William the Conqueror, pictorially records the events which resulted in the death of Harold at Hastings (or Senlac, as some will have it), and of the deeply -rooted and widespread influences of the Norman invasion, which in its civilizing tendencies had a direct bearing upon all things artistic and domestic. Whether the actual work of Queen Mathilde or not, the Bayeux Tapestry is of infinitely greater historical importance than the celebrated Raphael Tapestries, illustrating as it does the Costumes, Manners, Customs, Weapons, Types of Vessels, and the Regal, Ecclesiastical, Political, and Military ceremonials and dispositions of the most important period of English history. 173 Oriental Carpets Thus in the fable of Minerva and Arachne, the mythological web of Penelope, and the potent and tangible fact of the Bayeux Tapestry, Woman asserts her claim as a Weaver, and this should induce her, by an increased knowledge and appreciation of the salient points of the Carpet, to compensate for the fact of its being con- demned by Nature to be the butt of humanity, as even the expression " Carpet Knight " tends to show. The arts of Plaiting, Needlework, and Weaving are indissolubly connected, and a consideration of all three is necessary in seeking to arrive at a full understanding of the merits, practical and sentimental, lying behind the modest but " highly connected " carpet. The word Carpet is derived from the Latin carpere, to pluck, and the prehistoric hieroglyph would probably be the representation of a woman plucking the wool from a sheep's back. The force resting in a mere word is further shown by the suggestion it carries of the acts of twiddling, twisting, " teasing," and plucking at the wool fibres to form the necessary weaving thread, a process which is nowadays accomplished by means of the ingenious machines invented by Arkwright, Hargreaves, and Crompton, in which direc- tion of mechanical ability Man has at least balanced accounts with Woman in the merits of textile discovery and invention. It may not have occurred to some that the meaning of the word " carpet " may be extended to represent the plucking of the needle from the material upon which Mathilde and her prototypes Minerva, Arachne, and Penelope produced their famous specimens of Tapestry — as both might be called. To justify this assumption, and also to provide reason for the inclusion of needlework and tapestry in this division, it may be mentioned, for the benefit of those unacquainted with the finest grades of Oriental Carpets, that in some cases they are so closely woven that needles are required to manipulate the worsted knots forming the design and colouring, a fact which makes the existence of the Mumtaz Mahal carpet easier of belief. The modern Oriental and European carpet fabrics differ from their forerunners to the remotest ages only in the fact that, whereas ignorance of the heart of the subject has hitherto been but partially removed from the minds of those responsible for the care of the modern productions, the estimation of ancient times is demonstrated by Homer's making the Princes in his Odyssey dance attendance upon Penelope for three years, during which period her pious labours were, through the exigency of the situation, transformed into a " pious fraud," which, however, in nowise reflects upon Weaver or Fabric. i74 Carpets Runners and Rugs It is an easy transition from the periods above named to the date of the Argonautic Expedition, 1263 B.C., which, in connection with the Golden Fleece, suggests the desirability of at least recording the preliminaries, without which the finished Persian and Indian carpets, with which this division is mainly concerned, would be devoid of much of the interest associated with every stage of their manufacture. In Chambers s Encyclopaedia the article on " Wool " opens as follows : " The soft, hairy covering of sheep and some other animals (as goats and alpacas), has from the earliest historic times been used in the construction of yarns or threads, which by the pro- cess of weaving — interlacing two series of yarns crossing each other at right angles — have been converted into textiles possessing clothing properties. With the progress of civilization and the development of the beaux-arts, wool became the staple material of many of the costly and elaborately- ornamented textures produced conjointly by the weaver and the embroiderer for embellishing the temples of the gods and the palaces of royalty." No better introduction could be conceived to the two volumes of about 320 pages each which Mr. Howard Priestman has written on the Principles oj Worsted Spinning and the Principles of Woollen Spinning, from which I will quote as briefly as possible. In the last-named work, published in 1908, Mr. Priestman says : " Those writers who contend that the spinning of long wool was antecedent to the art of making short wool carded yarn, point also to the fact that all wild sheep are long-woolled or long-haired animals ; all of them having a shorter wool or fur growing amongst the roots of the longer fibres. This is still the case in the Vicuna and the Cashmir goat, and it is well known that the fine wools from these animals are the softest and most beautiful wools known to com- merce. . . . All sheep whose wool is useful for the textile arts are supposed to be the results of artificial breeding. Whenever flocks are mentioned in ancient history, it is in relation to centres of civiliza- tion. In the Bible we have a curious confirmation of the fact that the art of breeding to obtain variations in the fleece was known at a very early date. This occurs in Jacob's dealings with his father-in- law. The passage not only tells us that he altered the colour of the wool of the flock to suit his own ends, but that he refused to impart his knowledge to the man to whom the flock originally belonged. There is another reference in the book of Ezekiel to the ' white wool ' which was brought from Damascus and sold in Tyre, previous to being dyed by the Phoenicians, who were the most celebrated dyers of antiquity. Tyrian purple was widely celebrated, and as any 175 Oriental Carpets coloured fibres in the wool would greatly detract from the brilliance of the resulting fabric, we may be sure that pure white wool was not only a commodity of great value, but that clever flock-masters were even then well aware how to keep their wool free from the black fibres that occur in the wool of most wild sheep." This quotation puts succinctly all that is necessary on the sub- ject of wool for my immediate purpose, and will serve to give to those interested in the matter some indication of the thoroughness with which the author approaches the various processes by which the finished spun thread is produced for clothing, and presumably for modern carpet-weaving. Although the question of worsteds and woollens enters more into the next division, in connection with Jacquard Reproductions, it will save any further reference to the sub- ject to say here that the woollen or short-fibred yarns are mostly used in the manufacture of machine-made Axminsters, where the pile is formed without any tension upon the fibres in the cutting process. From the nature of the Jacquard weaving process, each thread of coloured yarn is kept taut by means of an iron weight (formerly a leaden bullet, of the old musket size) ; in addition to this there is the friction arising from the rise and fall of the gears, and the harness generally, which necessitates a sufficiently long-fibred (or " stapled," as it is technically called) worsted yarn, even for the cheaper grades of Brussels. It will be understood that in withdrawing the long wire with a knife at the end to form the Wilton and Saxony pile, unless the fibres are not only long but also tough, the pile of the carpet will be " ragged," and by reason of torn short fibres " kempy " and unsatisfactory. With the tension above referred to on each one of the 6820 threads of a five-frame 16-4 or twelve-feet-wide carpet, and a wire being withdrawn the whole of the width named, the integrity of the Jacquard carpet is practically ensured, from the impossibility of using any other than a well-spun, long-stapled worsted thread. Dyeing is an art in itself, and sufficient will be said throughout the volume to give what information is necessary in dealing with a subject in which artistic considerations are the main feature. The ancient method of boiling the yarn in copper pans or kettles, until it has absorbed the requisite amount of colouring matter, is more or less practised to the present day in the carpet centres of all countries. The old process of dyeing by hand, or without the use of any kind of machine- vat, has been practised for considerably over a century in the carpet factory in connection with which the information con- tained in this volume is derived. The process is simple and interest- ing. The strongly made wooden vats — made to contain a pack of 176 Plate XII Plate XII ORIENTAL RUNNER [Section] Size i 5~i x 3-2 Warp — 8 knots to the inch Weft — 9 knots to the inch 72 KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs yarn (240 lb.), half a pack (120 lb.), and a quarter pack (60 lb.) — being filled with pure water from an artesian well, are brought to boiling point by means of steam ; the dye materials are placed in the vats ; and the skeins of yarn hanging from wooden poles resting on the side edges of the vats are turned over by hand, each of the thirty to thirty-five poles with their weight of yarn being so treated until the dye matter has been sufficiently absorbed, whereupon, and also to enable the head dyer to make his tests, the poles of yarn are raised from the boiling vats, and the liquid is allowed to drip into the vats below, the poles resting upon projecting wooden arms, immediately above the vats. The hand-dyeing process is costly, long, and laborious ; but the fact of the material being under the eyes of the two men at each vat engaged in handling the yarn, and of the head dyer and his assistants, gives the advantage of constant supervision, and a correspondingly perfect result. It only remains to say that dark colours are suited to the darker woollen or worsted yarns ; and that for the more delicate shades the finest grades of white wool are required, which has bearing upon Mr. Priestman's remarks as to the avoidance of " black fibres " in the wool if an even and " all-over " shade of colour is to be obtained in the woven fabric, whether loop or cut pile. The mere question of producing the dyed colour is not the only consideration in the finished process. Before the coloured yarns are ready for the weaving loom, it may be mentioned, the question of drying the yarn after dyeing is a matter requiring expert judgment. The wet yarn, having first been rinsed out in a hydro-extractor, revolving at great speed, is finally dried, either by means of exposure to the open air in a drying-loft, in which the atmosphere is tempered by means of Venetian shutters enclosing the loft ; or in closed drying- rooms of varying degrees of heat produced by steam coils ; or lastly, and when " time is the essence of the contract," by means of a drying-machine, in which the skeins of yarn pass from one end of the machine to the other, upon flat metal-barred open chains, which are continuous, and revolve round wheels, transferring the coloured yarn from the " feeding " to the " delivery " end, in much the same way as biscuits and other articles of food are baked, as to which my only knowledge is derived from seeing the method employed at the Yerrowda Jail, near Poona, which will be spoken of in the closing chapter. Coming to the weaving or knotting of carpets, ancient and modern, it may be said that on general lines the main features are 177 12 Oriental Carpets much the same in all cases. Except in the modern demand for large production and speedy delivery, which has taxed the brains of inventors, and largely reduced cost of production, the methods of weaving or knotting are few and simple, for the reason that they do not admit of much variety. In dealing with wool, the process of weaving was described as " interlacing two series of yarns crossing each other at right angles," which is the simplest and most practical definition that has yet come under my notice. As an uncut pile, and effect of fabric closely allied to plaiting, the Kidderminster or Scotch Carpet can be mentioned, of which Chambers s Encyclopaedia says : " This is the oldest kind of machine-made carpet. It has no pile, the yarn of which it is composed lying flat upon the surface like an ordinary worsted cloth. In some respects, although coarser and stronger, it resembles a woollen damask of two colours, and like it is reversible. The pattern is most perfect on the face side, but if in this position it shows a purple flower on a green ground, then on the other side the flower is green on a purple ground." This make of carpet was first introduced into this country in 1735, and the Jacquard method of producing the pattern would be early applied ; there are, however, no points of resemblance between the Kidderminster carpet and what is described in this volume as the Jacquard carpet, which latter includes the Brussels loop pile, and the Wilton and Saxony piles, of which some particulars will be given in the next division ; in the meantime it may be explained that the Jacquard machine for producing design and colouring is quite distinct from the loom which performs the actual weaving, the one, however, being as indispensable as the other in the finished result. In the Percy Anecdotes we read : " Nothing can be more rude, or, in appearance, less calculated for delicate manufacture, than the loom of the Hindoo weaver, which he sets up in the morning, under a tree, before his door, and takes down again at sunset. It consists merely of two rollers, resting upon four stakes driven into the ground, and two sticks which cross the warp. These are supported at each end, the one by cords tied to the tree under the shade of which the loom is erected ; and the other, by two cords fastened to the foot of the weaver ; these enable him to separate the threads of the warp, for the purpose of crossing it with the woof. For the greater con- venience, he digs a hole in the ground to put his legs in. He uses a piece of wood, or stick, or almost anything that comes to hand, for a shuttle ; and yet with such rude instruments as these, the Hindoo weaver produces stuffs so fine, that when spread on the grass, they 178 Carpets Runners and Rugs intercept none of its colour." The Hindu loom paved the way to the carpet loom which is represented in Chambers's Encyclopaedia under the article "Carpets," the illustration being " Fig. i — Carpet Loom, Cawnpore." The type of loom is sufficiently familiar. Mr. Howard Priestman, in his Principles of Worsted Spinning, writes : " We know, for a fact, that the robes of the ancient Babylonians were the wonder of all who saw them, and recent investigators are inclined to think that the arts of spinning and weaving in Egypt were derived from the earlier civilizations still farther to the East. There is little doubt that in China and India these arts flourished to a similar extent, at least contemporary with those of Egypt, and if we go to India to-day we can see spinning and weaving under the same primitive conditions that existed in bygone centuries." The above quotation is a sufficient introduction to the Chinese loom, from which, it is said, the English finger-rug loom was derived. An illustration of a " Chinese Silk Loom " is given in Barlow's History and Principles of Weaving, of which the author writes : " Compared with the modern hand loom it is singularly compact and adapted for household use. In ancient times weaving was practised in all the great houses, where a room was set apart for the purpose, and this form of loom would be very suitable for similar domestic use." History repeats itself, and it may be mentioned that until the introduction of the power loom, carpet- weaving in this country was carried on in the houses of the weavers, who were probably controlled by a master manufacturer, and the distribution of materials and designs carried out much on the lines of the Lyons silk-weaving, referred to in the next division. The Chinese loom above referred to is extremely original and attractive in its style and arrangement, and different from the heavy, cumbersome English finger-rug loom, although the method of producing the pile would doubtless be the same. It is my purpose to give some particular account of the English finger-rug loom, as producing the simplest form of Oriental knot (as it might be called), although the term is hardly applicable to any of the so-called carpet knots, the worsted or woollen weft forming the pile being rather twisted or looped round the warp threads, and depending as much upon the beating up of the pile as upon the method of its tying. The English finger-rug loom was probably introduced into England by William Sheldon, who was under the immediate patronage of King Henry VIII. In The Connoisseur of June 1903 there is a fine reproduction of a full-length portrait by Holbein of 179 Oriental Carpets the first English royal patron of the art of carpet-making, which represents the monarch with his legs wide apart, standing upon what might with a little stretch of imagination be regarded as a remarkably fine example of the fabric under notice. Finger-rugs, or " town-made " rugs, as they are there called, are still made in London, and it is by no means improbable that the industry has survived in the same way as the Spitalfields silk-weaving, established by the French refugees after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. It may be said that the probabilities of the finger-rug industry having come down from such comparatively distant times are strengthened by the fact of the simple nature of the fabric, and that, being of small size, the cost for even the finest quality produced is little in consideration of almost everlasting wear. A brief description of this finger- rug loom, as being the legitimate descendant of the earliest form of Oriental loom, may be of interest. The heavy wooden framework is of the simplest description. It is modernized by the use of iron-toothed wheels for the warp chains, and a heavy swinging lathe or " batten " with a metal sley to beat up the work (instead of the Oriental heavy metal comb), and "gears" for dividing the warps ; the omission of these features would leave little room for doubt as to the capacity of primitive man eventually to arrive at this form of carpet loom, after repeated failures, which would on each occasion lead to the working out of problems the solution of which in precisely the same way is being repeated every day. The fabric produced by the finger-rug loom is heavy and coarse, but of extreme durability. After starting the work with a comparatively fine webbing, or " drop-lea," in which a thin weft is used in the shuttle, the warp threads supporting the pile tufts are raised, the thick dyed worsted or woollen weft forming the surface or pile is inserted from right to left under the warp threads, and lifted up between each two warp threads by the first finger of the left hand, the height of the pile being regulated by the finger, which gives the name to this particular process of weaving. On the completion of each row of pile tufts (or " takes," as the weaving expression is), bind is given by passing a coarse heavy weft between the divisions of the warp threads ; and it may be mentioned that this heavy weft with the warp threads forms the back, the coloured surface threads resting upon them, and being completely hidden, which again serves to distinguish the method from the Persian and Indian weaves of carpets and rugs, in which the design and colour of the back correspond exactly with the surface. The examination of a Brussels carpet will show that the loops of coloured 180 Carpets Runners and Rugs worsted forming the pile run the way of the warp, and wind in and out, serpent fashion, between the linen or cotton weft, which is securely held by the intertwining warp threads. In the finger-rug pile exactly the reverse is the case ; the heavy coloured pile weft winding in and out, again serpent fashion, between the warp threads, leaving, until cut, a series of loops the way of the weft. When a Jacquard pile carpet is woven, the loops are cut by the knife at the end of the wire supporting the loops being withdrawn, the knife passing from edge to edge of the fabric. To form the cut pile of the finger- rug, the keen blade of a hand knife is passed through the pile loops the way of the warp ; or, if the rug is longer than it is wide, the loops are cut from end to end of the rug, instead of edge to edge, and this process of forming the pile is done after the fabric is woven, and taken from the loom. It may be said that until the pile loops of the finger-rug are cut the surface presents the appearance of a very coarse Brussels fabric, the only cut threads being in places where for convenience or necessity the heavy surface weft has to be cut to facilitate its insertion between the warp threads, from twenty to thirty being dealt with at a time, or when, the supply of the weft being exhausted, a fresh supply has to be brought into use. The use made by savages of sharpened flints, and the wonderful carvings produced with these rude implements, suggest the early arrival of a " pile " floor covering ; while the advent of metal appliances would at once solve any difficulty standing in the way of the free production of a fabric offering so many attractions. To give some idea of the style and appearance of the finger-rug weave, it may be mentioned that the pile tufts or " takes " number 28 the way of the warp and weft, or 784 to the square foot in the coarser makes, and 40 takes the way of the warp and weft in the finest, or 1600 to the square foot, which contrasts markedly with the 380 hand-tied knots to the square inch of the Ardebil Carpet. The number of takes the way of the weft varies according to the quality, and the same remark applies to the number of takes the way of the warp, in which latter direction, or in the " beating up " of the pile, variation in the quality is chiefly made, as happens also in the Oriental carpets and rugs, this variation being effected with least disturbance of the fixed arrangements of the loom. The simplicity of the finger-rug weave will be recognized when it is mentioned that the pile when cut is formed by a series of detached loops, the loop itself being supported by the back, and held down by the warp threads passing between each loop, the two ends exposed to the surface forming the pile. 181 12 a Oriental Carpets The next form of carpet knot is that used in the manufacture of hand-made Axminster, which was probably derived from the older finger-rug method of weaving ; one great difference between the two fabrics, however, is that whereas the back of the finger-rug exposes the coarse weft upon which the pile practically rests, the back of the hand-made Axminster is of wool, and reproduces the colours of the surface pile in much the same way as a Turkey carpet. The finger-rug knot is merely a loop of a single thick strand of / material, as already described. In the hand-made Axminster, the j two ends of a strand of coloured wool are passed through the loop previously inserted under the warp thread destined to hold it in position ; being drawn tight, the surface ends are cut off with a pair of scissors, in much the same way as may be seen in the Savon- nerie carpet weaving at Gobelins. When inspecting this Savonnerie carpet weaving in 1906, I was interested in observing the way in which the depth of the pile was kept at an even height throughout, a flat piece of wood being placed against the pile to be cut, which was then snipped off with scissors, doubtless made with flat edges for the purpose. It will be seen that the finger-rug loop is only kept in place by the closeness of the weave, and by the coarseness of the weft between each course of takes, and of the similar material pressing closely against the back. In the hand-made Axminster no exercise of force could unloose the knot, until the warp thread holding it broke. The same perhaps may be said of the Oriental knots ; but, as far as my knowledge goes, the hand-made Axminster knot is more entitled to the name than any of the Oriental knots, with which I am now about to conclude this description of surface knotting. The Vienna Oriental Carpet Book, under the heading of " Analysis of Oriental Carpets," gives three very clear examples of the methods of knotting, the diagrams being headed " The three systems of knotting used in Oriental carpets are shown in the follow- ing diagrams." I reproduce the wording verbatim, as it means presumably that, according to Dr. Alois Riegl, of Vienna, who is responsible for the Analysis, only three systems were recognized.. Mr. Henry T. Harris, in his Monograph on the Carpet Weaving Industry of Southern India (fully noticed at the close of this division), gives four diagrams illustrating "Carpet Knots," three of which are practically identical with the three mentioned by Dr. Riegl ; the fourth knot appears to be quite distinct from the others, and is worthy the attention of the Vienna expert. To those inclined to be dogmatic in their assignment of dates of 182 Carpets Runners and Rugs origin and locality to the numerous and heterogeneous collection of Oriental carpets, runners, and rugs which yearly filter into the posses- sion of European nations, an article in The Burlington Magazine of October 1908 can be strongly recommended. Within the past twenty years cases have come to light in which retailers of long standing sold carpets for 100 guineas, and then, through the exigency of a fire, or other unforeseen event, discovered to their cost that the value of an article in the eyes of the law does not rest upon the price at which it was sold, but on evidence of what it was worth when a legitimate claim arose. Less than three years ago, the head of one of the leading public schools in the country, after using an Oriental carpet (presumably presented by a former scholar with travelling tendencies) as something warm and convenient to stand by the side of his morning tub, or upon which the hard rim of the bath itself actually rested, and finding that many years' accumulation of soap-suds from the evening bath necessitated the carpet being cleaned, sent it away for the purpose ; and a little time after a letter came offering £1000 for what had been so lightly prized. It is quite possible, on the other hand, that a fine old Lahore copy of an original Persian carpet may be sold as a genuine example at ten times its value, or an Armenian " fake " of an old prayer rug sold at an extortionate price ; but such things happen in all artistic dealings, and on the average each side of the bargain is fair. Nothing is heard of the amateur who picks up bargains ; on the other hand, the bona fide dealer, with a reputation to lose, is of necessity compelled to see that his customer has at least full value for his money, while any accidental misdescription or guarantee is made good. It is not uncommon to find the papers full of a Picture, a Violin, or an old piece of Furniture " swindle," in which the dealer is often victimized in damages which ought to be sought for elsewhere ; but, curiously enough, it is hard to remember a case where the dealer has occasion to proceed against the amateur for knowingly or unknowingly pur- chasing any article of the sort at many times below its real value. The article referred to in The Burlington Magazine is entitled " Oriental Carpets," and is by Professor Josef Strzygowski, translated by Mr. L. I. Armstrong ; it is a criticism of a work recently issued by the Imperial Press, Vienna, with subvention from the Swedish Government, the author being Dr. F. R. Martin, who has entitled his work A History of Oriental Carpets before 1800. I must confess that, on obtaining a copy with the idea of making use of it for the purpose of throwing light upon some features of design in the examples illustrated in this book, it occurred to me that in many cases the 183 Oriental Carpets information as to dates and origin was much too minute to be taken as ascertained facts. Professor Strzygowski appears to be of the same opinion, for he writes as follows : " More than any of his pre- decessors, Martin shows what enormous experience and erudition are necessary in order to speak on the subject of oriental carpets and similar art questions. No one to-day ought to deceive himself into thinking that either he or the present generation will solve difficult problems of this kind. All the necessary premises are still lacking." It is not likely that any carpet will ever be discovered to which a date over a thousand years can be assigned. Thus, deductions will have to be drawn from, first, the natural sequence of natural proclivi- ties and personal requirements, of which a desire for human comfort is a strong factor ; next, from the exigencies of climate, which pre- sent difficulties, as the warm climate creates a relaxation of the body and an enervation which make the reclining posture natural and convenient, while the cold climate asks for protection from damp and cold ; and, thirdly and most important, from indications in con- temporary arts, which may point to an adaptation of carpet forms throwing light from unexpected quarters. The recent discoveries by Mr. Evans at Knossos and Mr. Davis at Biban el Moluk, previously referred to, have given promise of more to come of a similar nature, which may upset all preconceived ideas. In the meantime the deduction from a natural evolution may prove to be as near the mark as an elaborate scientific superstructure of theoretic possibilities and probabilities built upon data the overturning of a single one of which will prejudice the whole conclusions arrived at. As regards fabric, plaiting is likely to have pointed the way to the warp and weft fabric, which remains very much to-day what it was at its first inception, for the sufficient reason that there is no other possible way open to patience, invention, or genius. The tree, tent, or wattle shelter having to give way in winter to the refuge of the cave and the later primitive hut, the solitary entrance throwing the whole of the wear upon whatever was placed at the door in the shape of a mat, would soon convince the mistress of the house that something more lasting would have to be substituted for the early woven fabrics. It is not, I think, drawing too much upon the imagination to suggest that when this became a necessity, the young sons, who would be permitted to watch their father at work, and minister to his needs, would have the same intelligence, and the human desire for pleasing the eye, which causes the small country station-master to spend his time in the elaborate devices in stones which convey the name of the place in the first instance, but in 184 Plate XIII Plate XIII ORIENTAL RUNNER [Section] Size i 3-1 x 3-3 Warp — 9 knots to the inch Weft — 9 knots to the inch 8l KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs many cases also are really tasteful ornamental devices, which, while without the slightest artistic origin, display a natural human instinct for neatness and tidiness, satisfied with the orderliness which easily leads to the first geometrical formation in the matter of design. A simple arrangement in alternate black and white stones would be the first effort ; a little encouragement would lead to the attempt of some arrangement in simple lines, and later still, a primitive key-pattern ; ambition to excel, and the desire for applause, which would be as natural in the earliest times as it is now, would sooner or later lead to an earnest effort to rival the father's circumscribed efforts ; then might result what could with some show of reason be called the first mosaic, which in the natural order of things would precede painting, although not drawing. With no walls or prepared surfaces or materials, there would be no particular need for painting, whereas, first, the comfort of a floor covering, and next, the saving of continual replacement of fabrics, meaning increased human exertion, provides quite sufficient reason for a primitive attempt at mosaic, which, from the prominent position in which it would be placed, would certainly create a desire to make it not only useful but also ornamental ; plenty of spare time, and the passion of imitation which is the first characteristic of the monkey (which some scientists would persuade us we are descended from), did the rest, and it is probably in the permanent mosaic that the early origin of all woven fabrics will be found. Mr. H. B. Walters, in his Art of the Greeks, in dealing with Ionic pottery, writes : " Another characteristic is the general use of small ornaments, such as rosettes and crosses, in great variety of form, to cover the background of the designs, and obviate the necessity of leaving vacant spaces, so abhorrent to the early Greek mind. It is probable that this system of decoration owes much to Assyrian textile fabrics." Only mentioning that the Oriental weaver abhors empty, unmeaning spaces as much as the early Greeks, I will quote another passage from Mr. Walters, dealing with Oriental influences. In this he writes : " The Greeks were largely indebted to Assyria for the subjects of their decorative art, if not for their technical methods. The lions, horses, and fantastic winged monsters of the Assyrian reliefs, and the ornamentation of textile embroideries, provided many models which the Greeks were ready to adopt, and which became popular themes of decoration." Professor Michaelis, in A Century of Archaeological Discoveries, speaking of discoveries in Babylonia, writes : " Our first glimpse into ancient Babylonian decoration and architecture was afforded by a 185 Oriental Carpets carpet-like wall decoration at Warka." Earlier in the same volume, in dealing with Dr. Schliemann's discovery of ancient Troy, he says : " The complete clearing of the Treasury of Atreus and the neigh- bouring sepulchral monuments has revealed more clearly the majestic character of these superb royal tombs, which can be com- pared with the Roman Pantheon for impressiveness. The dignified facade was decorated in colours, and the interior of the beehive tomb had metal ornaments. The ceiling of the inner chamber was missing, but its character can be inferred from the Minyas Tomb at Orcho- menos, an Egyptian design of rosettes and palmettes evidently taken from a woven carpet pattern." In Mr. Russell Sturgis's A History of Architecture, Plate 83 — " Part of ceiling slab of flat-roofed chamber of beehive tomb at Orcho- menos in Boeotia " — illustrates the ornamental decoration referred to by Professor Michaelis, and it certainly justifies the attribution to a textile design — if we may judge from its difficulty, a design of a sufficiently advanced type to suggest the probability of many early efforts before arriving at such proficiency. It is useless to multiply examples of a similar kind, which point to the existence of an art to which dates cannot be assigned for the simple reason that no limit can be placed to the period when the human eye was busily at work exercising its critically artistic functions, and that, be it noted, with no reservations as to nationality, for even in the tattooing and incised devices of the most primitive races, as far as such work advances, there is a uniformity and exact- ness of line which is no mere accident, but amply justifies the writer in The Edinburgh Review of October 1906, already referred to in the heading to the previous chapter. In his " Greek Art and Modern Craftsmanship" he writes: "It needs but a brief study of the subject to convince us that the Greeks in their arrangement of form and line were directed by an acute perception of certain likes and dislikes belonging to the eye. . . . They discovered that there are inherent in the sense of sight certain laws which, apart from the volition of the mind, govern and control its least motions. They discovered, further, that these laws, far from being subject to change or varia- tion in different people, are fixed and unalterable, and, accordingly, that so long as eyes are eyes, they must, whether in motion or at rest, obey such laws." The importance of this recognition of the paramount instinct of the eye cannot be exaggerated ; it means that before any attempt can be made to determine the origins of Art, the capacity of the eye must first be determined, and even the exact knowledge of the earliest existing human being will leave the 186 Carpets Runners and Rugs necessity of a close scientific examination of this particular god-like endowment, which will be an everlasting puzzle to the seeker after truth. Granted that we are derived from some form of superior ape, it has not, I think, yet been suggested that there is any deficiency in the eye of this strange perversion of humanity ; indeed, it might be successfully urged that his close attention to his tail, and the artistic convolutions into which the creature twists it, is the clearest possible evidence of an artistic instinct quite independent of any outside influence, and ruled solely by the judgment of the eye. Does it seem an outrageous insult to human intelligence to suggest that the spiral curve, so common in the earliest forms of Art, is nothing more nor less than the closely-curled tail of the ape ? If so, refer to Alexander Speltz's Styles of Ornament, " The Prehistoric Ornament," Plate I, No. 5, " Earthenware Vessel found in Budmir, Bosnia." The continuous spiral curve here illustrated may be a later form of the detached curve of the same form, and the familiar sight of a band of monkeys bridging a stream by means of the support afforded by their tails might well, fantastic as it may seem, have suggested the continuous chain of spiral curves referred to. Plate II of Mr. H. B. Walters's Art of the Greeks illustrates the same feature ; in this case the curves radiate from a centre, and the ornament is taken from " Gold Ornaments from Mycenae." In Plate VII of the same work, illustrating " Mycenaean Painted Pottery," three connected spiral curves form the ornament upon a piece of pottery, which occupies the space divided on either side by the handles, the style of the vase and the handles seeming to denote a later period than the prehistoric pottery first mentioned. To pursue the idea further, look at Plate 140 of Fergusson's Mediaeval Architecture, " Ionic Order of Erechtheum at Athens," and note the double curve forming the familiar capital of the pillar of the order ; archaeological discoveries may yet bring to light examples in which the origin of this form will be found to be two monkeys grasping each other, with curved tails extended on either side of the column, which, headed by their bodies, supports the entablature. Is all this any more fanciful than the ornamental form illustrated in Plate XIX of this book, which consists of a conventional pineapple, with the very real representation of a tiger or leopard crouching upon it ? Or is the suggestion that Nature, in the shape of a monkey's curved tail, supplied one of the earliest ornamental forms, any more monstrous than that Man, of whom God said, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," is a lineal descendant of 187 Oriental Carpets the ape, whose name I have taken in vain in this searching after the origins of Art ? If we accept the one hypothesis, why not the other ? While we are on the subject of Ornament, it may be desirable to deal more fully with the early simple forms, and in doing so I will, where necessary, follow out later developments arising from the first primitive efforts, so as to keep the question of Design into an easily- referred-to group. It must be remembered that simplicity of form is by no means a safe criterion for adjudging the sequence of produc- tion ; and here again the expert who professes to assign dates upon the basis of such indications is likely to go astray. The child will attempt to run long before he is able to walk ; the weakness of the amateur, who attempts difficulties before he has mastered the rudiments, is a well-known phase in Art as in everything else ; and instances are not wanting where business men have shown unwonted boldness in prosecuting enterprises which appeal to their fancy rather than to their judgment. Two interesting instances may be quoted. The earliest dated example of a picture printed from a wood- block is the "Saint Christopher" of 1423, now in the John Rylands Library at Manchester. No block-book exists with a date earlier than 1470, and it is apparently an open question whether or not the block-book preceded the use of movable types. Experiments of some kind with separate letters were being made at Avignon in 1444 ; but the first printed documents to which a date and place can be assigned were printed at Mainz in the autumn of 1454. Bear these facts in mind, and look at the 42-line Bible printed at Mainz before August 1456, which can be seen at the British Museum, from the catalogue of which, entitled A Guide to the Exhibition in the King's Library, 1901, I have extracted the above particulars. With the printers of this splendid Bible, the choice of such a book for an early effort is understandable, and the matter might be relied upon to make good any defects in the actual design and cut of the type, not to say the general character of the whole production ; but I believe it is not too much to say that in its way the book from all points of view has not since been surpassed, and that the great Bible known as the " Mazarin Bible " (from its having first come to prominent notice from its accidental discovery in the Cardinal's Library) stands forth as a great example of the genius of human nature triumphing over unaccustomed difficulties in a way which can only be appre- ciated by those who have some experience of producing with any degree of sufficiency the simplest specimen of book that can be called to mind ; even the daily paper is an example which may be quoted. Carpets Runners and Rugs In recent times, this same illustration of the way all experience can be put out of joint by the genius of man, urged on by personal predilections, is to be noted in the case of Mr. William Morris and his Kelmscott Press. One might have imagined that some very simple example for a first endeavour would have been selected, but not so : Caxton's Golden Legend engaged his fancy : so The Golden Legend and no other work was designed to open the operations of the Press, since become so famous. Mr. Mackail, in his Life of William Morris, records that the first eleven punches of the type to be after- wards known as the "Golden Type" were cut by the middle of August 1890, when Mr. Morris was fifty-seven years of age, a fact worth noting by those who agree with Professor Osier that human genius after forty years of age can be reckoned at a discount. It is true that a small work, The Glittering Plain, was the first work issued from the Kelmscott Press, in 1891 ; but this was on account of the magnitude of the task which Mr. Morris first set himself, a task which will be realized when it is considered that The Golden Legend consists of three large volumes in quarto size, and that it contained illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. This book was issued in 1892, and is number 7 in the list of 53 works issued by the Press, and the edition consisted of 500 copies. Morris not being content with the one fount of type, the largest type used by the Press, the " Troy," was designed in 1891, and in 1892 the Recueill of the Histories of Troye, by Le Fevre, was before the public. Whatever has been said or may be said of the magnificent edition of Chaucer issued in folio in 1896, with 87 illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and with a splendid title-page and numerous ornamental borders to the wood- block pictures, and large initial letters designed by William Morris himself, the book will probably hand down Mr. Morris's name to posterity, and justly entitle him to permanent fame, when many of his more attractive efforts will be completely forgotten. The edition of the Kelmscott Chaucer (in " Chaucer " type) consisted of 425 copies on paper and 13 on vellum, which, the 40th volume from the Press, compares appropriately with the modest 200 copies on paper and 6 on fine Roman vellum of which the first book consisted. This is a long digression ; but in my judgment an explanation is required of the somewhat primitive attempt to suggest the rudiments of Design which may have been followed out in the early textile weavings. I do not regard the following order as arbitrary ; it is merely suggestive, and is put forward upon the lines that in the absence of 189 Oriental Carpets definite proof one opinion is better than another only in the sense that a greater natural probability may be claimed for it. Some Early Carpet Forms i. Two-colour Diaper, or Chequer. There is obviously only room here for variation in the size of the pattern, which in simple plaiting or weaving would depend entirely upon the fineness or coarseness of the fabric. 2. Spot Pattern, Geometrically arranged. There was practically no limit to the varieties possible here, in the size of the spot and the distances at which it could be placed apart. It is well to note that no difficulty would be offered in making the spot as large as might be required, which depended only upon the use of two or more threads of the warp and weft. Equal thicknesses of warp and weft would produce a square spot if the fabric was evenly divided ; while increased thickness of either warp or weft, in which the one exceeded the other, would result in either a vertical or horizontal oblong. 3. Plain Lines Horizontally and Vertically arranged. Here again the possible variations in the thickness of the lines, and in the distances they were placed apart, were unlimited. It is easy to see that ordinary intelligence would suggest possibilities of design, in (say) combining two or more lines of warp or weft, or both, at even distances, which would soon result in something corresponding with the Scotch tartan, which doubtless is of the greatest antiquity. 4. Plain Lines arranged Diagonally. To those familiar with the real difficulties attached to designing on square ruled paper it may seem early to suggest an operation which without any guide might be supposed to puzzle the first weaver, whose operations I am endeavouring to follow out. It appears to me that before any effort in the direction of detached figures such as follow (which mean a calculation and judgment as to form, as well as spaces), the following of a continuous line, even at the difficult diagonal, is likely to have come first, and I so place it. Once overcome, the placing of the diagonal line affords the same variations as the horizontal and vertical. 5. Two Lines at Right Angles forming a Cross. The same com- binations offered here as in the plain spot referred to above. 6. The Addition of Diagonal Lines to No. 5, forming a Star. The same remark as to variety applies here, and it is worth while to note that at this stage even, with a command of lines at right angles forming squares, and lines placed diagonally forming lozenges, which can stand for the first suggestions of the grille and trellis, so freely used in decorative ornament of all kinds, the addition of the spot, the cross, and the star forms practically offer unlimited variety. 190 Carpets Runners and Rugs 7. Squares and Oblongs. The cross and star forms obviously mean detachment upon a plain ground, and the same remark applies to these forms. In my judgment the natural placing of these forms in continuous order (for the weaver would find it convenient to do so at equal distances) eventually led to the key form, as follows. 8. Key Form in Castellated Arrangement. I use the expression " key" form in the most primitive style of that useful article — that is to say, at the time when the blade of the key was quite plain, and before the complicated wards (more often than not purely orna- mental) were cut into the fanciful patterns, of which some very rich specimens exist. In case the expression " castellated " may be vague, I refer to the simplest form of battlement, in which the embrasures are of equal height and depth, and at right angles. 9. Squares within Squares, and Oblongs within Oblongs. In the search after variety, these forms would soon follow what had already been done, and readily lead to the more advanced key forms. 10. Key Forms. These are of infinite variety, and their mere mention is sufficient, attention being called to the variety in which a double running key, cutting at right angles, leaves (when so arranged) an open space in which a square or an oblong can be inserted, which in its turn can enclose any of the simple detached figures already mentioned, and (later) more ornamental ones still. 11. Svastika. This is one of the earliest religious symbols, and may be familiar to American readers of Mr. Kipling's Outward Bound Edition, from having been used, in conjunction with the lotus and the elephant- headed Ganesha (the god of auspicious beginnings), upon the title of the edition in question, and also impressed in the form of a seal upon the backs of the volumes. I can best describe the form as a cross of equal-lengthed lines, each line having a foot of half its length turned in opposite directions ; the result has a primitive suggestion of the sun, for which it was intended, being invariably associated with the worship of the Aryan sun-gods, Apollo and Odin. This form is represented in the Catalogue d' Etoffes Anciennes et Modernes, issued with the authority of the Musees Royaux des Arts Decoratifs, Brussels, and illustrating the collection of fabrics in the Museum of that city. The figure in question is No. 1q in the catalogue, and is described as Egyptian work of the first period ; is dated as from the first century before to the first century after the birth of Christ. From the illustration, the figure seems to have been worked in coarse wool upon a linen fabric, the design in a purple violet standing out clear upon a white ground. I have referred to this figure with some detail, as it represents the first attempt at design, properly named, and because some authorities hold that it is the origin of all key formations. 12. Circle and Oval Forms. The way now seems cleared towards these important forms, which in my opinion offer less difficulty than 191 Oriental Carpets anything in the shape of ornamental detached figures, geometrically- arranged, owing to the fact that the eye would instantly correct any break in the continuous line, or deviation from a symmetrical form, whereas in the simplest detached figures, to secure any uniformity, the distances have to be exact and the forms also. 13. Circles within Circles, and Ovals within Ovals. It will be readily understood that a weaver capable of forming the single circle would have little difficulty in enclosing another within it, and the same with the oval ; but it is necessary to suggest that when this stage was reached, the fabric would be sufficiendy fine in texture to admit of such a complication, which coarse material would almost preclude. 14. Spiral Key Pattern. The substitution of circular and oval forms for the lines at right angles forming the conventional key pattern will perhaps sufficiendy describe the form, which (I have ventured to suggest) was derived from the twisted curves of a monkey's tail. As already mentioned, this form is found upon the earliest examples of pottery and other objects in prehistoric times, and must be sufficiently familiar to make any further reference to it superfluous. It may be presumed that, long before the period of Design now arrived at, experiments would be made by a tracing on the ground, or scratching on some smooth surface (perhaps the trunk of a tree), the particular form in the mind of the weaver. It is quite likely that, with the eager haste of the amateur engrossed in his handiwork, an attempt would be made to work out some of the simple forms first enumerated, without wasting the time required to put the idea into practical working shape ; this is the great stumbling-block in the way of all untrained efforts. The experienced designer knows full well the difference between a design clearly shaped in the mind (con- veyed there by the quickly receptive eye) and its translation. It is astonishing what technical difficulties present themselves when it comes to bringing the imagination down from the heaven of ideal perfection to the earth of tangible facts. With very little imagina- tion one can picture primitive man with wrinkled brow in the throes of complicated and perplexed thought, wrestling with the difficulty of reproducing his roughly traced forms into the fabric in which he was bound by the conventions of warp and weft, and in which, un- like his easily restored sand surface, or unlimited material for his scratched drawings, the only remedy for a defect was to unpick his work, which would naturally go against the grain, in spite of ample time at his disposal, for so are we all built from the beginning. With the confidence of the inexperienced, and the want of appre- ciation of the fact that inspiration, without the knowledge to bring it 192 Carpets Runners and Rugs to account, leads to more despairing disappointment than anything else artistic life can offer, the mate of primitive man, attracted by the beauty of the flowers around her, and cognizant of their decorative effect in her hair or upon her dress, had probably made ineffectual attempts to reproduce them in her plaiting, sewing, or even crude attempts at what may be called weaving. The time seems to have come when, having produced the early forms already tabulated, man would, in his turn, attempt something more advanced. The following con- tinuation of my list of forms appears to suggest the natural progress of design, which required something more than a mechanical judg- ment of the eye, and the accidental following of forms resulting from the superimposing of one line upon another at different angles, and the filling in of spaces caused by continuous circles and ovals touching one another, which, it will be found, creates a natural space, which ordinary instinct would suggest filling with some simple form. In fact, the time had come for the exercise of mental powers and full artistic instinct in Designing, which, as we know, requires the adaptation of means towards a definite end. Continuing from No. 14 — " Spiral Key Pattern " — we come to the first Floral form, which I imagine to have been the Daisy, for reasons which I shall give under its number and heading. Some Advanced Carpet Forms 15. Daisy and Similar Forms. From its frequency of display in the very earliest Egyptian decoration, it has, I believe, been pretty gener- ally assumed that the Lotus was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, of flower forms adapted to decorative purposes ; but the flower as it actually is in nature, and the flower as simplified with rare art to the exigencies of the material in which it has been so largely used in architecture, are two very different things, and it seems to me that in simplicity of design and ease of execution the flower forms with prominent and clearly-defined centres, and equally simple radiating petals, offer more likely subjects for first attempts in the direction of floral decoration. There is no reason to think that the Daisy, the Wild Rose, the Wood Anemone, and the Marigold were not as plentiful in the earliest days as they are now. I have selected the Daisy to illustrate my theory, as, although more complicated in its petals than the other flowers mentioned, it is likely to have been more common, and with its bold gold centre and pink-tipped outer petals it offers both design and colour in a fashion likely to have attracted attention. A daisy also, when folded up for the night's repose, has a distinct resemblance to the Lotus bud, much used in Egyptian ornament. A large dot for the centre, with smaller dots at equal distances 193 x 3 Oriental Carpets around it, would give a very reasonable effect of the flower ; and later the connection of these dots with the main centre would pave the way to the honeysuckle, common to Greek ornament. 1 6. The Lotus. An inverted triangle, with a plain straight line connected from its depending apex, gives the simplest form of the Lotus, and a series of these, forming a kind of dado or frieze, would be a quite passable decoration for lovers of simplicity at the present day. The dividing of this first simple form into the spear-head petals familiar in Egyptian architectural decoration, and the more natural presentation of the flower with its bud, would quickly follow, and when this was done, most of the flower forms suitable for textile reproduction would be naturally and easily produced. It is well to mention here that the Lotus form in architecture is said to have been suggested by the Egyptian Water Lily. 17. Flower-Petal and Leaf Forms. It has been suggested that after having divided the Lotus in its plain block form into the natural divisions, other flower forms would readily follow ; but it is necessary to say that at the stage in which this detail became possible, some considerable proficiency had been arrived at on the part of the weaver, and also a fineness of texture very different from what sufficed for the early forms. Without any attempt to assign a date, it must be assumed now that the Carpet was worthy of the name, and that colour had for some time supplemented and added to the effects possible. It is well to add that, far from being the additional complication that might be supposed, the addition of colour would enable the weaver to single out and distinguish features of his design which otherwise would have been blurred into an incoherent mass. As to whether or not the simple pointed leaf form or blade of grass preceded the rounded petal, or the petal with a piece " bitten out" — that is a matter of pure conjecture ; the pointed leaf might be the easiest, but, on the other hand, the desire to give more natural form to a favourite flower would be quite sufficient to ensure the weaver's absorption in the object of his choice, until the difficulty was successfully overcome. 18. Rosette Forms. Having mastered the petal and leaf, the use of any number of similar forms combined in geometrical shapes would follow in natural course, and require no further explanation. 19. The Honeysuckle. The seeming irregularity in outline of this flower might be supposed to offer difficulties ; but as represented upon Greek vases and in architectural reliefs, it can be conventionalized into apparent simplicity, while remaining very effective. 20. Palmette Forms. Palmette is defined by Webster as " a kind of conventional floral ornament," and little more needs to be said. In later periods, when the carpet approached perfection, each division of the serrated leaf would be elaborately worked up, and the centre made to enclose an important floral figure, really complete in itself, 194 Carpets Runners and Rugs but giving to the whole an effect diversified as much in colour as in design. 21. Acanthus Forms. These are familiar in architecture in connection with Corinthian and highly elaborated Composite capitals. In effect, the Acanthus is nothing more nor less than an elabora- tion of the Palmette form, and lacks the advantage of the latter's simplicity. 22. Pine Forms. The Pineapple does not seem to be a promising sub- ject for design ; yet it has probably furnished more material for charming carpets than any other form. The flattened egg-shaped form with its tuft of leaves is familiar to all ; but its real simplicity is perhaps not so commonly realized. Fill the body of the pine with diagonal crossed lines, and attach on the top a bunch of leaves of any form, and a very fair representation of a pine results. The evolu- tion of the pine as generally displayed in carpet form requires some explanation as to its arrival at the stage in which it is represented with a single arm hanging down first on one side and then on the other, with litde appearance of the fruiterer's pine for the table. In Ceylon there is a variety of the pine with the usual crocodile- skinned body, but with three tufts of leaves instead of the common single bunch. Presuming this pine to have engaged the attention of the weaver, the first attempt to introduce a succeeding row of them, filling the body of the carpet from edge to edge of the enclos- ing border, and placed in added rows one on the top of the other, until the length of the carpet was reached, would result in a meandering rivulet of emptiness on both sides of the figures, which would outrage the sensitive eye of the weaver. Experiment would result in lopping off the two superfluous tufts, leaving only the one hanging over (say) the left side, by way of example. This would not be amiss on the one side ; but the emptiness on the bare side in an arrangement similar to that first named would be more marked than ever. The remedy would be found in time, and this consists of alternate rows of left-handed tuft and right-handed tuft pines, the alternate overhanging arms effectually filling the empty spaces, and producing the "level effect " so dear to the Oriental weaver. True that, looked at sideways, there is an objectionable line which in any great length would be very objectionable ; but it must be remembered that pine designs are usually in small sizes, where the eye-harrowing effect is hardly noticed. This process of experiment should be borne in mind, as it is at the root of the perfected " all over " effects of Design and Colouring which characterize the finest productions of the Oriental carpet looms. 23. Cloud Forms. I venture to assign a romantic reason for these forms, which has some connection with the origin of the rainbow. There is nothing strange in the suggestion that as the roundness of the 195 Oriental Carpets sun at all times, the roundness of the moon at its full, and it may be added the star, all suggested the forms belonging to them, so the curious shapes clouds take seems to be the natural origin of forms which are too readily taken to denote the authenticity of carpets claiming to be of the finest period of Persian carpet- weaving, from the fact that the form, in connection with the horse- shoe, is seldom absent from the actual period of Shah Abbas. 24. The Horseshoe. This form hardly seems to require more than bare mention, being the symbol of the noblest of animals, and an emblem of " luck " which few ignore, however much they may profess to be above superstition. The sight of the cast horse- shoe nailed above the stable door of the London mews is as familiar as it is over the country stable door, let alone the farrier's and the village smithy. Readers of Dean Swift do not need to be reminded of the scorn with which the Horse was given precedence over mankind ; and Mr. Kipling's early journalistic description of his visit to the City of the Houyhnhnms, or the stables of the Maharaja of Jodhpur, will vividly show the estimation in which the horse is held in India, as indeed it is wherever its fine shape and intelligence and sporting instincts are understood and appreciated. It is possible that few, however, are aware of the position the horse held, and probably still holds, in Persia, to illustrate which I will quote from Sir John Malcolm's History of Persia. " There is no part of the establishment of a monarch of Persia to which more attention is paid than his horses." " It has been before mentioned that the stable of the king is deemed one of the most sacred of all sanctuaries." The reference is to the murder of Suffee Meerza, the eldest son of Shah Abbas the Great, who, being led to believe that Suffee had a design against his life, not only sanctioned the murder, but refrained from the execu- tion of the assassin, who had taken refuge in the royal stables, respecting the usage which regarded them as the most sacred of asylums. Surely nothing could go beyond this in demonstrating the esteem in which the horse was held in Persia ; and the almost invariable use of the horseshoe in combination with cloud forms, attached to each end of the curved arms, conveys as clearly as hieroglyphics can a desire for divine protection, and a corresponding faith in the "luck" which, if the truth were told, formed an indispensable adjunct. 25. Animal Forms. It is hard to say when these were first used ; it is quite possible that, struck with the strangeness of the creatures around them, early weavers made attempts to reproduce their forms, and prehistoric bone - carvings seem almost to justify a suggestion that animal forms even preceded some of those already named. Some of the finest examples of carpets, dating from the sixteenth century, make free use of animal forms, and frequently 196 Plate XIV Plate XIV ORIENTAL RUNNER [Section] Size 16-5 x 3-1 Warp — 10 knots to the inch Weft — 9 knots to the inch 90 KNOTS TO THE SQJJARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs of the graceful attitudes which harmonize well with the elaborate scroll and ornamental forms with which they are associated. 26. Human Forms. It may be suggested that the first employment of the human form might have been in the light of a joke, which, in view of the irresistible tendency to caricature, even in the sacred precincts of His Majesty's Court of the King's Bench, will not seem improbable to some readers. Generally speaking, the portrayal of the human form, in any aspect approaching the natural, is of some rarity in finished examples, while in the primitive " child's " outlining it can frequendy be seen in quite common fabrics. 27. Bird Forms. In naturalistic representation, these also are of some rarity, and simply require mentioning because they have been used, and probably still are, sometimes with special purpose, at others without rhyme or reason. 28. Fish Forms. Except with special symbolical suggestion, there seems litde reason for using such forms ; but in a coloured plate issued in 1895 by Dr. Alois Riegl, I recall an ancient carpet of great artistic merit, with fish forms, swimming, if my memory serves, in a meandering band of colour suggestive of a stream. It is clear that, even with the number of forms already referred to, the number of combinations possible is practically unlimited, and any endeavour to exhaust the subject would be wearisome, and still leave the subject of Oriental Design practically untouched. It is not too much to say that no two Oriental carpets are made precisely alike, and any classification must of necessity be on the broadest lines. In dealing with the subject of design so far, I have referred only to the most obvious forms ; no mention has been made of the trellis formations, which, whether of a plain stem form or a leaf form — whether of diamond shape, of honeycombed, six-sided shape, formed of straight lines or curved lines — provide an unlimited variety, to be determined at the will of the weaver by breaking the touching points of the contiguous trellises with rosettes or other ornamental forms, and further diversified by the introduction of detached figures or a series of smaller figures, or with a pattern distinct in itself, while still being part and parcel of the whole design, for the particular art of the Oriental weaver and artist is to unite infinite variety in the same carpet while avoiding any sense of incongruity. The following examples of designs in a more advanced stage than those already tabulated under their individual forms is merely intended to show a few well-known styles, which will further illustrate the resources provided by Nature and Art, enabling carpet- weavers from time immemorial to continue production without arriving at the stage where monotony begins. 197 13 a Oriental Carpets Some Developed Carpet Designs 29. The Detached Panel. This commonly consists of a diamond-shaped or combined plain line and curved forms, lying within the square space enclosed by the borders of a carpet. The corners of the square referred to are broken either by corner pieces joining on to the borders, and repeated uniformly at each corner of the square, or by detached ornamental forms serving the same purpose. The panel referred to generally has the upper and lower terminals softened off by a chain of medium-sized figures, either detached or connected with small rosette forms ; the whole figure remaining unconnected with the borders, thus leaving the panel effectively forming the main feature of the carpet. It will be readily recognized that many variations are possible in this formation. For instance, the plain space surrounding the detached panel figure can be filled in with a damask of small figures ; with arabesque work ; or with elaborate scroll work, with animal figures introduced, as may be seen in fine examples ; indeed, this style of pattern, which in a sense is geometrical in its main formation, is a favourite with the Orientals, as being effective, and easy to handle, and there are probablymore specimensof thisformation than anyother. 30. Connected Panels. Generally consist of a series of small panels touching one another, and, as a rule, uniform in design, but frequendy enclosing diversified figures. When the panels are not of the same form, irregular spaces are left, which give opportunity for further variety in the style of figures with which the design as a whole is relieved from the sameness of repetition. 31. Band or Strap Pattern. The field or body of the pattern is sometimes made up of a series of geometrically arranged band or strap forms, which are broken at frequent points with small ornamental figures and leaf forms. The bands or straps referred to interlace and form a kind of arabesque. 32. Persian Herati Formation. Very characteristic of the best class of formal Persian design, and found in various styles and sizes. It generally consists of a central rosette figure, enclosed within a diamond-shaped stem panel, at the upper and lower ends of which a palmette form is connected, naturally pointing from the rosette centre. These palmette figures are enclosed within prominent leaf forms which lie upon either a single or a double flower form. The figure is completed by similar palmette figures either pointing outwards on either side of the central rosette, connected by the stem work referred to, or pointing inwards, in which case the stem work forms a portion of a figure similar to that included in this description, which obviously can be repeated over and over again in geometrical formation, to fill the whole of the field of the carpet. This design has the effectiveness of formality, while being relieved of any stiffness by all spaces left by the main figures being filled in 198 Carpets Runners and Rugs with small leaf, bud, and rosette forms, the whole having a peculiarly rich and pleasing effect. 33. Indian Fishbone Pattern. So called because the closeness of the design, which in its arrangement resembles the Herati design, is supposed to suggest the skeleton of a fish, to which indeed it bears a likeness sufficient to justify the description. 34. Detached Ornamental Forms. These are either rosette, palmette, or pine forms, or other purely conventional ornamental figures, lying either upon a plain or a figured ground. A common form of pattern in this class consists of a series of conventional plant and flower forms, with their connecting stems and leaf and bud forms springing naturally from the stem. In some cases a group of purely ornamental figures, connected with stem work, are arranged to form one complete figure, and with similar figures, but of different ornamental forms placed close together, the spaces left on either side automatically form a plain trellis, from the contrast between the rich figures and the intervening ground shade, of a single tone. 35. Free Floral Scrolls. Perhaps the severest test of the designer and weaver. The geometrical formation, which, in one way or another, has characterized all the designs hitherto mentioned, as a rule necessitates only the designing of a quarter of the pattern, which turns over on all sides, thus forming a completed figure of regular or irregular shape, according to the nature of the forms used in the original section. It is very different in the "all over" scroll forma- tion, every portion of which has to be separately and distinctly drawn in. The curves of the stems forming the scroll have to spring from one another in graceful and natural lines, and the terminal figures, and small intervening conventional flower and bud forms, with stem and leaf work, have to fit in with the general effect of the design as a whole, without conveying any sense of uncouthness, and without any feature of the design attracting the eye with offensive prominence, or with any suggestion of over-strength or weakness. In fact, this form of design is only met with in perfection in the highest flights of carpet designing, and it is impossible to imagine the most expert weaver producing such a carpet without a guide before him, in the shape of at least a sufficient indication of the main formation of the scroll work, and of the position of the principal figures. Many fine examples of this class of design are very elaborately worked up, and are rich in examples of the palmette, rosette, and leaf forms, the main stem work, forming the scroll, throwing off smaller stems, with their leaf and bud forms, the whole having an air of " gaiety," it might be said, which is very pleasing and attrac- tive. The use of lion, leopard, tiger, stag, and other animal forms is comparatively common, and their easy, graceful movements, follow- ing the lines of the scroll formation, carry the whole scheme out without any sense of conventionality. 199 Oriental Carpets The " Tree of Life " is frequently mentioned in connection with Persian and Indian carpets of the finest class, and is met with under all styles — in small groups closely arranged together ; enclosed within a conventional many-sided stem trellis, with the various stems forming the trellis set at angles ; and in a peculiarly beautiful large open trellis of oval shape gracefully closing in a rounded curve, top and bottom, the open spaces where intersection is not quite effected being occupied by palmette or rosette figures. A variation of the same order consists of a double trellis, which, intersecting in regular forma- tion, leaves spaces of even dimensions, filled in with various plant forms, which, conventionally designed, present features inviting application of the term " tree of life," in most cases a misnomer. The "Tree of Life" or Cypress is of sufficient importance in Oriental design to permit of some explanation of its significance, which is more subtle than might be imagined. Webster defines the word as follows : " A coniferous tree (genus Cypressus) , most species of which are evergreens, and have very durable wood." A note to this definition reads as follows : " As having been anciently used at funerals, and to adorn tombs, the Oriental species is an emblem of mourning and sadness." In speaking of the garden surrounding the Taj Mahal, Mr. Latif writes : " A long and wide pathway, paved with square stones, and dividing the whole of the garden into two equal parts, now lies before you. It is shaded by a delightful avenue of tall dark cypress trees, all in exquisite harmony with the solemnity of the scene." With a little poetical imagination, can it not be said that, while being an emblem of mourning, the cypress, in its perennial freshness and the extraordinary durability of its wood, is also a very practical symbol of the life to come ? The following descrip- tion from Chambers's Encyclopaedia is fertile of suggestion: "The Greeks and Romans put its twigs in the coffins of the dead, they used it to indicate the house of mourning, and planted it about burial-grounds, as is still the custom in the East. The wood of the cypress is yellow or reddish, and has a pleasant smell. It is very hard, compact, and durable ; the ancients reckoned it indestructible ; and the resin which it contains gives it the property of resisting for a long time the action of water. It is not liable to the attacks of insects, and being also of beautiful colour and easy polish, was formerly much esteemed for the finest kinds of work in wood, even Cupid's arrows being traditionally made of cypress-wood. Some believe that the cypress is the true cedar-wood of Scripture, and it has also been identified by commentators as the gopher wood of Noah's Ark. In any case, cypress and cedar have been prized for 200 Carpets Runners and Rugs shipbuilding in the East from the earliest times. The doors of St. Peter's at Rome, made of cypress, lasted from the time of Con- stantine the Great to that of Pope Eugene IV., above noo years, and were perfectly sound when at last removed, that brazen ones might be substituted. Medicinal virtues were formerly ascribed both to the wood and seeds of the cypress, and Oriental physicians have long been wont to send patients suffering from chest-diseases to breathe the air of cypress-woods, thus curiously anticipating the Western practitioner. The resin has also had medicinal repute from classic times, while the Turks still use also the fruit and bark. The ethereal oil of cypress-wood was also used by the ancients for embalming, and the coffins of mummies were made of the wood." It will be seen from this extremely interesting account of the " Tree of Life " that its claim to the title is not founded on one count only. Its enduring qualities ; its symbol as the touchstone of Love ; its life-saving properties (as signified in its being used in the construction of Noah's Ark and in its direct medicinal value) — these attributes, with the employment of the wood for the entrance gates to the great church of St. Peter's, Rome, all afford justification for enlightenment upon a form of carpet design which is glibly used upon any occasion of doubt in describing Oriental carpets and rugs, without the slightest idea of what symbolism can be attached to its employment. It would be wearisome to attempt to exhaust the features of carpet design, which would be possible by describing in detail the innumerable specimens existing in some form or other of repro- duction, all having some special feature of design or colouring, or both. I think it preferable to select a few carpets of the highest class, with distinct characteristics, and, by briefly referring to them, supplement the descriptions already given of more general examples. Before doing this, I had better here explain that Oriental Carpets mean to me the finer grades of Persian and Indian weavings. It is not my intention to speak of any other of the varieties of carpets to be seen (for instance) in the National Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum ; neither shall I deal with the well- known Turkey varieties, nor the Chinese, nor yet the Aubusson, Savonnerie, and other weaves, which, if dealt with according to their merits, would each require a separate volume. I will reserve mention of some features of Persian and Indian carpets which I wish to refer to until the subject of Design has been further treated. 20I Oriental Carpets Some Perfected Carpet Designs 36. The Ardebil Carpet. In addition to its superlative merits of design, colouring, and texture, this carpet is of the first importance amongst its compeers, owing to the presence of a date giving it a certificate of birth that cannot be disputed, while the place of its origin and manufacture provides a pedigree entiding it to rank high as a " Holy Carpet," and to hold its place securely with the aristocrats of the carpet world. A note attached to Chardin's mention of the city of Ardebil speaks of its origin being lost in the night of time, and refers to it as being of renown and importance throughout Persia, on account of its containing the tomb of Sheikh Sefi, whose piety and religious faith secured for him the respect and consideration of the Tartar conqueror, Tamerlane. So high is the sanctity of the tomb, it is an assured asylum for the greatest criminals. Sheikh Sefi died on Tuesday, September 12, 1384, and was buried at Ardebil. Shah Ismail I., the founder of the Sophi dynasty, who died on Monday, May 9, 1524, also was buried at Ardebil, within the "holy and spirit-illumined mausoleum of the Sophis," as the chronological notice attached to Chardin's Works declares. The date of Shah Ismail's death, 1524, throws light upon the circumstances attending the manufacture of the Ardebil Carpet. It is within the bounds of reason that Shah Ismail, intending to make the mausoleum at Ardebil his final resting-place, soon after van- quishing his opponents and becoming sovereign of the kingdom of Persia, turned his attention to the tomb of Sheikh Sefi, the holy founder of the family, as Shah Ismail himself was the founder of the dynasty. Sir John Malcolm attaches this interesting note to the account of the ceremony attending Aga Mahomed Khan's girding on of the royal sabre. " The tomb is at Ardebil, where the monarch must go to put on the sacred sword. The weapon is left one night on the tomb ; and during that time the saint is invoked to be propitious to the sovereign who is to wear it. Next day, when it is girded on, the nobles are feasted and large sums distributed in charity to the poor." — Persian MS. With his new and hardly-acquired power, it is very probable that Shah Ismail would at the earliest take measures to associate himself with the founder of the family, whose fame must have survived the period since his death in 1384 ; perhaps in some measure owing to the custom above referred to, which would keep his memory green. It is, however, probable that repairs would be necessary, and the personal interest which is likely to have been taken in these matters, amid the special circumstances, would soon suggest a new carpet to screen the interior arch of the mausoleum, leading to the tomb of Sheikh Sefi. It requires little stretch of imagination to think that the most 202 Carpets Runners and Rugs capable and promising young weaver in the royal carpet-factories would be placed at the permanent service of the priests or guardians of the Holy Mosque, and that Maksoud of Kashan, at the age of (say) twenty to twenty-five years, and some time after 1502, when Shah Ismail attained his position at the early age of fourteen, began labours which at the present day have made his name more prominent and noticeable in certain directions than even that of the sovereign whose slave he was. It must not be supposed, from the humble style of the inscrip- tion upon the Ardebil Carpet, that Maksoud, at the time of the finishing of the carpet, was the insignificant person he suggested in his choice of terms. Grandiloquence and Humility, from the pure point of language, are very misleading in the East, and it may be assumed that towards (say) 1537 or 1538, when Maksoud would probably have been engaged continuously in weaving the carpet for at least thirty years, he had acquired a considerable degree of sanctity in his employment within the precincts of the famous Mosque, and that, as a man of mature age, he almost ranked with the leading attendants, if not guardians. It is not credible that any ordinary person, let alone a slave in the full sense of the word, would have been allowed to weave, in a carpet of such importance, an inscription which would be in full view of the congregation of the faithful, and on special occasions that of the monarch. Maksoud, after his years of devoted labour, and doubtless exemplary conduct, would be entitled to the fullest consideration ; and the permission (or even the suggestion on the part of some dignitary, perhaps of the sovereign) to insert the inscription would be a reward corresponding to enrolment on the Legion of Honour, and, as the event has proved, of equal if not greater historical importance. Thamasp I., the eldest son of Shah Ismail, succeeded to the throne in 1524, at the age of eleven years, and died in 1576. It is very suggestive to read that it was in the reign of this monarch that Mr. Anthony Jenkinson, an English merchant who was visiting the Court of Persia, was the bearer of a letter from Queen Elizabeth, dated April 25, 1561, recommending his commercial objects to the notice of the Shah. A pair of the King's slippers, it is said, were sent to the envoy, lest his Christian feet should pollute the sacred carpet of the holy monarch — a piece of polite attention which Mr. Jenkinson seemed neither to understand nor to appreciate, judging from a footnote which Sir John Malcolm has placed to his chronicle of the circumstance. This note, one of the few distinct references to carpets throughout the author's two large volumes, is well worthy of reproduction. " It is the usage of Persia at this day, and always has been, to eat and sleep on the same carpet on which they sit ; they are, therefore, kept perfectly clean ; and it is usual for every person to leave their shoes, slippers, or boots at the threshold, and 203 Oriental Carpets put on a pair of cloth slippers, which were probably what was sent to Mr. Jenkinson, whose religious feelings might have led him to mistake attention for insult." Is it not probable that Shah Thamasp, who, on the occasion of his girding on the sacred sword in the Mosque at Ardebil in 1524, would be acquainted with the progress of Maksoud's work, would have before him the original complete design, and also see sufficient of the portion then woven to be impressed by the beauty and importance of the work ; and that on its completion, the part he would naturally take in some form of dedication to the service of the Mosque would leave an impression on his mind which might account for even more stringent measures than usual for the preservation of his royal carpets ? The coincidence is curious, and I think it may be safely assumed that the inscription woven by Maksoud of Kashan can be attributed to the direct suggestion, or at least permission, of Shah Thamasp. Presuming that the date is at almost the lowest point of the cartouche bearing the inscription, and would be sure to be the current date, it is quite probable that the carpet was not completed until some three or four years after the date generally assigned. Making a rough calculation, I should suppose that what with the necessity of closely following an intricate design, probably on a small scale, the delays for the raw material, the constant re-dyeings, and with allowance for other natural delays, Maksoud would not weave more than a foot of the full width of the carpet, or 1 foot in length by 17 feet 6 inches in width, per annum ; this means at least thirty-four years for the finished carpet, which, by the way, has to include the very probable negotiations, implying a full inquiry as to the character of Maksoud, preceding permission to add the inscription, which certainly would not enter into the original design. The length from the beginning of the inscription, which, it has been remarked, would be close upon the date recorded, to the finish of the carpet is almost exacdy an eighth. Allowing for the fact that constant working on the design, and consequent familiarity, would enable Maksoud to make good progress in weaving, in spite of his increased age, four years may be allotted for the finishing touches, which brings the date of completion to the year 1543, assuming that the woven date of the inscription can be relied upon as being 1539, which is generally accepted. Upon the basis of this calculation, the Persian monarch Thamasp I. would be twenty-six years of age when he sanctioned the inscription, and thirty when the completed carpet was placed in position in the Mausoleum of the Sophis at Ardebil ; and it is certain that on that occasion Maksoud of Kashan was honoured with the congratulations of his sovereign, and perhaps with something more tangible, while in the eyes of the priests and attendants of the Mosque he would be a man to claim the brotherhood of office. We 204 Plate XV Plate XV JACOUARD RUNNER [Section] Size 26-8 x 3-9 Warp — 11 cords to the inch Weft — 10 cords to the inch IIO CORDS TO THE SQUARE ikch (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs may be sure that, with a conscious pride in his achievement, and in spite of the inscription staring him in the face, Maksoud would with some title hold himself as the hero of the occasion and a great man, and who shall grudge him his glory ? I think without doubt that the design for the great carpet was entrusted to the court painter of the day, and that naturally he would take his motive from some page of an illuminated Koran, especially in view of its sacred character. Imagine this superb carpet in its pristine freshness and brilliancy ; for there can be no doubt that originally the colours were strong, if not crude, but it is always to be remembered that the cool dim light of the Mosque would tone this down to a proper balance of effect. The educational effect, from both a religious and an artistic point of view, of this superb carpet, with its suggestion of the sacred writings, and placed within a shrine second to none in the great Persian empire, in full view of the notabilities assembled on the most solemn occasions — this cannot now be estimated ; but it is worth considering. Shah Abbas came to the throne in 1585, only some nine years after the death of Thamasp I., and it is not improbable that he would carry on the traditions of a predecessor who honoured the weaver Maksoud, and, later, risked offending our great Queen Elizabeth, by taking measures to preserve his carpets from the contaminating touch of her accredited representative, Mr. Anthony Jenkinson, whose infidel footsteps were sprinkled with sand as he left the Hall of Audience. To account for the gradual decay of the once famous city of Ardebil, it may be mentioned that, towards the close of Thamasp's long reign, it was afflicted by a plague which is supposed to have carried off 30,000 of the inhabitants. In addition to this blow, Shah Abbas I., in making Ispahan his capital in 1590, is sure to have gradually transferred his interest from Ardebil to the great city with which he doubtless intended his reign to be associated, and the glories of the new city would soon have their inevitable effect in eclipsing the old, the result of which may be realized in the fact of the great carpet of the Holy Mosque of Ardebil now reposing sideways behind glass in new and handsome quarters in the Victoria and Albert Museum, instead of occupying its ancient place extended at full length between the pillars of the arch leading to the recess containing the sacred tomb of Sheikh Sefi. In this, its probable position, the inscription bearing the name of Maksoud would be near the apex of the arch, and, while being noticeable, would not be calculated to divert attention from the carpet itself. To speak for a moment of the actual design of the Ardebil Carpet. It has all the qualities of the detached panel formation, and of the geometrical arrangement which gives the smooth level effect which is the most charming- feature of Oriental design. Although the carpet consists of only the one section — or of the whole carpet 205 Oriental Carpets divided equally, vertically and horizontally, and turned over from the centre to form its right-angled shape — the design is varied, in small points of detail, and the colouring also changes, with the result that any sense of repetition is removed, and except on examination, it does not occur to one that there is anything con- ventional in the treatment. The sections of the centre panel, placed in the four corners of the field of the carpet, very happily soften off the squareness of the general lines ; while the free scroll and stem treatment, with bud and flower forms, hold the whole design together, leaving no space in which too much plain colour would have created a "vacuum," which the Oriental artist abhors before everything. A very marked feature in the carpet as a whole, and one which will only perhaps strike the observer in the original carpet, or a large reproduction, is the frequent use of the horseshoe and cloud forms, in combination and separately. In the centre medallion, the large closed curve of the horseshoe is turned north, south, east, and west, and if the trailing ends were connected, a very pretty cross would result. The arms of the shoe in these four forms meet together before the cloud forms spread out in usual shape, and at first I was puzzled with the twisted figure which seems intended to hold the arms together. The thought occurred to me that it might be meant for something in connection with a horse, which naturally suggested a curb or snaffle. On referring to M. Horace Hayes's Riding and Huntings I found in Figure 43 a "Double-mouthed Snaffle," which has sufficient resemblance to the carpet form to be at least interesting, while the connection between a horseshoe and the snaffle suggests probability. Facing inwards, and almost touching the small centre of the medallion, are four full-spread horseshoe forms, while eight serpent-like smaller forms, half cloud, half horseshoe, geomet- rically arranged, are included in the general design of this particular character, which is held together by formally arranged stem and flower forms, which lie under the horseshoe and cloud forms, and an open arabesque pattern of flat coloured treatment. The large, almost " lamp-like " pendants, attached to each of the sixteen points of the centre medallion, are alternately filled with closed and open horseshoe and cloud forms, and the same design and arrangement is observed in the corner sections already referred to. This special feature of the carpet is, so to say, the leitmotiv of the design, and must have some special significance, which I hint at towards the end of this description. However fanciful the idea may seem, it is the study of these apparently small points which may in the future throw light upon periods of design which will make final classification easier and more trustworthy, while it may be remarked that the Eastern temperament is such that the freaks of any particular 206 Carpets Runners and Rugs monarch, artist, or weaver can hardly be taken as a safe guide on general lines ; in fact, the whole subject is full of pitfalls for the most wary. It may be remarked here that Alexander the Great idolized his horse Bucephalus, and when it died buried it with almost royal honours, founding the city Bucephalia in remembrance. In connection with the conquest of Persia and India, this fact is not likely to have been forgotten. It remains to mention the border, which, with exquisite appro- priateness, takes up the formality of the design as a whole, while affording the perfect contrast of effect so essential to a picture, of whatever subject it may be. The alternate panels and roundels forming the main band of the border are filled, as regards the long panels, with the characteristic horseshoe and cloud forms, each of which long panels contains four of these features, turned over geometrically, and held together with conventional stem and floral work. The roundels are filled with a geometrically arranged star trellis, again affording sufficient and pleasing divisions to the more important panels. The outer band of the border, of medium width, consists of a continuous arabesque of interlaced stems, flady treated as regards both design and colour, but bearing within them delicately- drawn stem, leaf, and flower forms, in contrasting colours. A medium-width band of red, filled with a free conventional floral scroll, divides the border from the field or body of the carpet, while next to this, and (although of greater width) corresponding with the outer band, comes a broad band of cream, these two bands enclosing the main band with its panel formation. This broad cream band consists of horseshoe and cloud forms, arranged serpent fashion, right round the carpet, the round curve of the shoe alternately pointing inwards and outwards. Within each horseshoe is a conventional flower rosette, in delicate pink and yellow, while a continuous floral and stem effect is a star-shaped figure in dark blue, outlined with yellow ; these dark figures alternate with the pink figures above referred to, and rest between the curling ends of the cloud forms attached to each arm of the horseshoes. The hanging lamps are such prominent features in the carpet that special reference seems necessary. They, of course, respectively symbolize the two saints reposing in the tombs within the Mosque. It will be noticed that the one lamp is larger than the other, and moreover occupies the upper portion of the carpet, the end pointing towards the inscription. One would naturally suppose that the lamp first woven in the carpet would stand for Sheikh Sefi, while the larger and more important one would represent the majesty of the founder of the Sophi dynasty, Shah Ismail I. Is it not, however, also possible that Maksoud, as a delicate compliment to the powers that be, purposely made this lamp of a superior form, lavishing his best work upon it, perhaps even at that time with some fore- knowledge of the honour which was eventually done him ? 207 Oriental Carpets In an interesting account of the great Mosque of the sacred city of Kum, and in describing particularly the shrine of Fatimeh, con- tained within the octagonal chapel over which rises the great dome, bearing the golden crescent, raised aloft upon a series of golden balls, large at the point of contact with the dome itself and gradually diminishing in size, Chardin refers to the lamps suspended over the tomb, which, of vase-shaped form, are not of practical utility as are the church lamps, but being evidently pierced, and of open fili- gree construction, do not contain oil, and consequendy are purely ornamental. In the Ardebil design it seems incongruous to include lamps, which from their nature are quite out of place upside down ; but this explanation puts the whole matter upon a different footing, and makes the forms entirely emblematical of the personages for whom they stand. The very lavish use ot the horseshoe and cloud forms, I think, clearly points to the carpet having been made by special command of Shah Ismail I., and completed at his death by Shah Thamasp I., who would naturally appreciate the insignia of royalty which such forms might be said to have. The weaver, Maksoud of Kashan, as the only man capable of bringing the carpet to a uniform comple- tion, would naturally be an important person, in the eyes even of the monarch of all Persia, and it is, I hold, well within the bounds of credibility that his great services were rewarded in a fashion unique in the annals of carpet-weaving, and that by grace of Shah Thamasp, sovereign of all Persia, the following inscription is to-day a conspicuous feature of the Holy Carpet of Ardebil, which formerly screened the tombs of the saint and ascetic Sheikh Sefi, and the great ruler and founder of the Sophi dynasty, Shah Ismail I. Trans- lated, it reads : THE WORK OF THE SLAVE OF THIS HOLY PLACE, MAKSOUD OF KASHAN, IN THE YEAR 942. The year 942 of the Hegira corresponds with 1535 of our era, and the two dates first given to the world on April 29, 1892, were confirmed in Mr. Stebbing's brief Preface dated March 12, 1893, in which year he issued the truly Royal Monograph to which more particular reference has already been made. It might be supposed that this plausible English translation would be above suspicion, but that such is not the case appears from the English edition of the great Vienna Carpet Book, Oriental Carpets, published in ten parts by the Imperial Royal Austrian Commercial Museum, Vienna, 1 892-1 896, Part X., containing two splendid coloured reproductions of the Ardebil Carpet (Plates XCI, XCII, Nos. 115, 116), having the following interesting particulars, which 1 reproduce with due acknowledgment to the learned Viennese 208 Carpets Runners and Rugs editors, and to Dr. Alois Riegl, who was responsible for the Descriptions and Analyses accompanying the Plates : — "At the inner edge of the middle of the border stripe at the upper end of Plate XCII, (a quarter section of the carpet, including the inscription and the lamp pointing towards it) a small cartouche with yellow ground is given which contains the following inscrip- tion according to F. Bayer and in agreement with the translation given by Professor Rosenzweig : — OUTSIDE THIS THY THRESHOLD AM I, OF EVERY OTHER REFUGE ROBBED, NOR BEYOND THIS PORTAL FIND I, WHERE TO REST MY (WEARY) HEAD. A WORK OF THE SERVANT AT THE HOLY SHRINE OF KASHAN IN THE YEAR 946 (1539, A.D.). The two verses in the inscription form the beginning of a poem in the Divan of the celebrated Persian lyric poet Hafiz (f 1389, a.d.)." The fact of the verses not having been actually composed by or for Maksoud gives an entirely different suggestion to the tone of excessive humility attaching to the original English translation, and, I hold, justifies my contention that at the close of his labours Maksoud had become a man of some importance, perhaps even dis- tinction, in the Mosque in which he had laboured for so many years. The concluding paragraph of the Analysis now being quoted from clearly shows that the changed dates above recorded were made with a full knowledge of the earlier work : — "This carpet was first published in 1893 by M. Edward Stebbing of London in a highly interesting ornamental edition under the title : The Holy Carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil. The title corresponds with the inscription at the foot of the plate given by Stebbing, the carpet was intended originally for the grave mosque of the Shah Ismail, the founder of the Sefidoe dynasty." To pursue the inquiry, and to justify my adoption of the date 1539, which, it will be seen, is that of the standard authority on the subject, in the March number of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts^ 1896, a review entitled " Tapis d'Orient," initialed A. R., says : " On ne connaissait qu'un tapis portant la mention rigoureuse de son age, au South Kensington (1539)." In the Supplement to the original Vienna Book, Ancient Oriental Carpets (Leipzig, 1908), Professor Dr. Friedrich Sarre, in his explanatory text to the plates, refers to the Ardebil Carpet under date 1539, speaking of it as "the only important dated specimen of that century." Professor Josef Strzygowski, in an article in the October 1908 number of The Burlington Magazine^ entitled " Oriental Carpets " (translated by L. I. Armstrong), referring to Dr. Alo'is Riegl's Armenian carpet, mistakenly dated 1202, and to other claims for antiquity, writes : " Since then romancing has been given up, and more caution is 209 14 Oriental Carpets shown in trying to discover pieces older than the oldest carpet, dating from the year 1539, in the Victoria and Albert Museum." The latest English authority, Guide to the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, with a Preface by Sir Cecil H. Smith, dated June 1909, came into my hands October 16, 1909. On page 2 1 is the following interesting entry, which it will be seen challenges both the accepted spelling " Ardebil," and the date : — The best carpets in the Museum collection are exhibited in the West Central Court (42). That on the North wall is the famous carpet from the mosque at Ardabil in Persia. It bears an inscription stating that it was made by Maksoud of Kashan in the year of the Hejira 946 (a.d. 1540). In Mr. W. L. Courtney's preluding notes to " Ecclesiastes or Koheleth" in The Literary Mans Bible, in summing up Solomon's later-life philosophy he uses the phrase, " Nature does not progress, it merely recurs." Taking this as the text, is it not possible that the archetype Achilles, perhaps a spirit-whisper from a real personality of a greater age, brought to life again by the magic of Homer's verse, recurred under Nature's wand, in the persons of Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, and Napoleon ? Raphael may also be said to be the reincarnation of the probably much greater Apelles. In the same way Maksoud of Kashan may have harked back to untold ages of Carpet-weavers, and in building up the Ardebil Carpet, knot by knot and colour by colour, been merely reproduc- ing some long forgotten masterpiece, and in so doing, introduced the weaker elements of a lesser age, which expressed itself in an over- delicacy and intricate refinement of design and colouring, which are the only flaws possible to suggest, if they can be so regarded. It would be futile to believe that such consummate mastery of the technique of the fabric, and instinctive control of all the elaborations of form, and of the perpetually recurring colour problems, were the mere accident of Time, Place, and the Man. The world has not for nothing accepted Maksoud's work as the basis upon which to gauge the possibilities of the past, and the starting-point from which is likely to be derived precise information as to the progress of the art since he completed his labours. This Crowning Glory of Persian Textile Art has apparently attained a last resting-place within buildings affording in their Great Names interesting association with its original home. Until an International Commission has finally solved the problem of the respective dates, the following inscription records the achievement of the Artist Weaver : — the holy carpet of the mosque at ardebil measuring 34 feet 6 inches by ij feet 6 inches containing 33,037,200 hand-tied knots woven 380 knots to the square inch maksoud of kashan's life-masterwork anno hegira 946=1539 anno domini 2IO Carpets Runners and Rugs 37. Royal Carpet. Manufactured in the royal palaces, and probably in many cases under the eye of the sovereign, it is known that carpets of a superior class were sent as presents from Persia to all parts of the world, where personal friendship or political exigency made the gift appropriate or politic. A very fine example of this class of carpet is illustrated in colour and described in the fine Subscribers' Edition of the Henry G. Marquand Catalogue, No. 1305, and has already been referred to as having been sold for the enormous sum of £7200. The carpet was a gift from the Shah of Persia to the Sultan of Turkey, and its history is well authenticated. The prime features of the carpet are the centre medallion on a red ground, and spade-like figures top and bottom, elaborately damasked and arabesqued ; these three figures, connected together by a conventional ornamental floral figure, lie upon a dark green ground, which is covered with a closely-worked leaf and flower design, upon which numerous and varied animal figures disport. The border of this long and narrow carpet has two upper and lower panels, and four of a similar design on each side, or twelve in all, with inscriptions in silver upon a red ground, which ground, like the main centre panel, appears to be damasked with a lighter tone of the same colour. These panels are divided from one another by medallion forms, which are in connection, each corner of the carpet being occupied by one of them. This band of panel and medallion forms lies upon a rich yellow ground, divided from the field of the carpet by a narrow crimson band, which is of the same colour and character as a broader band form- ing the outer edge of the carpet. The carpet is described as of the fifteenth or earlier sixteenth century, and, as compared with the Ardebil Carpet, this dating seems in accordance with the more primitive nature of the design. Both carpets are of the finest make of woollen, and as " Mosque " and " Royal " carpets are thoroughly typical of their respective classes. 38. Palace Carpet. The famous "Hunting Carpet," which was the piece de resistance of the Vienna Carpet Exhibition of 1891, is described as a Palace Carpet, both on account of its having probably been manufactured upon one of the large looms within the palace precincts, and also because, from its very special character, it was intended either for the adornment of one of the Persian palaces or perhaps as a present to some friendly sovereign. No less than five monochrome plates and one full-plate coloured section, and a half-plate, also coloured, are devoted to this carpet in Oriental Carpets, issued from the Imperial Press, Vienna, in ten parts, from 1892 to 1896. Dr. Alois Riegl has fully described this carpet in his Analysis to the work above mentioned, and the carpet is of such an elaborate nature in all its details, that any one interested or curious in the matter must not only carefully 211 Oriental Carpets read his description, but also carefully study the plates, no one of which gives the carpet as a whole, although its size, 22-3^ x 10-6, does not approach that of the Ardebil Carpet. A rich medallion occupies the centre of the carpet, softened off towards the top and bottom by first an oblong broken panel, and then by an upright spade figure, connected with the main medallion ; the carpet being narrow, only the small spade figure projects from the left and right hand points of the medallion, the said spade figures acting as a kind of division between the upper and lower halves of the full field of the carpet. Sections of the centre medallion occupy each corner of the field of the carpet. Dragon and griffin figures fill the sections of the medallion in the corners, and the whole of the field of the carpet outside these corners, and the centre medallion itself is a perfect " riot " of Persian princes apparently, hunting deer, their horses fully caparisoned, and they themselves provided with swords, spears, and bows and arrows. The life and movement throughout the carpet is wonderful, when the nature of the fabric is considered ; and in addition to the numerous human and animal figures displayed, a rich running stem, leaf, and floral effect binds the whole design together, and gives sufficient relief to the figures of the huntsmen and their horses, which are clearly defined in flat colour treatment. A broad cream band of colour divides the border from the field of the carpet, and the conventionally arranged figures occupying this band illustrate the boldness with which the Oriental varies his forms without conveying any sense of the ludicrous. Every alternate figure in this band has within the centre of the floral rosette a " cat " or tiger's head, quite natural in appearance, even in the monochrome reproduction. The broad main band of the border, of a rich red ground, evidently represents an Oriental Royal Feast, the principal personages being seated and other figures of importance being apparently in attendance ; both classes of figures are provided with wings, and alternate one with another throughout the design ; a seated figure occupies each corner of this main border band, and appropriately gives this finish to the general effect. A continuous stem and leaf scroll design gives a rich groundwork to the plan, and the frequent insertion of conventional floral and geometrical figures give sufficient importance to this feature of the design ; cockatoos and birds of paradise are freely inserted, and cloud forms of curious and fantastic shape seem to fill in all the spare spaces. The outer band of the border, which is a little wider than the band next to the field of the carpet, is upon a bronze green ground, as far as can be judged from the coloured reproduction ; the design consists of an outline in silver of spade shape, which encloses a flatly-coloured leaf form of simple design ; this form is placed at 212 Plate XVI Plate XVI ORIENTAL RUNNER [Section] Size 23-8 x 3-9 Warp — 10 knots to the inch Weft — 7 knots to the inch 70 KNOTS TO THE SOJJARE INCH (See Analysis) . Carpets Runners and Rugs regular intervals, with about its width apart, the space so left being occupied by a floral figure, with this time a human head in the centre. A formally arranged leaf, stem, and ornamental trellis fills this portion of the border, occupying the spaces between the main figures just mentioned. Dr. Alois Riegl speaks of this carpet as a splendid example of Persian courtly art of the sixteenth century. The Hunting Scene portrayed probably represents one of the magnificent entertainments given to court visitors of the highest rank, and it is not improbable that the carpet was designed as a present to the most important prince or potentate in whose honour the sport was arranged. It is further extremely probable that some attempt at least would be made to distinguish the leading figures, and any written description made at the time might well lead to identifications which would be of the greatest interest historically, and as regards the carpet itself and carpet-weaving generally. It remains to say that the carpet is of silk, with gold and silver thread sparsely used ; and that its safety and preservation is fortunately in the hands of the Emperor of Austria, under whose auspices it formed a prominent feature of the splendid exhibition of carpets held in his capital in the year 1891. 39. Sixteenth-Century Carpet. As a typical example of this period, before the full influence of Shah Abbas could be exercised, or even before he came to the throne, I have selected an example from the Marquand Collection, which, measuring 16-2x7-1, and with 195 hand-tied knots to the square inch, was number 13 10 in the New York Sale of January 1903, and realized the large sum of ^3000. The general character and formation of the design is sufficiently near to the example illustrated in this book to make a detailed description unnecessary ; but it may be specially noted that, whereas the latter is without any suggestion of the well-known horseshoe and cloud forms, the Marquand example has two of these forms complete, the rounded head of the horseshoes pointing towards the top and bottom of the carpet. The whole design of this Marquand carpet is more advanced in style than the carpet to which it is compared ; but, as far as can be judged from the coloured plate, the former has the rich grass-green ground in the border, and the blood-red of the field, touched with magenta, which was a feature in the original sixteenth-century example from which the Jacquard reproduction in this volume was faithfully copied. A passage in Chardin's Persia, describing an execution in the reign of Shah Abbas II., after mentioning that the sovereign went to his Hall of Audience clad entirely in scarlet, as customary when a notability was to die, proceeds as follows : " Addressing himself to Janikan, His Majesty said to him, Traitor, rebel, by what authority did you slay my Vizier? He wished to reply, but the king did not give him the opportunity. Rising, and saying 213 14a Oriental Carpets in a loud voice Strike ! he retired into a room which was only separated from the main chamber by a glass screen. The guards, posted close by, immediately threw themselves upon the victim and his companions, and with their axes hewed them to pieces upon the beautiful carpets of silk and gold thread with which the hall was covered ; this was done before the eyes of the king and all his court." These executions were by no means of infrequent occurrence, and it came to my mind that the sight of the green grass, spattered with blood, might in earlier times have suggested an effect of colour which is undoubtedly as good as the combination of the two perhaps most striking colours in Nature might be expected to be. A further thought, even more hideous in its suggestion to Western minds, is that with these scenes of blood, which the perusal of Chardin's volumes almost makes one at last regard as a common- place, the blood -red colour of the main portion of the carpets would, after such events as that recorded, be less repugnant, until they could be removed and cleaned, than if the colours were of a character to betray results which the guilty consciences of some of the beholders might regard as too significant to make them quite comfortable, while the rigid Eastern etiquette demanded their continued attendance upon the person of the monarch whom they served. Fantastic as this suggestion of the origin and continued use of green border and red centre may be, the combination of colours is striking in the extreme, and probably readers in future will realize, when admiring the effect, that the most innocent examples of Oriental Art may have a symbolism which would never enter the mind unless put there by those more closely in touch with the curious mental perversions which draw a distinct line between the East and the West. 40. Shah Abbas Carpet. The very superb carpet illustrated in full page in the Vienna Oriental Carpets, Plate XLI, first in monochrome and then in full colour effect, with the gold and silver threads in their natural effect, must of a surety be one of the examples of the golden period of Shah Abbas, which, to use Mr. Morris's words, " fairly threw me on my back." The main band of the border is of the richest tint of green, and the centre of the typical sixteenth-century red, but apparently of a deeper tint than is generally associated with the average examples of the class. The design of both the field of the carpet and the border is rich and varied in the extreme ; it would not be possible to have greater variety of form and treatment with- out overcrowding ; at the same time, the most critical eye would find it difficult or impossible to say what could be omitted with advantage. This is the test of perfection : what could be added to perfect, what could be taken away to improve ; if the answer is Nothing ! one of the wonders of the world has been created by 214 Carpets Runners and Rugs human hands, and this can be said of the Shah Abbas carpet under consideration. The whole style and character of this example shows an enormous advance over the Marquand carpet ; but in the same way as this latter carpet is on general lines inspired by the earlier example reproduced in this volume, so the carpet owned by Count Arthur Enzenberg has a suggestion of the same formation. Still, while the two former examples turn over both ways from the centre, and have thus some of the formality of the geometrical formation, the Enzenberg carpet very cleverly avoids this precision of effect, by placing the centre of this repeating formation lower down, and so deceives the eye into accepting the design as " all over," although, being turned over right and left from a line drawn through the centre of the carpet, lengthways, a very pleasing uniformity of arrangement is observable, which is one of the imposing and effective features of the whole design, and departure from which in any respect would be fatal to the tout ensemble. The horseshoe and cloud forms, and the detached cloud forms, are a marked feature in this carpet, and in this respect again probably show the personal predilection of the warrior statesman, Shah Abbas. The palmette forms, not too pointed, be it observed, are a prominent feature in both the field of the carpet and the border ; in the former they are lavishly worked in gold and silver thread, in some cases a very rich effect being obtained by a coloured centre floral rosette lying upon a plain light-red ground, being surrounded first by a broad row of connected leaves in silver thread and an outer row of smaller leaves worked in gold thread. In some of these rich palmette figures the foliated leaf form next to the stem supporting it is in silver thread, while the palmette itself is in a full coloured effect ; or this arrangement is varied by the outer leaves being in gold. A continuous scroll stem-work, with small floral rosette forms in colour and silver thread, and similar forms in colour only, fill up the whole field of the carpet in symmetrically arranged convolutions ; and at set intervals, and in more or less geometrical form, are to be seen the long-tailed wild pheasants, sometimes with silver bodies and gay-coloured plumage, or richly coloured without the metal thread. The border is more conventional in style than the field ; and palmette forms, with the foliated leaf next the supporting stem, and gold-worked outer leaves, pointing alternately inwards and out- wards, are divided from one another by smaller floral rosettes, with a coloured centre, and silver outer leaves, lightly outlined with red. Small bird figures are placed at regular intervals, and the whole design is held together by a formal .stem, flower, and leaf scroll- work. The outer narrow border forming the edge of the carpet is upon a red ground, lightly damasked with a free flower and stem treatment ; the narrow inner border, dividing the field from the 215 Oriental Carpets main border, is very happily formal in style, consisting of an elongated panel, rounded at the ends, and coloured upon a red ground, divided by a roundel form, in apparently the same shade of green as the main border band. All this detail of design and colour is within a space measur- ing 11-4-^x5-11! — truly a miracle of artistic inventiveness and a triumph of dexterous weaving. Dr. Alois Riegl, in his Analysis, speaks of this carpet as being made of worsted yarn, with gold and silver thread wound upon silk, and as belonging " to the valuable group of the older Persian carpets, whose most splendid example is to be found in the hunting carpet in the possession of the Emperor of Austria." He adds, " Unfortunately, the brilliancy of the metal thread is here somewhat tarnished, the natural consequence of having served for centuries as a floor covering." This description of a carpet which assuredly must have been manu- factured in the reign of Shah Abbas the Great will serve as an introduction to a slight sketch of his reign and personality, which will fittingly accompany the portrait which I am fortunate enough to add as a frontispiece to this division. I have already referred to the circumstances under which the life of the infant Shah Abbas was preserved, which, in the following account of the infant Cyrus, irresistibly suggests reference to the old adage, " History repeats itself." Herodotus records that, alarmed by dreams, Astyages, instead of marrying his daughter Mandane to a Mede of his own nation, selected for her husband Cambyses, a Persian of good family and of a peaceful disposition. Within a year Astyages, disturbed by another dream of even greater significance, sent for his daughter, and to prevent the possibility of her expected son becoming the conqueror of all Asia, and consequently of his own dominions, gave instructions to Harpagus, his kinsman, to destroy the boy imme- diately upon birth. Harpagus, both on account of his relationship to the infant Cyrus and also from personal motives, inspired by the fact of the age of Astyages, and his having no male offspring, in which case upon his death his daughter Mandane would bring him to account for the deed, refused to commit the murder himself, and summoned for the purpose Mitradates, a herdsman, who was in the service of Astyages ; the latter would in this way be held responsible for the crime. Mitradates related the commission to his wife Cyno, and showed her the boy, who was large and of a beautiful form. She besought him not to carry out the orders of Harpagus, and expose him upon the bleakest part of the mountains, which it was hoped would speedily put an end to life. The rest of the story is well known. As a boy of ten his birth and breeding made him a 216 Carpets Runners and Rugs king amongst his playfellows ; which being accepted by the Magi or interpreter of dreams as fulfilling the condition feared for Astyages, Harpagus was summoned, and after being punished in a manner too atrocious to be related, was forgiven. Cyrus was sent for, treated kindly, returned safely to his overjoyed parents, and lived to become the founder of the Persian Empire. This picturesque account has been refuted by evidence derived from actual inscriptions ; but it will probably remain to the end of time, in the same way as many other fables. Chardin has nothing to say as to the similar fate which nearly overtook the young Shah Abbas, and I also fail to find any reference of the kind in Lord Curzon's Persia ; but the account given by Sir John Malcolm in his History of Persia is so circumstantial that I relate it as it stands, with the hope that, even if placed in the same category as the story related of Cyrus the Great, it may serve to give that halo of romance to the career of Shah Abbas the Great which will keep him in remembrance when the bare historical records are buried under the dust of ages, as happened in the case of Cyrus. Mahomed Meerza, surnamed Khodah-bundah, or " the Slave of God," was the eldest son of Thamasp. To illustrate the diffi- culty of preserving uniformity in the treatment of Persian names, I may mention that the name is here given as spelt by Malcolm ; Chardin gives it as Mohhammed Khoda-Bendeh ; and Curzon as Khodabundeh, which latter spelling I have in the previous division adopted as the simplest and most practical way of dealing with a difference of opinion which makes any desire for accuracy an almost insupportable burden to one without the slightest acquaintance with the language. The account which follows is given verbatim from the pages of Sir John Malcolm. Before transcribing it, I confess that, when in any doubt as to the spelling of any foreign names and places throughout this volume, I have decided, between varying authorities, entirely upon the basis of the eye and euphony in the natural English pronunciation. After explaining that Abbas, then an infant at the breast, had, presumably in the year he was born, 1557, been placed under the tutelage of Aly Kooli Khan, a nobleman of high rank, Sir John Malcolm proceeds : " Ismail (III.) did not think himself secure upon the throne to which he had been raised, till he had slain Mahomed Meerza, and all his family. Orders to that effect were sent on the twelfth of Ramazan to Shiraz ; and Aly Kooli was, at the same time, directed to put to death the young Abbas : and we are informed, that a second order, of the most peremptory nature, was sent to command 217 Oriental Carpets the instant execution of this infant : but the powerful chief to whom it was addressed, was led, by a superstitious motive, to defer obedience to the cruel mandate till the sacred month of Ramazan had passed. This short respite preserved the life of a prince destined to become the glory of Persia ; for a breathless messenger from Kazveen reached Herat on the last day of that month, and announced to Aly Kooli the death of Ismail, who had expired on the thirteenth, the day after the order for the murder of Abbas was despatched. Another express, with intelligence of that event, had been sent to Shiraz, and arrived within an hour of the period appointed for the execution of Mahomed Meerza and his other children." In chronological order, some reference has to be made to Chardin's account of Shah Abbas ; but, truth to tell, his references, scattered throughout the ten volumes of the edition I have made use of, are of much the same character as the brief accounts of carpets and carpet-manufacture ; that is to say, just enough to want a good deal more of a detailed character. Shah Abbas is spoken of as a great soldier, a great conqueror, a great statesman, the creator of the magnificence of which Ispahan to this day has sufficient evidence, and as having by his encouragement of foreign commerce made Persia " the most flourishing empire in the world " during his reign, and of having so left it at his death. In dealing with the kingdom of Persia, Chardin speaks of it with the same enthusiasm one might expect if he had been describing his own native land. This betokens either a genuine love of a foreign country beyond the usual experience of a Frenchman (who in this respect has only one love) ; a sense of favours already conferred ; or a shrewd appreciation of favours to come. This may seem a super- fluous suggestion ; but it is justified by the fact that his compatriot and editor, M. Langles, finds it necessary to append to Chardin's eulogy of Shah Abbas a footnote to the effect that it could not be fully endorsed. Chardin's account, with the reservation hinted at, is, however, so interesting that I give it in full ; indirectly it has some bearing upon the decadence which set in when the man of genius was removed from the control of the multitudinous con- glomeration of conflicting nationalities which go to make up an empire in these respects only to be compared with India. Chardin writes in his third chapter, under the heading " Du Terroir " : " One must say of the land of Persia, what has already been said of the climate. The kingdom from its magni- tude being a little world in itself, one part burnt up by the rays of the sun and the other frozen by the intense cold, it is not surprising 218 Carpets Runners and Rugs that both extremes are to be found in the same country. Persia is a barren land, only a tenth part being cultivated. It has already been remarked that Persia is the most mountainous country in the world, and not only so, but the mountains themselves are the wildest and most sterile, being little more than bare rocks, without either trees or herbage. But in the valleys between the mountains, and in the enclosed plains, the soil is more or less fertile and agreeable, accord- ing to the situation and the climate. The ground is sandy and stony in places ; and elsewhere clayey and heavy, or as hard as stone. But whether it is the one or the other, it is so dry, that if not irrigated, it produces nothing, not even grass. It is not that rain is wanting, but there is not enough of it. It rains almost continuously in summer, and in the winter the sun is so strong and so scorching, for the five or six hours while it is highest on the horizon, that it is necessary to keep the earth continually watered ; while one can say that if this is done, it is abundantly productive. Thus it is the scarcity of water which makes the land so unfruitful, while it is only fair to say that it is also on account of the smallness of the popula- tion, for the country only has the twentieth part of what it could readily support. Surprise is felt in remembering the impressions given of Persia by the ancient authors, especially Arrian and Quintus- Curtius, to read whom, one might imagine from their accounts of the luxury, the sensuousness, and the wealth of Persia, that the country was made of gold, and the commodities of life to be found in abundance, and at the lowest possible price ; but the reverse is the case. However, Persia must at one time have been as rich and prosperous as the ancient authors have reported, as even the Holy Scriptures confirm the fact. How are these contradictory assertions to be reconciled ? I think I can do so without difficulty, in relating the two causes which I discovered for so strange a change. The first arises from the differences in religion ; and the second from the same cause affecting the government. The religion of the ancient Persians, who were fire-worshippers, required them to cultivate the soil ; for, according to their precepts, it was a pious and meritorious action to plant a tree, to clear the land, and to make something grow where it never grew before. On the other hand, Mahometan philosophy taught those who practised it to enjoy the good things of this world while it was possible, without any regard to the broad road over which all would one day pass. The government of the ancient Persians also was more just and equitable. The rights ot property and other possessions were regarded as sacred ; but at the present day the government is despotic and arbitrary. 219 Oriental Carpets " What, however, convinces me that what I have read of the Persia of ancient times is true, and that it was then incomparably more populous and prosperous than it is at present, is what we have seen to happen during the six-and-twenty years commencing from the close of the reign of Shah Abbas the Great. " Shah Abbas was a just king, whose efforts tended solely towards making his kingdom flourishing and his people happy. He found his empire devastated and in the hands of usurpers ; and for the most part poverty-stricken and in confusion ; but it would hardly be believed what his good government effected on all sides. For proof of what I say, he brought into his capital a colony of Armenians, an energetic and industrious people, who had nothing in the world when they arrived, but who, after thirty years, became so rich and powerful that there were more than sixty merchants who averaged each from a hundred thousand to two millions of ecus in mer- chandise and money. As soon as this great and good king ceased to live, Persia ceased to prosper. " During the two following reigns (Sen I. and Abbas II.) the people began to pass into India ; and in the reign of Soliman II., who succeeded to the throne in 1666, the richness and prosperity of the country diminished to a great degree. I first came to Persia in 1665, in the time of Abbas II., and I visited it for the last time in 1677, when his son Soliman II. reigned. The wealth of the country appeared to me to have been reduced by half during these twelve years. Even the coinage was affected. Money was scarce, and silver hardly to be seen. The beggars importuned those better off on all sides, in order to make a living. The inhabitants, to secure them- selves from the oppression of the grandees, became excessively tricky and deceitful, and sharp practices in business were universally practised. " There are only too many examples all over the world of the fact that the prosperity of a country, and the fertility of the soil, depend upon a good and just government, and a strict observance of the laws. If Persia were inhabited by the Turks, who are even more indolent and careless about the demands of life than the Persians, and very rigorous in their government, the country would be worse off still. On the other hand, if Persia were in the hands of the Armenians, or even of the so-called ' fire-worshippers,' one would soon see again the return of her ancient splendour." The " Notice Chronologique de la Perse " appended to Chardin's work by the editor M. Langles, while doing justice to his great qualities, paints Shah Abbas as a bloodthirsty tyrant, which his 220 Plate XVII Plate XVII ORIENTAL RUG Size 7-10 x 3-3 Warp — 16 knots to the inch Weft — 12 knots to the inch 192 KNOTS TO THE SQJIARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs conduct towards his three sons, two of whom he blinded, while the other he allowed to be killed under circumstances already related, certainly in a measure justifies. We must remember, when considering acts which in European countries damn the finest career (witness the execution of the Due d'Enghien by Napoleon's orders, or sanction), the dangers attendant in Eastern countries upon conflicting factions, to whom a scion of a ruling line is always a potent puppet, and the suspicion with which even a father will view the too great popularity of his son. These incentives to rigour, and the imperative incitement to self-preservation, rule to a much greater degree in Oriental nations than in Western, although our own records are not quite free from blots of the same kind. M. Langles concludes his sketch of Shah Abbas by recording his remorse, and his desire to make what amends he could to the son of the murdered prince ; but death refused him this satisfaction. Sir John Malcolm, while palliating as far as possible the crimes with which Shah Abbas stained his career, urges that " the per- petration of such crimes as he committed is too often the dreadful obligation of that absolute power to which he was born ; and it is, therefore, the character of the government, more than that of the despot, which merits our abhorrence." Directly after this sentence an eulogium follows which, considering the times in which he lived, should avail much with those inclined to pass an adverse verdict, and even have weight with the recording angel : " There have been few sovereigns in the universe who have done more substantial good to their country than Abbas the Great. He established an internal tranquillity throughout Persia, that had been unknown for centuries. He put an end to the annual ravages of the Usbegs, and confined these plunderers to their own dominions. He completely expelled the Turks from his native territories, of which they held some of the finest provinces when he ascended the throne. Justice was in general administered according to the laws of religion ; and the King seldom interfered, except to support the law, or to punish those who thought themselves above it. Though possessed of great means and distinguished as a military leader, he deemed the improvement of his own wide possessions a nobler object than the pursuit of conquest : he attended to the cultivation and commerce of Persia beyond all former monarchs, and his plans for effecting his objects were almost all of a nature that showed the greatness of his mind. The bridges, caravanseries, and other useful public buildings, that he erected, were without number. The impression which his noble munificence made upon the minds of his subjects has descended 221 Oriental Carpets to their children. The modern traveller, who inquires the name of the founder of any ancient building in Persia, receives the ready answer, ' Shah Abbas the Great ' ; which is given not from an exact knowledge that he was the founder, but from the habit of consider- ing him as the author of all improvement." Sir John Malcolm concludes his summary of the character and achievements of this great prince with words which would form an epitaph which any sovereign might well wish to have. He writes of Shah Abbas as " a monarch who restored Persia to a condition of greatness beyond what that country had known for ages ; who was brave, generous, and wise ; and who, during a reign protracted to near half a century, seemed to have no object but that of rendering his kingdom flourishing and his subjects happy." Lord Curzon in the " Introductory " to his great work, Persia and the Persian Question, after recording Persia's claims to literary renown, and enumerating the names (amongst others) of Firdausi, Omar Khayyam, and Hafiz, writes of the name of Shah Abbas the Great as " to this hour associated with anything that is durable or grandiose during the last three centuries of Persian history." In his second volume he places Shah Abbas, very happily, as " the contemporary of Elizabeth in England, of Henry IV. in France, of Gustavus Adolphus in Sweden, and of Akbar in India " ; an association which will be of the greatest service in doing justice to a monarch whose life in all its varied aspects, and from my point of view, particularly in its artistic aspect, deserves more specialized consideration than it has yet received. I hesitate to make further use of Lord Curzon's fascinating pages ; but, having failed to find any other sufficiently detailed record of the death of Shah Abbas, I venture once more to quote from him : " Twenty-six miles from Ashraf on the north-west, at a distance of about three miles from the Caspian and on the banks of the Tejen river, are situated the ruins of another city and palace of Abbas, known as Ferahabad. In this palace died Shah Abbas in January 1628, in the forty-third year of his reign and the seventy- first of his age." Enough has been quoted from historians to show that Shah Abbas the Great was no ordinary monarch, but fully entitled to rule over the kingdom which a little more than a thousand years earlier, in the year 546 B.C., Cyrus the Great had made his own. An interesting article on Cyrus the Great in Chambers's Encyclopaedia concludes as follows : — " Cyrus takes a high rank among Asiatic conquerors ; he was a wise and considerate ruler, whose aim was to 222 Carpets Runners and Rugs soften by his clemency the despotism which he was continually extending by the sword. But he did little to consolidate the empire which he founded, contenting himself with a declaration of allegiance, and leaving the government nearly everywhere in the hands of native rulers." The same words might have been used with regard to Alexander the Great, and, as has been seen, have been applied to Shah Abbas by Chardin, although his editor, M. Langles, by no means endorses all he says. A king is known by his character and actions ; and his title to rank with the Great by the extent to which his influence and personality were impressed upon his inherited and conquered dominions, and by the degree to which the course of the world's history was affected thereby ; this can be left to those who have made a study of the subject, and can write with weight and impartiality. Sufficient has been said of the part played by Shah Abbas during his long reign to invest his mere physical appearance with the interest attaching particularly to those who have proved themselves to be nearer to the gods than average humanity. The portrait already referred to is included with others in Sir John Malcolm's fine volumes. Having appropriated the likeness, I cannot do better than add the description. " Shah Abbas had a fine face, of which the most remarkable features were a high nose and a keen and piercing eye. He wore no beard, but had large mustachios, or whiskers. In his stature he was rather low, but must have been uncommonly robust and active, as he was throughout life celebrated for the power of bearing fatigue, and to the last indulged in his favourite amusement of hunting." This last item recalls the love of horses common to the Persian monarchs, to which Chardin and Malcolm make repeated reference. As a reintroduction to the subject of Carpets, I will quote a descrip- tion by Chardin of the audience given on September 16, 1671, to the Envoy of the French East India Company. The magnificent equipment of the horses which figured prominently on this occasion enables us to understand the richness of design and colouring which characterizes the finest examples of both Persian and Indian sumptuary carpets ; in my judgment the prominence given to the horse quite accounts for the frequency of the horseshoe forms, which, connected with the cloud forms, seems to betoken an estima- tion which fell little short of idolatry. "On the 1 6th (September 1671), at eight o'clock in the morning, the royal square was being watered from end to end, and set off as follows. By the side of the main entrance of the royal 223 Oriental Carpets palace, at twenty paces' distance, there were twelve picked horses from the King's stables, six on each side, equipped with the most superb and magnificent harness the world has ever seen. Four sets were studded with emeralds ; two with rubies ; two with coloured stones mingled with diamonds ; two others with enamelled gold ; and two of burnished gold. Supplementing this, the saddles, before and behind the pommels and the stirrups, were thickly set with stones matching the harness. These horses had rich saddle-cloths, hanging very low down, some embroidered with gold and pearls, and others of gold brocade, very thick and costly, trimmed with tassels and knots of gold, sprinkled with pearls. The horses were picketed by means of thick plaited ropes of silk and gold, attached to the head and heels, and fastened to the ground with pegs of solid gold. These pegs were about 15 inches long, and proportionately thick, and had large rings at the top, through which the hobbles were passed. Nothing could be imagined more splendid and regal than this equipment, to which must be added twelve horse-cloths, made of velvet edged with gold, which completely covered the horses while being paraded before the balustrade which ranged along the front of the royal palace. No finer spectacle could have been witnessed, whether as regards the richness of the materials or the beauty of the workmanship." It must be remembered that this display of horses formed only a small, and indeed almost insignificant, feature of the audience, which was barbaric in its arrogant ostentation. It is conceded that after the death of Shah Abbas the Great the style of design and colouring of the finer grades of Persian carpets began to show an over-elabora- tion and " flamboyancy " of effect which clearly mark the line between the period when the man of genius probably for a time at least exercised personal control and supervision, and the time when, the artists and weavers being left more to themselves, the Oriental love of fantastic splendour crept in, until the exquisite refinement and balance of effect of the older examples ceased to have any influence and the art went from bad to worse. Much the same thing was seen with the Gobelins tapestries, which under Le Brun, Coypel, De Troy, Van Loo, and other classical painters, and also from the models of the Italian masters, preserved a high level of merit ; but when, under the influence of Oudry and Boucher, attempts were made to rival the minute variations of shade possible in a painting, but mere tours de force in any textiles of the nature of tapestry or carpets, technique took the place of taste, with an inevitable loss of repose and dignity of effect. 224 Carpets Runners and Rugs It will be remembered that Chardin speaks of the decadence which followed the death of Shah Abbas the Great. The same effect is noticeable wherever a man of pre-eminent ability ceases to exercise personal influence, which, even if not directly turned to any particular sphere of effort, is nevertheless sympathetically felt, and exercises a magnetism which draws the best out of those immediately surrounding him, and even affects those farthest removed. It would be interesting to know what Chardin would have had to say to the wonderful success attending the rule of Nadir Shah in Persia and of Napoleon in his own country. Of the former Malcolm writes : " Nadir Kooli (Kooli means ' slave ' ; Nadir, ' wonderful ' ; and the latter term is used as an epithet to describe the Almighty. His name, therefore, signified ' the slave of the wonderful, or of God ') himself never boasted of a proud genealogy ; and even his flattering historian (Meerza Mehdy), though he informs us that the father of his hero was a man of some consequence in his tribe, reveals the truth by a metaphorical apology for low birth, in which he states that the diamond has its value from its own lustre, not from that of the rock where it grew." Napoleon's career is comparatively recent ; but I may be permitted to quote from The English Historical Review of July 7, 1887, Lord Acton's sentences concluding reviews of A Short History of Napoleon the First (Seeley) and The First Napoleon : a Sketch, Political and Military (Ropes) : " There is that which bars the vindication of his career. It is condemned by the best authority, by the final judgment of Napoleon himself. And this is not the only lesson to be learnt from the later, unofficial, intimate and even trivial records which the two biographers incline to disregard. They might have enabled one of the two to admire without defending, and the other to censure without disparaging, and would have supplied both with a thousand telling speeches and a thousand striking traits for a closer and more impressive likeness of the most splendid genius that has appeared on earth." This suggests the enormous influence in all directions that such a man can exercise. It is curious that, as Shah Abbas undoubtedly inspired the artistic talent and skill which raised the carpet during his reign to heights which can only be appreciated by those who have seen them, so in his turn Napoleon, by his encouragement of Jacquard, secured for his country the earliest advantages arising from the use of a machine which was capable of artistically producing thousands where the old hand- process of some three centuries earlier could produce only hundreds of carpets. This example well illustrates the difference between the two periods, both admirable, if not inimitable, in their ways. 225 15 Oriental Carpets It may not be unprofitable, before leaving the finest period of the carpet, and approaching that closing about the year 1800, when the really fine Persian work ended, to review the position in which the carpet stood in the remote past and within more recent times. Professor MabafFy, in his Greek Life and Thought, mentions that Alex- ander the Great was struck with astonishment at the appointments of Darius's tents, which he captured after the battle of Issus, and writes : " When he went into the bath prepared for his opponent, and found all the vessels of pure gold, and smelt the whole chamber full of frankincense and myrrh, and then passed out into a lofty dining tent with splendid hangings, and with the appointments of an oriental feast, he exclaimed to his staff : ' Well, this is something like royalty.' Accordingly, there was no part of Persian dignity which he did not adopt." Now it may be said that there is nothing in the above passage to suggest that Carpets formed a portion of the gorgeous effect which astonished Alexander, who was accustomed to the luxury of the court of his father, King Philip of Macedon ; and whose tutor Aristotle is sure to have made him familiar with all that Athens had to offer in the way of art of the highest type. Is it, however, reasonable to suppose that Persian art, which could fashion vessels of solid gold and splendid hangings, would stop short at a textile which there are many reasons for supposing preceded that of any other art ? Is it also likely that, with such lavishness in hangings and other appointments of his tents, King Darius would not have, on the other hand, paid particular attention to the floor, which would, above all, require that luxurious tread which alone would place the body in unison with the spirit ? The probability is that the sun-dried ground was richly carpeted, and that even the splendid hangings were nothing more nor less than carpets. This suggestion may have the appearance of being very " special pleading" ; but there is some justification in the following excerpt from the Diary of Samuel Pepys, under date 1660: "So to Mr. Crew's, where I blotted a new carpet that was hired, but got it out again with fair water." A footnote to this passage states : " // was customary to use carpets as table-cloths." The italics are my own. I have myself seen a fine sixteenth-century Persian carpet used as a covering for a billiard-table, and the fineness of the texture, and the natural folds in which it lay, testified to the character of the fabric ; while the position of the carpet, amidst the magnificent surroundings of choice sculpture, in a splendidly-proportioned hall, was appropriate not only on account of the handsomeness of its appearance, and the 226 Carpets Runners and Rugs fine contrast its colour afforded to the objects around it, but also because, while fully displaying its best qualities, the fabric was removed from the wear of boots, which, it will be remembered, the Persians would not, even for considerations of policy, tolerate. There is a curious absence of reference to carpets in the works I have had occasion to consult, and as a rule they are of the briefest and most unsatisfactory description. The 1 33-page Index to Chardin's ten volumes on Persia contains no reference whatever to carpets, although throughout the volumes there are remarks as to the floors being covered with rich carpets of silk and gold, and other small details which I shall have occasion to refer to in this division. Malcolm, in the 76-page Index to his 1282 pages on Persia, not only does not include " Carpets," but under the heading " Manufactures " does not even mention the carpet. Curzon in his Index has the entry, " Carpets, Persian, i. 167, 558 ; ii. 523-4." In the first-named page, in speaking of Meshed, he writes : " Good carpets are procurable, particularly those of genuinely Oriental pattern, close texture, and imperishable vegetable dyes, that hail from Kain and Birjand. The Kurdish carpets are also original, but less artistic." The second refer- ence is as follows : "The Kurdish carpets, which figure so largely in the bazaars of Constantinople and other Oriental cities, come largely from this neighbourhood " — that is, the province of Kermanshah. Lord Curzon's remarks upon carpets in his second volume are so important that all interested in the industry should read them in full ; I have ventured to extract the only reference as to design and colouring, to form a heading to this division, to which I refer readers. Even here, however, in 1273 pages, Lord Curzon makes no detailed reference whatever to the surpassing merits of design and colouring in the ancient Persian carpets, which he shows himself so well qualified to expatiate upon, as he probably would have done if the mere export of £150,000 per annum had been of an amount sufficiently large to make carpets a vital source of revenue to Persia, and consequently of some political importance. In many writings upon Eastern history there may be interesting references to carpets ; but the descriptions in some cases are so loose and vague as to prevent their having any value. Sir Richard Burton, in the " Tale of Prince Ahmad and the Fairy Peri-Banu," relating Prince Husayn's visit to the land of Bishangarh and the bazaar of the city of the same name, speaks of the " stores wherein tapestries and thousands of foot-carpets lay for sale." On the next page he tells of the broker offering Prince Husayn "a carpet some four yards square, and crying, ' This be for sale ; who giveth me its 227 Oriental Carpets worth ; to wit, thirty thousand gold pieces ? ' " The Prince, recog- nizing in this wonderful carpet his title to the hand of the Princess Nur al-Nihar (Light of the Day), said to himself, " Naught so wonder-rare as this rug can I carry back to the Sultan my sire to my gift, or any that afford him higher satisfaction and delight." The tale proceeds : " Wherefore the Prince, with intent to buy the Fly- ing Carpet," turned to the broker and questioned him as to its pro- perties, to which the broker answered, " Sit now upon this square of tapestry, and at thy mere wish and will it shall transport us to the caravanserai wherein thou abidest." " Accordingly, the man spread out the carpet upon the ground behind his shop and seated the Prince thereupon, he sitting by his side." It will be seen from these extracts that Sir Richard Burton, in the space of four pages, speaks of " foot-carpets," " carpet," " rug," and " square of tapestry " ; the three latter all meaning one and the same thing. The "foot-carpets " probably meant the small mats for door- ways and odd places ; but it will readily be seen how confusing are these several descriptions, all of which under ordinary circumstances would be indexed under their respective headings. A leading article in The Daily Telegraph, August 1893, referring to the Ardebil Carpet, throws such interesting light upon the intro- duction of carpet-making into this country, and the Oriental custom of using carpets for hangings, that I will make an excerpt of the con- cluding portion. " It is curious to learn that, at the very period when Maksoud of Kashan, the slave of the ' Holy Place,' was com- pleting the Ardabil carpet the manufacture of these commodities was first introduced into England by one William Sheldon, under the direct patronage of Henry VIII. The manufacture, nevertheless, was for many years exclusively confined to its use as tapestry or arras for the decoration of walls. The apartments of the palaces of Queen Elizabeth were hung with the costliest products of the Flemish looms, but her Majesty had certainly no carpets on the floors of her presence chambers or her banqueting halls. The floors were simply laid with rushes, which from time to time were renewed, but careless servants very often forgot to remove the undermost layer of rushes. At dinner-time the guests frequently threw bones of meat and poultry on the floor to regale the dogs therewith, and the natural and disgusting consequence was that these rush-laid floors became event- ually heaps of filth and breeders of disease. The English, it must be sorrowfully confessed, were, until the coming in of Dutch William III., and that notable housekeeper Queen Mary II., an extremely dirty people in their domestic arrangements ; and it is 228 Plate XVIII Plate XVIII ORIENTAL RUG Size 7-10 x 4-1 Warp — 1 1 knots to the inch Weft — 10 knots to the inch I IO KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs still questionable whether our household cleanliness might not be largely enhanced by desisting from the practice of nailing down carpets on our floors, where they always harbour dust, and in the dining-rooms bread crumbs and minute particles of food which attract rats and mice. The Oriental custom has always been and still is to employ carpets as hangings for shrines and porches, as coverlets for couches, and as rugs lying loose on the floor ; and this sensible system, which has been largely adopted among us since the immense extension of the trade in Oriental rugs, will, in all probability, be still further developed by the technical as well as by the aesthetic teaching of the splendid carpet at South Kensington." Reference has already been made to degrees of " civilization," and it is well for the national conceit to remember that at the period when Alexander the Great was astonished at the magnificence of the Persian monarch Darius, Britain was barely known, her inhabitants in the first state of savagery ; and that when Maksoud of Kashan was making the superb carpet known as the Ardebil, Erasmus could write of the home life of England, " The floors are commonly of clay, strewed with rushes, so renewed that the sub- stratum may lie undisturbed some twenty years." That " history repeats itself" is a truism, but genuine examples in- variably interest, if only for the reason that in such coincidences there is something of the " uncanny," which appeals to the mystic which is more or less present in every well-constituted brain. Esther Single- ton in The Story of the White House records the following passage : — " If we may credit the following account, General Taylor's visitors had reduced the White House to a deplorable plight : ' The Fillmores found the White House in a miserable condition, dirty and bare, with no corner that seemed like a home. The great room over the Blue Room was covered with a straw carpet made filthy by tobacco-chewers. Underneath this was found a good Brussels carpet of the old pattern, a basket of roses upset.' " Erasmus's indictment of English cleanliness, and lack of appre- ciation of the higher aspects of home life, is to be found in Social England, under date 1 509-1 558, and the writer, in repeating the oft- quoted extract from Erasmus's letter to a friend, goes on to say that English floors were littered with " a collection of scraps of food and miscellaneous filth not fit to be mentioned." It is clear that the " handful of British citizens " who sailed in their famous Argo The Mayflower from Plymouth on September 6, 1620, carried with them the microbe of " savagery " which in the natural recurrence of Nature germinated under the inspiring 229 15a Oriental Carpets influence of the miscellaneous backwoodsmen visitors of General Taylor, and led to the state of affairs recorded as existing at America's Presidential official residence in the year of grace 1850. Incidentally, the sight of the extract recorded above in the critique of a London paper, and the possibility of its being used to "point a moral and adorn a tale," induced me to order the original volumes, which contain not only an extremely interesting account of the White House and its constantly changing inmates, but even a close " inventory " of the various phases of furnishing under the vary- ing tastes of Presidents, who, according to their several cultures, renovated, replaced, and added to the furniture, decorations, carpets, curtains, and hangings, which to those sufficiently interested may in their examination throw light upon Poe's " Philosophy of Furniture," quoted at the end of this chapter. Upon the occasion of my first visit to the United States, I had for a fellow-passenger Mr. French, cousin of President Arthur, who at that time, as a gallant widower, did the honours at White House with a lavish and refined hospitality of which Esther Singleton makes interesting mention. With the free-and-easy courtesy which characterizes the American gentleman, Mr. French no sooner knew that Washington formed one of our points of call than he indited the following letter, which is still in my possession, owing to the fact that upon arrival at the capital we found that President Arthur was away upon official business : — Cunard Royal Mail Steamship " Servia," October 25, 1884. My dear Mr. President — The Messrs. Humphries, two English friends of mine — are travelling for some weeks in America, & have expressed a desire to exchange words of courtesy with our Chief Executive — and so I have given them this letter in hopes that you will bestow upon them a few moments of your most valuable time — in the exchange of friendly greetings. Ever yours respectfully and affectionately, (Signed) G. B. French. The envelope was addressed "To His Excellency The President." Although prevented from paying our respects to the President, the letter acted as an " Open Sesame " to the officials of White House, and we probably saw more than falls to the lot of most. I am shocked to say that the only reminiscence remaining firmly fixed in my mind is one of those absurd trifles which lurk in the mind, and in so doing seem to oust other and much more important memories and episodes. The famous East Parlour was naturally a great attraction, but, 230 Carpets Runners and Rugs beyond the size of the great chamber and the splendid glass lustres, I have no memory ; the sight of a gigantic negro with bass-broom and bucket, standing disgustedly almost in the centre of the chamber, filled my eye then, as it does now. It is probable that we were admitted at a time when opportunity offered to thoroughly cleanse and sweep the brand-new carpet which had lately added brilliancy to the President's Receptions. The design and colouring of the carpet was of the well-known Aubusson type, and the quality probably a high-grade machine-made Axminster, or " Moquette " as they are called in the States. It is a common experience with all pile carpets that when fresh from the loom, and even some time afterwards, the loose cut wool-fibres clinging to the pile come off under ordinary wear, and especially under the influence of a vigorous brushing, which, with the ignorance generally attaching to the less obvious features of house equipment, is frequently done against the pile, which requires some explanation. In every carpet, ancient and modern, Oriental and European, there is a " way of the pile," which is easily tested in the same way as the owner of a really good billiard-table will carefully draw his hand flat over the cloth, and instantly know from the slight resistance offered to the touch that it has to be brushed the way of least resistance, or the rich velvety effect of the cloth will be ruined, and the balls will not run true. Returning to the stalwart coloured gentleman, who had evidently completely lost his temper : the more vigorously he vented his disgust and wrath upon the carpet — and he wielded his broom with no gentle hand — the more the waste pile came off in the form of " fluff," and he must have swept up bucketfuls. The sight was naturally fascinating to me, having some knowledge of the trouble he was suffering from, and as a carpet reminiscence is only equalled by the remembrance of the first real Turkey carpet I purchased as a bachelor, somewhere about 1893, ana - of which I remember I gently complained owing to the rough appearance it had after only a few weeks' wear. My remonstrance to the salesman of one of the leading West-End carpet houses was met with the pertinent inquiry, "Which way of the pile have you been sweeping it ? " The trouble was instantly explained : the Walsingham housemaid had evidently found that there was something to show for her trouble when sweeping against the high loose pile, with the result to the owner of the cherished carpet that instead of its rich full surface and the full bloom of the colours which would have resulted from a judicious smoothing of the pile the right way, the carpet presented the appearance of a stubble-field on a winter's day. 231 Oriental Carpets It is simply astounding that a woman, who recognizes to the full the effect of soft and frequent brushing upon the tresses which are one of the chief glories of womanhood, cannot apply the simple lesson to an important article of household adornment and comfort, and as she would not dream of brushing her hair " the wrong way of the pile," will nevertheless be content to see an ignorant housemaid, day after day, ruining a perhaps choice and expensive carpet, and, to use an American expression, " not have the horse-sense " to put the girl right. The plain fact is that with a natural appreciation of the innumerable weaknesses and follies of her own sex, a woman is notoriously a bad judge of a man, which is mostly shown by the deliberate and aggravating way in which she will brush him against the grain, or again, the wrong way of the pile, generally choosing the occasion when he most desires to be smoothed, which she could readily do by imagining the luxurious sense of ease and softness which arises when her maid brushes her hair, perhaps when suffering from a " sick-headache." I am doing a good turn to my own sex in writing in this strain, and I offer no apologies to the fair sex : there is the danger of every woman being infected by the prevalent " suffragette " microbe, and of becoming persuaded that she really knows something about house- keeping — save the mark ! The French superiority in matters domestic may be owing to the fact that the French housemaid is a " man," and consequently has the primitive instinct of knowing how to deal with his own sex, which forms the connecting-link with the Oriental, who from the beginning of things knew how to construct a fabric, which his sense of fitness and justice later taught him to appreciate and understand as the prime minister to his comfort and ease. The Carpet, Oriental and European, Ancient and Modern, of High Grade and Low Grade, Hand-made and Machine-made, is essentially a " Man and a Gentleman," and it is an understanding of this fact, imbibed from perhaps thousands of years of ancestors, from childhood to manhood, from age to age, from century to century, which at last resulted in the master-work of Maksoud of Kashan, which, although to be seen day by day with other interesting records of a great past — and has been for the past sixteen years- — still awaits even the dignity of a definite date, in spite of the fact that many of the officials and dignitaries interested in, and responsible for, its charge would spend years of their lives, and more money than they can afford, to establish a date which, varying in a year, or maybe a month or less, would mean a question of precedence in Social Life. 232 Carpets Runners and Rugs Before returning to The Daily Telegraph criticism of carpets as writ in August 1893, I venture to quote the few words which appear on the title-page of Sir Herbert Risley's The People of India : " In good sooth, my masters, this is no door. Tet is it a little window, that looketh upon a great world T Until the Carpet is regarded in this light, there is no chance of this century, or the next, arriving at a point in which comparison can remotely be made with the artistic efforts of past ages, due to Peoples whom the arrogant Christians of the present day are too apt to regard as Pagans, if not " Heathens." There is no greater truth than " Civilization is but skin-deep " — a potent fact which the people of this country, with its vast and wellnigh unmanageable Oriental possessions, must constantly bear in mind, if they are to keep their hold upon the heterogeneous, many-sided, and subtle intricacies of mind and body resulting from differences of climate, conditions, and surroundings in which their inhabitants have imbibed deeply- rooted rites, customs, and prejudices beyond the grasp of European imagination. As frequently happens in cases where expression of opinion is not backed up by extensive experience, the inability to go far enough in one direction is made up for by going too far in another. The Orientals certainly make use of their carpets and rugs in a manner quite different from the practice in any European countries ; but climate is very largely responsible for this. In the warmer climates the necessity for the greatest possible ease in the disposition of the body led to the practice of reclining, or sitting with folded legs, upon carpets or cushions ; and by long usage these positions are just as natural to the Oriental as the European habit of sitting bolt upright in chairs. In Oriental countries carpets, embroideries, and elaborately- figured silk garments practically serve the purpose of pictures. Further and more important, as we are informed by Chardin and Sir John Malcolm, the Oriental eats and sleeps on his carpet, which as a consequence is kept scrupulously clean. The carpet serves as table, chairs, bed, and for the hundred and one more or less superfluous articles of the dressing-room and bedroom ; for the Oriental performs his ablutions away from the house. Wardrobes, cabinets, book-cases, and the other paraphernalia of a well-ordered European house are conspicuous by their absence in the households of the genuine Oriental, who has not yet succumbed to the fascinations of being *33 Oriental Carpets considered " Ingleese " ; thus these immovable harbourers of dust, flufF, dead flies, moths, and other accumulations of a well-swept house do not daily threaten his life, and he finds his salvation in the Carpet, which he prizes and takes care of accordingly. Owing to the excessive heat in Eastern countries, the houses are designed with the object of securing as much fresh air as possible, while excluding the glaring rays of the sun ; the rooms are lofty and airy, and pervaded by the dim religious light which serves to tone down the gorgeousness of the brilliant Eastern dyes. Light is the great object of the architect of the ideal English home, and this means giving a crude appearance to imperfectly coloured carpets, and speedily taking the colour out of the priceless Oriental examples, which were never intended to be subject to such heartless treatment. Polished boards in the strong Western light look " garish," and are extremely difficult to keep immaculate ; unpolished boards look " sad," and destroy the richness of a general effect, such as a well- furnished room should have. The opening and shutting of the heavy wooden Western doors disturbs the dust, and possibly microbes, lightly resting upon all smooth articles of furniture, and especially the floor. The Orientals, if they have anything in the shape of a closed doorway, effect their purpose by means of a light curtain, or even a rug, suspended by means of rings. It is a curious fact that the generally accepted carpet for a room with heavy furniture, such as a library, study, or dining-room, is a Turkey carpet, which is the coarsest and most open-tufted of the Oriental fabrics ; there is no carpet more likely to cause " dust, bread crumbs, and minute particles of food " to sink into the deep pile, and rest there in undisturbed accumulation. It is probable that until the seamless woollen " hygienic " garment of the East is made the sole article of clothing, the Turkey carpet will continue to be in favour in directions where on hygienic grounds it would be rigidly excluded. Considerations of personal taste and predilection, and the fashion- able fads of the day, will as heretofore be the ruling factors in such matters. It may, however, be said that some approach to the " happy medium " is possible, which seems to rest in a combination of the Oriental and European methods of dealing with an artistic luxury essential in both quarters. To prevent the necessity of nailing a carpet to the floor in a position where its removal will be sufficiently difficult to mean that it will remain there for the usual spring-cleaning, and to avoid the risk of the overworked housemaid sweeping the morning's load of dust 234 Carpets Runners and Rugs under the loose carpet in a similar position, as also for the reasons already mentioned, the floor should be entirely covered with a velvet carpet of the closest weave procurable. The reason is that dust and small particles of every description will readily sweep off the surface, instead of sinking in or being trodden in. The colour is a matter of personal taste ; but if the carpets are of any consideration, it should be as much chosen with a view to showing off their merits as the wall is carefully coloured or papered to show off the pictures to the greatest advantage. The soft, firm background of this " all over " pile carpet will serve as a buffer to the heavy foot-gear necessary to the climate ; there being also a certain amount of " give " or flexibility in the pile, the life of the carpets resting thereon will be prolonged, and an additional sense of luxury and ease will extend the life of the owner, by helping to smooth down the wear and tear of the strenuous times. Valuable Oriental carpets should not be placed in such positions as immediately before the fire, or where heavy articles of furniture, or even chairs, might mark the pile or (worse still) tear the delicate fabric, already weakened by a century or more of sufficiently trying wear and disintegration. It is the surpassing merit of the Jacquard fabric, and of the method by which it produces design and colouring, that in all respects it can be used with the finest and coarsest Oriental fabrics, whether as a background or in the shape of carpets, runners, and rugs, without any sense of incongruity. Jacquard's invention was primarily in the interests of the silk trade, and he probably had little idea of its extended use in the case of the unlimited fabrics for which it is equally suitable. If, however, Jacquard could have foreseen his invention being applied to the purpose of saving the fine old examples of Oriental art, which he doubtless fully appreciated, he would have welcomed the idea of Jacquard Reproductions bearing the brunt of the household wear and tear, and even of seeing them made use of as receptacles of burning cinders, spilled food and liquids, and the hundred and one things which fall on the floor, instead of flying to the walls or to the ceiling. There is no intention whatever of suggesting that the Jacquard fabric has the monopoly of the virtues attached to carpeting, and that the fabrics to be briefly mentioned in the next division have not their own particular recommendations. Of necessity later fabrics had to have their special advantages to justify their existence. The Brussels, Wilton, and Saxony varieties of Jacquard manufacture most nearly approach the Oriental ; which is the handsomest and most enduring 2 35 Oriental Carpets testimony that could be associated with the fine old man, whose rugged honesty of character and enduring worth are typical of the fabric. The fineness of the texture of a carpet depends upon the number of knots to the square inch, and as a rule these knots are about the same in the warp as in the weft, the design being more conveniently carried out when this is the case ; but it often happens that the work is beaten up by the heavy hammer combs the way of the warp, which necessitates some allowance to preserve a proper pro- portion in the design, which would otherwise be " spread out " the way of the weft and flattened in the way of the warp. Chardin in his chapter describing Persian Manufactures, after referring to the beautiful brocades and velvets, embroidered with gold and silver, the former of which always preserves the colour, and the silver only tarnishing after twenty or thirty years' service, which he attributes as much to the dryness and clearness of the air as to the excellence of the workmanship and materials, writes as follows : " The finest of these stuffs are made at Yezd, Kashan, and also at Ispahan. The best carpets are made in the province of Kirman, and particularly of Seistan. These carpets in Europe are generally called tapis de Turquie, because they came by way of Turkey, before commerce with Persia was opened up by ocean traffic. The Persian method of gauging the merits of the carpets, in order to fix the price, is to place a measuring-rule upon a portion of the carpet, and count the number of threads to an inch, for the more there are, the greater the value of the carpet. The largest number of threads thus found in an inch is from fourteen to fifteen." Dr. Riegl, in the Analysis already referred to, seems to have taken a square of 4 inches for his measurements of the number of knots to the inch of the examples so analysed ; others take a square of 9 inches ; but except in the case of the finest carpets, where the experience of the weaver makes his knots uniform throughout, the most trustworthy way is to take various parts of the carpet, and average the results, as it may happen that the knots to the inch by way of the warp vary, the way of the weft being to some extent controlled by the back warp threads ; even here, however, the irregularity of the hand-process is not to be relied upon, as will be seen from some of the long narrow runners or " strips " illustrated in this volume. Too much stress must not be placed upon this question of the number of knots to the square inch, as it is possible that a carpet of exquisite fineness in this respect may be accompanied by a crude- ness of design and colouring which quite robs the former feature of 236 Plate XIX Plate XIX ORIENTAL RUG Size i i-i x 4.-2 Warp — 8 knots to the inch Weft — 8 knots to the inch 64 KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs its recommendations, for it cannot be gainsaid that fineness is absolutely necessary to secure the fine lines of a free scroll, stem, and figure treatment, without betraying the exigencies of the fabric in having to be made on the square, or built up dot by dot and line by line. The intrinsic merits of a fine Oriental carpet can as little be gauged by measurement as a painting can be estimated by the fine- ness of the canvas it is painted on, or the quality of the paint, although in this latter respect the quality and mixing of the colours are of the same importance as the dyeing of the shades in a carpet, for the permanence of the true colour scheme in both depends entirely upon the skill and knowledge of the artist in the one case and of the dyer and the weaver in the other. It is well to mention that a particular value attaches to the fine Persian carpets of the sixteenth century, and especially to those of the period of Shah Abbas, not only because under his rule the carpet in design, colour, and texture arrived at its highest development, but also because of the prestige attached to a great name, and this fact has still to attain its full significance. No more magnificent volume could be conceived than one devoted to Persian Carpets of the Period of Shah Abbas the Great, produced regardless of expense both as to printing and essentially as to the finest colour process possible, and I commend the idea to Lord Curzon. The best examples of these carpets are probably hidden away in the treasure-chambers of Eastern potentates, and quite beyond the reach of any ordinary person ; but with his many Persian friends, and with the prestige attached to his long and successful Viceroyship, Lord Curzon's name would be an " Open Sesame " to all, and an absolutely unique monument of artistic taste and merit would result. Something has already been said as to the dyeing of colours, the merits of which Chardin attributes first to the dves being native to the country and consequently applied perfectly fresh, and with their essential qualities unimpaired ; and secondly, to the peculiar virtue of the water, which all good dyers know to be of the first importance, some advocating distilled water. Of course the method of dyeing is more important than anything else, and I personally attribute the rich freshness and gloss of the best Oriental colours to the splendid quality of the wool, full of its natural oil, which permeates every fibre ; and to the ancient method of dyeing, which in some colours required a week or ten days' immersion in cold water, and others a proportional period in which hot water was used, but without over- boiling the wool and destroying its pristine virtues. It must not be supposed that all Oriental dyeing was immaculate, for even in some 237 Oriental Carpets genuine sixteenth-century examples the deep blues and blue greens, and sometimes the deeper shades of red, will wear completely out of the carpet, in fact " perish," leaving the surrounding colours perfectly fresh and with their best qualities improved by age. As to the shades used, go to nature ; for in a perfect specimen of the best Persian carpets one is conscious of no desirable colour in nature being missing. Only one reservation seems to be necessary in claiming this comprehension of all colours as being within the range of carpet manufacture, and this may be mentioned in Chardin's own words, in which he is speaking of the costumes of the Persians, though his remarks are equally applicable to carpets : " They never wear Black in the East ; it is a sad and ill-omened colour, which they will not endure ; they call it ' the Devil's Colour.' They wear all colours indiscriminately, and at all ages, and it is an extremely pleas- ing and edifying sight to see, both on the promenades and in public places, a great crowd of people in their party-coloured raiment, clad in rich stuffs sparkling with gold, and gorgeous by reason of the variety and brilliancy of the colours." Chardin's references to carpets are mostly to those made with silk, enriched with gold and silver thread, which is wound upon a silk foundation ; as a jeweller by profession, he would be particularly attracted by these splendid examples. It must not, however, be imagined that the mere question of the expensiveness of the materials tends either to greater artistic appearance or to value of the examples so made. For example, the Ardebil Carpet is made of fine wool ; the " Royal Carpet," from the Marquand Collection, which realized the great price of £7200, was made of wool ; in fact, it may be truly said that the finest examples of the carpets most entitled to the name are made of wool, for it must be confessed that there is a " velveteen " suggestion in silk carpets which is by no means pleasant, particularly in certain reflections of light ; and the use of gold and silver thread is hardly legitimate in a carpet, which, even by bare feet, is apt to be trodden in ; and, in any case, when time has tarnished the metal the effect is ruinous, as already referred to in the fine Shah Abbas specimen last described. The truth is that, as in " Exhibi- tion " specimens in all directions failure generally results from an attempt to do " better than the best," so in any endeavour to do honour to a king of high degree some virtue is supposed to be attached to the use of the most costly materials, which in most cases results in an offence against Art, and even perhaps the suggestion of Diogenes' cognomen for rich persons devoid of learning, " sheep with golden fleeces." 238 Carpets Runners and Rugs As to the possibility of carpets in past ages having been extensively- used in triumphal processions and sacrifices to the gods, the practice continued until quite recent times. Erasmus speaks of an occasion in Orleans, in which he says, " Next morning a special service in the cathedral. The streets were carpeted. Bells rang in all the steeples." Chardin also relates an occasion when the Persian minister Cheic-ali-can entertained his royal master, the road between the royal palace and that of the minister being covered with gold and silver brocade. He adds that this display of luxury is only for such state occasions, and writes : " It is necessary, however, to remark that only one side of the street is so covered, the other being swept, well- watered, and strewn with flowers, the latter especially when they are in full season. The stuffs and the money thrown upon the ground are for the footmen of the King. Sometimes the giver of the entertainment buys the stuffs back again, a practice of Cheic-ali- can's, in order to place the men under greater obligations to him, as he knew they could not sell them for nearly as much as he gave. This custom of spreading carpets upon the road for kings and great princes is one of the most ancient, as it is the most universal, in the East, being enjoined in the Pourdna, which are the earliest books of religion and science of the Brahmins." It appears from this that it has from time immemorial been almost a religious observance to carpet the roads upon ceremonial occasions, which may afford another clue by which the origin of the carpet may be arrived at. Unfortunately, the difficulty has to be faced of the term " carpet " varying in different accounts, which is sure to be the case according to the knowledge of the subject possessed by the writers. Chardin is not always clear ; but in the passage quoted above the word tapis is clearly used, and the meaning unmistakable. Reference has been made to the decadence of the Persian carpet from the period following the death of Shah Abbas ; but it must not be supposed that this means anything more than that until the end of the seventeenth century the impossibility of " living up " to the very high standard established under Shah Abbas caused the inevitable deterioration in design and colouring which only an expert could strictly define. The very splendid supplement to the Vienna Carpet Book, recently issued under the title Ancient Oriental Carpets, contains, in the fourth and last part, five perfect colour reproductions of Persian Carpets in the South Kensington Museum, dating from the second half of the sixteenth century to the second half of the seventeenth century. Truth to say, each carpet has its individual and 239 Oriental Carpets characteristic features, and while not comparing with the Ardebil Carpet of the first half of the sixteenth century, or the Shah Abbas carpet of probably the early part of the seventeenth century, the com- parison is as fair as to compare the handful of giants who have made the world's history with the average of humanity, whose flesh and blood only lacked the fire of genius, which is precisely the quality which the designs and colourings referred to are deficient in. As regards mere texture, it is not improbable that even at the present day there are weavers who could rival the best work of the ancient masters ; but this part of the creation of a carpet is, in the skilled sense, mechanical, and if unaccompanied by artistic skill in the origination and arrangement of forms, and the appropriate colouring of every detail of the design, the result is much the same as in the case of the picture by a painstaking artist whose work is microscopical in its exactness and finish, but fails to impress by reason of the very evident " art " which it should be the painter's first aim to conceal. The five Persian carpets above referred to do not contain any features of design and colouring sufficiently distinct from what I have already described to make further detail necessary : so, to lead from Persia to India, and to account for some of the common char- acteristics to be found in the carpets of both countries, I will again quote from Chardin's editor, M. Langles, before referring to the very remarkable carpet owned by the Girdlers' Company, which was made by the weavers of the Lahore factory, probably descended from, or in any case influenced by, the Persian carpet-weavers brought to India by the great Akbar, the descendant of Tamerlane, who reigned from 1556 to 1605, and was therefore for twenty years con- temporary with Shah Abbas. M. Langles opens his " Notice Chronologique de la Perse " with the following interesting remarks : " In spite of the numerous and terrible revolutions which have disturbed the kingdom of Persia, it is to-day in Asia, and indeed the world, the only one worthy by its great antiquity to be compared with the Chinese empire. The period of its foundation is one of those chronological problems which perpetually baffle the researches of scientists, and upon which one has not even the satisfaction of being able to form reasonable conjectures. We have, in fact, no compass to direct our steps across the night of time, and to discover at what epoch the Persians and the Indians had the same religious and political system, and perhaps even spoke the same language ; it may be that they both had a common origin ; it may be that in the earliest times they were one and the same nation ; it may even be that one of these nations gave birth to the other. 240 Carpets Runners and Rugs These are problems which we shall not attempt to solve ; but the observations we have made in the notes attached to this new edition of the Travels of Chardin, concerning the resemblances which in former times existed between the Persians and the Indians, are not less exact than, while they are in perfect agreement with, the ideas expressed in the Ddbistdn of Mohhammed Fany." It is not necessary to follow M. Langles farther, my desire only being to establish some connection between the two countries which have shown an aptitude in dealing with the inner mysteries of carpet- weaving, and an instinct for design and colour, which compels one to think that at some point in the dim past the two peoples touched hands, and perhaps for a time walked side by side, even if they did not come into more intimate association by intermarriage and the mixing of blood. It is not uninteresting to speculate upon how far the conquest of the two countries by Alexander the Great brought about a closeness of touch between the two peoples, whose great men, probably following in his train, having mutual wrongs and a common enemy, found this bond sufficient for a time at least to unite them in a destiny the limits of which they could not foresee while their con- queror dominated the world. The vast accomplishment of that greatest of world - wide conquerors, Alexander the Great, was only possible from the self- abnegation in which he not only exercised the full strength of his overpowering personality, and the charm of his manner in conciliating enemies, but even entrusted them with important commands, which illustrates on the largest scale that " confidence begets confidence." It is to be noted further that Alexander had a shrewd appreciation of the fact that a mutual self-interest is the strongest cement with which to bind apparently conflicting interests ; an important point for consideration to those far too apt in Imperial affairs to rely upon the well-worn adage, " Blood is thicker than water." Self- interest is stronger than both, and it will be only upon these lines that a full working bond of unity will be established between the wide apart, and from nature and climate more or less inimical greater and lesser countries that should in time be one Great United Empire in fact, as they are by fiction. It will be time to talk of blood being thicker than water when, by virtue of a close union founded upon an identity of commercial and artistic interests, it has been brought home to all concerned in the bargain that self- preservation behoves a further consideration that in the conflict of Empires the victory rests with the patriotism of those strongest in a good cause in wielding the best Arms, with the most perfectly 241 16 Oriental Carpets trained hands of an athletic body. Money may be the sinews of War, but Machiavelli more justly said " War had no sinews but those of good Soldiers." Lord Bacon in quoting and comment- ing on this continues : " In the same manner, it may be truly affirmed that the sinews of Fortune are not Money, but rather the powers of the Mind : Address, Courage, Resolution, Intrepidity, Perseverance, Moderation, Industry, etc." I am unable to verify the quotation, but it is in my mind that when the famed legislator Solon visited the court of Croesus, this synonym of Wealth sought to impress and astonish him by displaying his treasures, the greatest of which consisted of an immense chamber packed with gold. The great Athenian, with a far-seeing mind, undisturbed by the glamour of mere wealth, answered the unspoken demand for adulation by saying to Croesus, " Iron will conquer this Gold." Alexander the Great left nothing to chance, and recognized the advantage of alliances, if not by blood, at least by the sometimes even stronger bond of the marriage tie. This feature of his rule, and also other potent influences in the same direction, are admirably emphasized in Professor Mahaffy's Greek Life and Thought, to which I am already indebted. I feel sure that the learned author's patriotism will stand the strain of the following lengthy extracts from his work, for which I offer grateful acknowledgments. In an earlier page it has been recorded that Alexander, in spite of his previous acquaintance with the Arts of the Greeks, was nevertheless astonished at the luxury and extravagance of the Persians, when he inspected the captured royal tents of Darius, after the battle of Issus. This battle of Issus is such an important object-lesson as to the futility of mere numbers as opposed to the greater qualities of mind and body already enumerated, that in the interests of the nation I will extract from that invaluable compendium of informing and practical wisdom, Haydn s Dictionary of Dates ; I presume its aim and object in life is to be freely made use of, so I will not apologize for appropriating the complete entry : — Issus (Asia Minor), the site of Alexander's second great battle with Darius, whose queen and family were captured, October 333 b.c The Persian army, according to Justin, consisted of 400,000 foot and 100,000 horse ; 61,000 of the former and 10,000 of the latter were left dead on the spot, and 40,000 were taken prisoners. Here the emperor Septimius defeated his rival Niger, a.d. 194. Professor Mahaffy, in dealing with historians, gives expression to a truth which is by no means confined to the writers of ancient times, in spite of Napoleon's confidence in the value of the study of 242 Carpets Runners and Rugs History, as laid down for his infant son, the King of Rome, who nevertheless unhappily did not live to justify his father's teaching, let alone equal or rival his renown. " Rhetorical descriptions are apt to disguise or pervert the truth, and in descriptions of battles especially, to hide the real truth altogether." In a footnote to this passage the vast and unmanageable size of the Persian army at Issus, and the accounts of the slain, are subjected to the test of a more practical and common-sense estimate than the ancient accounts that have come down to us. " All the numbers set down in ancient accounts of battles are thoroughly untrustworthy, especially the numbers of the slain, which the historians deliberately magnified on patriotic grounds." However " Greek vanity " may have exaggerated the numbers of the Persians, the victory undoubtedly was gained by a mere handful of Greeks, whose efforts, inspired by their young and magnetic leader, were probably augmented in the same way as St. Cyr estimated Napoleon's presence as worth 50,000 men, while Wellington admitted its value at 40,000. Whatever may have been the respective numbers, the battle of Issus placed within the hands of the conqueror a vast dominion which from its extent experiences the extremes of heat and cold at one and the same time within its limits. With the inspiration of genius he instantly adopted the only means of holding his conquest, not only assuming Persian dignity, and the luxurious freedom of their dress, but with an insight born of an intimate knowledge of human nature, he did not neglect the insidious persuasion of the palate, and the humourings of the body, which, judiciously handled, minister so largely to the amity of nations, and the promotion of professional, artistic, and business interests. Reading from the Professor's entranc- ing pages : " We hear that the expenses of his table — he always dined late — rose to about £400 daily, at which limit he fixed it. Nor is this surprising when we find that he dined as publicly as the kings of France in the old days, surrounded by a brilliant staff of officers and pages, with a bodyguard present, and a trumpeter ready to summon the household troops. All manner of delicacies were brought from the sea and from remote provinces for his table." A footnote to this account, derived from Plutarch, says : " His circle included from sixty to seventy guests. Others add that whenever he offered libation at table the trumpet sounded that all the army might know the king drank." The splendid picture by Paul Veronese in the National Gallery, " Alexander and the Family of Darius," will delight those to whom the wealth of colour and imaginative detail lavished by the artist gives suggestive reality to an episode which the lapse of time 243 Oriental Carpets has not robbed of its interest. Paolo Caliari (or Cagliari), or, as he is familiarly known, Paul Veronese, was born at Verona in 1528, or at the period which saw the work of Maksoud half finished. In 1543 the great Mosque of Ardebil probably witnessed the magnificent ceremonial in which the " Holy Carpet " was formally dedicated to the particular service for which it was intended, and it may be supposed that every detail of Oriental pageantry and splendour was lavished upon the occasion. It is impossible not to regret that even the boy of fifteen, who was just placing his foot upon the first rung of the ladder of Fame, could not have exercised his talents in bring- ing the scene home to us ; while Tintoretto (so called from his father having been a dyer) at the age of twenty-five, or Titian with his matured powers, would have produced effects of design and colour the thought of which may well tempt Sir L. Alma-Tadema to crown his artistic career by finding in the Oriental atmosphere and surround- ings of the ancient Holy City of Ardebil, and in the inimitable carpet available for his inspiring brush, a worthy pendant to the great picture " Caracalla and Geta," to which reference has already been made. To resume the lines upon which Alexander sought to per- manently establish his new conquest of Persia, Professor Mahaffy records that this young man, who at thirty-two years of age had occasion to lament that " there were no more worlds to conquer," succumbed to the seductions of the effeminate and luxurious Eastern life, and in so doing sowed the seeds which led to his early death, which might not have occurred had there been more outlets to his ambition, more " worlds to conquer." " In other respects (that is, outside Persian forms and ceremonies, and the pleasures of the table), in dress, and manners, he drifted gradually into Persian habits also. The great Persian lords, after a gallant struggle for their old sovran, loyally went over to his side. Both his wives were oriental princesses, and perhaps too little has been said by historians about the influence they must have had in recommending to him Persian officers and pages. The loyalty of these people, great aristocrats as they were, was quite a different thing from that of the Macedonians, who had always been privileged subjects, and who now attributed to their own prowess the king's mighty conquests. The orientals, on the other hand, accepted him as an absolute monarch, nay, as little short of a deity (the italics are mine), to whom they readily gave the homage of adoration." I have had occasion to refer to the symbolism of the " Horse- shoe and Cloud Forms " in the Ardebil Carpet, instancing the historical fact that Alexander practically idolized his great war- 244 Plate XX Plate XX ORIENTAL RUG Size 4-6 x 3-0 Warp — 15 knots to the inch Weft — 13 knots to the inch 195 KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs charger Bucephalus, and that this fact accounted for the symbol of his warrior soul, and his divine origin, which is the leading feature in the carpet in question, and innumerable others probably which have perished, while being as the flames from which the Ardebil Phoenix arose. It might be urged with some plausibility that a conquered nation, or nations, would not be likely to adopt the symbol of a conqueror, in some directions doubtless an oppressor ; but the belief in Alexander's divine origin, which he took some pains to suggest and foster, removes all objection, as it doubtless salved the minds and consciences of those who, first fighting against, accepted service with one whom they at least ranked with Achilles, if not with the gods ; and who can strive with the gods ? Alexander the Great was the Hymettan honey-bee whose hive was the world, and while sipping from the flowers of the East, became the fertilizing medium which has resulted in hybrid char- acteristics which are not sufficiently definite to analyse, but which are still there, and perhaps betray themselves in a direction in which climate, customs, and the Oriental instinct for colour tended towards the love of ease, luxury, and magnificence which it cannot be denied that the Carpet above all textiles ministers to. It may be said that the art of carpet-making was introduced into India from Persia, and that this is the natural explanation of its taking root. It may with equal truth be said that the art was in much the same way introduced into Persia by the ancient Egyptians. The fact is that the three nations Egypt, Persia, and India are weavers by instinct and tradition, and much the same might be said of China and Japan ; but, not having come under the civilizing influence of Greek culture, the two latter nations have preserved their primitive artistic simplicity, and this is shown in a marked degree by the quite distinct style of their art, and even by their handwriting, which is formal and precise, as compared with the free, flowing script of the Persians, which is characteristic of their easy adaptation of the most elaborate stem and trellis forms in nature, and their power of transforming these into a material which offers con- ventional difficulties at every turn. Centuries upon centuries of weaving, in which the arts of both design and colouring are circumscribed by the limits of the fabric, have a tendency which is illustrated by the popular saying in India, relating to the Jolaha, or Musalman weaver, " The weaver weaves what he has in his mind." The convention shown by the tenacity with which the Oriental clings to the most trivial of ancient customs; the primitive music which most appeals to his senses ; the arts of 245 16 a Oriental Carpets the scribe and the illuminator ; the costumes worn, and the con- struction and furnishing of the houses ; and the habits of speech — all these are characteristic of an occupation entailing concentration upon the exigencies of warp and weft, and the building up of a fabric knot by knot, in which the misplacement of a single dot of colour so formed affects both design and colouring ; and this absorption in apparently insignificant actions of a delicate nature, each one affecting the final accomplishment, must have had its effect upon the tempera- ment of the weaving nations, which a more scientific inquiry may show to have had interesting results. The way in which individuals, and even whole tribes, retained and jealously guarded the intricacies of design and colouring of their traditional carpet patterns may account for the perfect genius for secrecy which, when there is an object, can be observed in a way quite foreign to the European mind, with its love of speech and tendency to gossip. The Oriental is a born diplomatist, and the reticence upon essential points which shape and affect policies may be a phase of the " Weaving Mind," which will bear closer examina- tion than it has hitherto received. The Westminster Gazette of March 24, 1900, under the heading, " An Unsuspected Treasure," had notice of a carpet which for over two centuries and a half had been lost to its possessors and the world at large under the guise of a " table-cloth," in which capacity, it is probable, its merits were obscured by the superior attractions of the table furniture before dinner, and perhaps afterwards by the natural deviousness of vision consequent upon a civic banquet. The notice in question reads as follows : " For many years past a large carpet of Persian manufacture has been used as a table covering at Girdlers' Hall, Basinghall Street. The value and rarity of this carpet were never suspected until it was discovered that the carpet had been presented to the Girdlers' Company by one Robert Bell, ' in remem- brance of his love,' in the year 1634. The Company, of which the Lord Mayor is the Master, has had the carpet framed in an oaken border appropriately carved in a style belonging to the period of its date and hung in the banqueting-hall. This has been done under the advice of Mr. C. Purdon Clarke, of the Victoria and Albert Museum (now Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke, of the Metropolitan Museum, New York). The Times states that the carpet is nearly 30 feet long by 8 feet in width." It is hopeful for future discoveries of a like nature that this exceedingly interesting if not unique carpet should have been under the eyes of officers and members of the Company and their privileged 246 Carpets Runners and Rugs guests for such a length of time without provoking either comment or inquiry, until the expert instantly recognized something excep- tional, with the result chronicled. There is something ironical in the fact that at the present moment there are native criminals in the jails in India who are producing artistic work which not one English gentleman in a hundred is capable of understanding and appreciating; it is true that many of these natives have, through their caste, preserved an unbroken pedigree through several centuries, and that their artistic instinct is almost part and parcel of their natures. Race instinct and Art instinct are of the blood, and the sharp line of distinction between the Eastern and the Western nations always has been, and will be to the end of time, one of the most subtle paradoxes the student of human nature has to grapple with. In the Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a very fine coloured reproduction of the Girdlers' Company carpet, which bears the inscription, " Photograph painted by the Misses Ada and Blanche F. Hunter." Beneath the carpet, which is painted with an exactness which seems to have aimed at even reproducing the effect of the pile of the original itself, the following particulars are given : " Woollen Pile Carpet, presented to the Girdlers' Company by Mr. Robert Bell, the Master, in 1634. The Carpet, which bears the Arms of the Company, was made at Lahore, Northern India." An excellent reproduction of the coloured illustration is given in One Hundred Carpet Designs from Various Parts of India, with a Monograph by F. H. Andrews ; accompanying this is an account of the carpet itself, which I venture to make use of, as follows : "The Carpet, which appears from the Minute-books of the East India Company to have been made at the Royal Factory of Lahore, established by Akbar the Great, is of Persian design, being about 8 yards long and 7.\ yards broad. It contains the Company's Arms, namely, St. Lawrence on the Gridiron, holding a Book of the Gospels in his right hand and a gridiron (the emblem of his martyrdom) in his left ; underneath is a scroll, with the Girdlers' motto, ' Give thanks to God,' whilst flanked right and left Mr. Bell's Arms are wrought, namely, Azure, an eagle displayed argent-in-chief, three fleurs-de-lys or, and introduced in between these and the Company's Arms are two bales of merchandise, stamped with Mr. Bell's initials and trade marks." The heraldic devices and the trade symbols are upon a red field, covered by a rich scroll-work design, formed of stem-work support- ing palmette and conventional floral figures and leaf forms ; the Herati colour divided leaf, lying upon two rosette figures, here and 247 Oriental Carpets there indicating the origin of the design. A curious figure, resembling an American " corncob " tapering to a point, is very freely used, both in colour effects and (what is more unusual) in a lighter colour of red toning with the ground, a similar effect of colour being used throughout the carpet, in the smaller flower-work. The general effect of the colour scheme, with the cream stems outlined in dark blue, with a free touching of a lighter shade of blue, and the liberal introduction of an orange yellow where the ornamental figures require relief, is brilliant without being gaudy, and the two tones of red referred to give a charming and high-class tone to the carpet which is very satisfying to the eye, while it would not meet with the approbation of the lover of the more refined Persian sixteenth- century designs and colourings. The narrow inner border dividing the field from the main border band is in two shades of yellow, and is enclosed within narrow bands of colour damasked with a running key design, a kind of serpent- like leaf meander breaking up a similar effect already spoken of as being in two shades of yellow. The main border band, which is of unusual width for the size of the carpet, is nothing more or less than a repetition of the field design, though upon a dark blue ground, the two colour red effects being still a noticeable feature, but in this case with the colours reversed, the dark red being next to the dark blue ground colour. In this main border band lies one of the defects of the carpet : a greater contrast in the design would have afforded more variety, and have been more in accordance with the traditions of the finest period of Persian manufacture. This feature of the border " matching " the field or centre of the carpet is quite a modern convention, and essentially British, and it is not improbable that Mr. Robert Bell, when he was ordering the carpet, expected to find, or insisted upon having, a border which unmistakably belonged to the main portion of the carpet. It only rests to speak of the outer border band, consisting of a foliated key pattern, the inner yellow, and outer key band of red, outlined with a dark shade of blue ; a neat S-shaped continuous key band in two shades of red, and a similar band of blue upon white, both enclosed within straight lines of plain colour, guard the foliated key band on either side, and plain bands of red and dark blue, the latter colour finishing the extreme edge, complete the carpet, which is well balanced in every detail. It is obviously impossible for any description of such a carpet to do more than give a general impression. The infinite variety of design and colouring in these Oriental carpets, which in many cases is accidental in the fact that the dyer seldom quite accurately matches 248 Carpets Runners and Rugs his shades, makes it necessary to draw largely upon the imagination in endeavouring to realize a colour effect in which Time has had a good deal to answer for. No art can reproduce the softening effects of wear and tear and the toning down which can only be arrived at by natural exposure to light. The Orientals would never dream of exposing carpets to the glare of a strong light, and it follows that the fabrics arrive at their perfection of shade, as we know them, after centuries of well-cared-for existence, in much the same way as the wines of European nations arrive at their full flavour and bouquet under the care of the experienced cellarman, whose anxiety to preserve an even temperature of the exact degree would be worthy of doctor or nurse fighting for the life of a patient. The entrance to the Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, opens upon a staircase leading to the rooms above, and the wall space immediately around is covered with frames enclosing most beautiful colour reproductions, which are inscribed with the words, " Illuminations from a Manuscript Copy of the Akbar-Namah, by Abu'l Fazl. Mogul Work, about 1597-98 a.d." These plates, about 150 in number, including reproductions of the original covers, are quite surprising in the variety and richness of the detail and colour, and of the very greatest interest in revealing the artistic merits of the artists who were engaged on the work. They are all designed with the prim precision of the weaver mind, which characterizes Persian work of the same class, and indeed most miniature work ; but there is no denying the beauty of the work, while one is amazed at the lavish care with which such historical records were given permanence. At the time when I visited this Museum (March 12, 1909), a very interesting example of Indian (Mogul) early-seventeenth-century carpet-weaving occupied the wall space above the small landing facing the main staircase. The colours were of the conventional order, rich red centre with a dark blue border, both being figured with appropriate ornamental work of the stem, leaf, and flower order. The main feature of the field of the carpet was an inverted horseshoe, with the usual cloud forms, behind which spreading stems, terminating in leaves, were formally arranged. A detached seven-stemmed flower form occupied the space between the cloud forms continuing the arms of the horseshoe ; while the curve of the shoe itself rested upon a diamond-shaped trellis, which commenced a free variation of the Herati pattern. Four woollen carpets, labelled "Indian (Mogul) early 17th century. Probably made at Lahore, Panjab," occupied the right- 249 Oriental Carpets hand wall, ascending by the staircase I have mentioned, and one of these, the largest, which is under glass, in 1886 cost £400, by no means an insignificant sum in those days. All these four carpets have a hybrid resemblance to the sixteenth-century Persian carpets ; but instead of the clear, delicate, magenta-toned blood-red of the field, and the rich grass-green of the border, the Indian examples show a dullness of the red tone, and an undecided compromise between green and blue in the border, which prevent any doubt as to their origin. On the same wall as the four Indian carpets referred to there was a very fine example of Persian carpet manufacture, of about the year 1 600, which is one of the five examples depicted in Ancient Oriental Carpets. The design consists of scalloped panels, each on its separate ground colour, and filled with an important centre figure, surrounded by small flower and leaf work, with connecting stems. These panels, which lie on a dull but rich red ground, are placed within a delicate ogee trellis, which is intersected with another trellis of the same shape ; the points of contact of these two trellis movements are covered by important conventional flower figures, while the panels themselves are made one with the general design by means of the stems of the intersecting trellis which connect with the figures in the centre of each panel. A separate stem, flower, and bud scroll movement fills the intervening spaces of the design ; this apparent elaboration of detail is restful to the eye. The very narrow border consists of a conventional flower figure, enclosed within leaves formally arranged ; a stem movement connects leaves and figures together ; and the whole border design is on a dark blue ground. A narrow cream band, damasked with a leaf and bud scroll, separates this main border band from the field of the carpet, while the outer band consists of a foliated key pattern in alternate light blue and reds. This carpet is labelled "Woollen Carpet, Persian ; 16th or 17th century. Bought £380— 1884." Without any intention on my part, the accidental fact of the carpet last described being in the same room as the four Indian carpets previously referred to has led me back to Persia, from which home of the carpet I must again turn to India, which now has almost the same claim. In the room beyond the large one containing the five carpets I have spoken of were two Indian carpets, evidently made in the Yerrowda Jail, some three miles from Poona. If my memory serves, they are of the conventional type of red field and blue-bordered carpets, with formal flower, leaf, and stem scroll movement. The interest of these carpets lies in the indication shown by their labels of the way in which Persian carpets have 250 Carpets Runners and Rugs been reproduced through the kindness of the native Rajahs, who, I believe, are very liberal in allowing the use of these treasures, which probably came to their ancestors as presents from the factories of the kings of Persia. The two carpets in question are labelled " Reproduction of an old Persian Carpet in the Assar Mahal Palace at Bijapur. Poona Jail, Bombay Presidency." Runners have next to be dealt with. I have used the term "runners," instead of "strips" (as some call them), because the latter description might lead one to suppose that only a fragment of a carpet was intended, whereas the runner is distinct and complete in itself, and has, in fact, its separate use. My view of runners— which may be so called because in modern use they run the full length of corridors, or the narrow entrance from the hall door to the main rooms in flats — -is that they were made for use in the probably long passages leading from the main chambers of town buildings, and of the large tents used for country travelling, to the separate apartments religiously kept quite distinct for the male and female members of the court, family, and their respective house- holds. Oriental houses are not usually more than one story, and it can readily be imagined that, with the observed division of the apartments, two separate corridors or passages might run right and left of the centre main room, or parallel at opposing corners, connecting the women's living apartments with the main room, leaving an open courtyard in the centre, when space would not be a consideration. Runners are, in fact, very long rugs, and have no distinctive features as regards design and colouring ; yet they are to my mind a separate class, and should be so treated. Runners are not uncommonly found in pairs, and with closer suggestion of an endeavour to make the one match the other than is usually the case with Oriental fabrics. This again seems to indicate their use in pairs in ancient times. Another possible explanation is that in formal conferences, especially on occasions where a neutral strip of ground may have been conducive to the preservation of peace, the consulting parties would be equally accommodated in the matter of carpeting to sit on, while facing one another, and able to converse or dispute without danger of coming to too close quarters. Mr. Mumford in Oriental Rugs accounts for these curious speci- mens by domestic usage, " which explains the prevalence of long, narrow shapes in so many varieties of imported rugs — the shapes which are called ' runners ' in our market, and are used chiefly for stair and hall coverings." 251 Oriental Carpets From the earliest times it is not unreasonable to suppose that special sizes and shapes in carpeting have been made, as well as special designs and colourings. Some ten or twelve years ago I saw in one of the leading London carpet houses a very curious runner, which, instead of being one comprehensive design (whether pine, panel, or connected or detached conventional figures), consisted of five prayer rugs with the conventional arch, all com- prised in one piece, with the points of the arches lying in one direction. The only apparent explanation of this freak is that the happy father of a united family, desiring the morning and evening prayers to be observed at one time, and with the due formality attached to each one possessing a separate prayer rug, with its separate mosque arch, had this prayer-runner specially made to his own instructions ; and it remains to-day as an example of pitfalls of the sort which are laid for the expert and connoisseur who derive their data from solitary specimens instead of expanding their outlook. As to the distinctions in size between carpets, runners, and rugs : the division is arbitrary. A large carpet is always a carpet ; whereas a small carpet may by some be regarded as a large rug. A long rug I have classed as a runner ; a small rug might be called a mat, or, as Sir Richard Burton described it, a "foot-carpet." Generally speaking, Oriental carpets are not large, unless made for a particular purpose ; the average private house in the East is not large, and unless within the mosque or palace precincts, the weaving accom- modation was not such as to admit of large carpets. In his " Monograph on Oriental Carpets," in the Vienna Carpet Book, Sir C. Purdon Clarke writes of " the large carpet in the hall of the Chehel Sutoon (Ispahan), said to be the largest ever woven and measuring 60 feet by 30." Mr. Vincent J. Robinson, in his contribution to the same grand Carpet Book, under the title " Indian Carpets," writes : "In 1882 Mr. Purdon Clarke visited the factory of Masulipatam, and at the Palace of the Nawab saw a remarkable suite of large carpets, each fitting one of the reception-rooms. On expressing admiration for their size and beauty, and inquiring as to their place of manufacture, he was informed by the Nawab that they were all made in the Palace, in his father's time, about sixty years before, adding the explanation that no weavers' houses were large enough for the looms, nor were any weavers rich enough to make such carpets for chance sale." Here are two sufficient reasons for the smallness of the average Oriental carpet — the size of the houses in which they were woven, and the fact that the smaller size meant a quicker turning over of 252 Plate XXI Plate XXI ORIENTAL RUG Size 9-3 x 4-1 1 Warp — 12 knots to the inch Weft — 9 knots to the inch lo8 KNOTS TO THE SOJJARE INCH (See Analysis) Carpets Runners and Rugs the weaver's small capital, for it may be assumed that privately woven, as most of them doubtless were before the trade was organized upon the European system, a very small carpet would naturally tax the resources of the weaver. Apart from the limitations of design and colouring caused by the size, there are no distinguishing features in the average carpet, runner, and rug ; but in the last-named class there is the well-known " Prayer Rug," which is quite distinctive in style and has inner meanings which are worthy of notice. There are the inscription prayer rug, the prayer rug with the open arch, and the variety of the same rug which has the representation of a lamp hanging from the crown of the arch. The arch is sometimes partly filled with a hanging band of small figures joined together ; indeed, the variety is infinite. Some of the larger prayer rugs, of more advanced design, have a representation of the supporting pillars of the arch, the older ones having a single detached pillar of simple design ; others are of more elaborate design, with two pillars, the hanging lamp in both cases being a feature. It remains to speak of another type of prayer rug, in which the arch is filled with an elaboration of Persian flower forms, with con- necting stems and buds, the whole springing from a vase, which apparently is raised upon a kind of " billowy " cushioned dais, the vase itself being upon a flat ornamental board. The supports of the arch have the appearance of a divided pineapple, and the flanks of the arch are pierced, the opening being filled with an appropriate ornamental form. This delightful specimen of Oriental Art is one of the rare examples in which no fault can be found. The field of the rug is a dark blue, upon which the Persian ornamental work is thrown into relief, the effect being the scintillation of precious stones from a reflected light, with night for a background ; surrounding this is a similar effect of design, but relieved from the dark field by being upon a rich yellow ground ; the pierced flanks of the arch open to the eye a glimpse of rich red, of much the same tint as the vase already referred to. Finely proportioned and richly coloured and damasked inner and outer border bands enclose the main border, which, of a ripe red tint, is delicately figured with a flower, stem, and leaf treatment of some formality, which, in absolute harmony of both design and colouring, frames the picture. This little gem was No. 1285 in the Marquand Sale, and has already been mentioned as realizing £1400, a sum which is merely nominal when it is considered that no other example of the exact design, colouring, size, and condition is likely to exist. Measuring 2 53 Oriental Carpets 5 feet 5 inches by 3 feet 8 inches, and with 468 knots to the square inch, this little rug contains 1,338,480 hand-tied knots, which, at the rate of one penny per knot, makes the price £5577. Truly the purchaser of this prayer rug purchased in the " lucky minute," and will be wise to keep his treasure for the time when such unique works are appreciated at their real value. In my judgment this particular form of prayer rug had its origin as follows. I have already referred to the Ardebil Carpet having been made for the purpose of screening the tombs of Sheikh Sen and Ismail I. from the common gaze of the faithful. Whether this sup- position is correct or not, I conceive this rich example of Persian Art behind the pillar-supported arch ; the pillars themselves perhaps coloured red, and arabesqued ; the flanks of the arch, coloured gold, with inscriptions, would be relieved from heaviness by being appro- priately pierced, permitting the colours of the carpet to show through, with the arranged symmetry the weaver would doubtless have the art for. With a little stretch of imagination, the vase might be one of those richly enamelled glass vases described in Gustav Schmoranz's Oriental ILnamelled Glass, and might even be a particularly fine example presented to the sacred shrine by Tamerlane, who, in carrying away to Samarkand the art-craftsmen of Damascus, doubt- less also relieved the city of all available specimens of an art he so practically showed his appreciation of. Now it seems to me that it is quite possible that on some occasion or occasions a carpet-weaver of the true artistic instinct must have been struck with the superb effect of this Ardebil Carpet, in all its pristine brilliancy and beauty, being framed behind the pillared arch, with the accessories hinted at, and with his religious enthusiasm fully aroused, lost no time in reproducing an idea, mentally noted at the time, upon which he would work with the concentrated effort of the devotee, determined upon perfection. There are variations of this particular type of prayer rug, and as usual with differences in detail which characterize all Oriental repro- ductions, and in the same way that the hanging lamp of the prayer rugs of this particular class is replaced by a purely ornamental figure of the like suggestion, so the vase in the early Marquand rug is replaced in later examples by ornamental forms, conveying the same meaning, but quite distinct in detail. Chardin deals very fully with the religion of the Persians, and opens his fifth chapter, entitled " Prayer," as follows : " Of all the peoples of the world, the Mahometans, assuredly, pray to God the most assiduously, and with the most fervent zeal." We have nothing 254 Carpets Runners and Rugs to do with Chardin's opinions upon this point, or of the religion of which he speaks ; but there is much of interest in his remarks, especially as to the use of the prayer rug. The Moslem law forbids the use of statuary and paintings of human figures in Mosques ; and the same prohibition applies to chambers in hotels or private houses which are specially devoted to prayer. Of this Chardin writes as follows : " There is one thing of which the Persian takes particular care : it is that there are no repre- sentations of the human form in the places in which they exercise their devotions, this being forbidden by God, and any prayers offered where such figures are to be seen are vain, and devoid of merit." Moslem theologians differ on this point of the imitation of the human form divine, for which, in the Mosques, verses from the Koran are substituted. Some hold that if the figures are incomplete — for instance, with only one eye — they are not strictly images, but grotesques ; which is supposed to evade the penalty of prayers not being heard. Some doctors of the religious laws absolutely forbid any delineation of what has life, under pain of being cast into hell ; others permit pictures of the bodies, but not of the faces, of human beings. Chardin mentions that the Turks, and the Tartars especially, are even stricter than the Persians in the matter of the human form, and that when lodged in the king's houses, which is the custom of the country, they did not scruple to slash with a knife, or scratch out with a nail, the faces of the beautifully gilded and decorated figures which adorn the rooms- — acts of vandalism, Chardin naively remarks, " which are a sure indication that ambassadors have occupied such places." As the prayer rug, both from its associations and from the quaintness and beauty of the designs and colourings, is decidedly the most interesting example of any class of textile fabric, I will deal with the subject at some length, making full use of Chardin's account, although he has little or nothing to say as to its varieties from an artistic point of view, its religious significance engaging all his attention, which is much to be regretted. " For the purpose of their devotions the Persians carry with them, or have brought to them, the small carpet which they make use of solely to say their prayers on. It is only made of straw in the homes of the poor, and with the lower classes of lawyers and ecclesiastics. With the well-to-do it is made of felt or thick cloth, but in the case of the nobility it is of a fine woven fabric. This small carpet is about 4 to 6 feet long, and between 2 and 3 feet broad, and the design generally represents the upper arch of a Mosque, to remind those that make use of it of the sacred Mosque Oriental Carpets at Mecca. They unroll this small carpet, in which there are several articles which they make use of in their devotions ; for instance, their Koran, which is always in its own separate cover, a flat cake of earth, a rosary, a pocket mirror, a comb, and sometimes holy relics, the use of all which will be referred to later. They spread out this small carpet, upon which they prostrate themselves, with the head turned towards Mecca, so that, being abased, they have Mecca in front of them ; this they call making obeisance to the Kaaba, or sacred temple of Mecca, which contains the famous stone supposed to have fallen from paradise with Adam, and which, being preserved at the Deluge, the angel Gabriel brought to Abraham when he was building the Kaaba. It is said that this stone was at first white, but that from constant kissing by the lips of the faithless and impure, it became black." The reason why the devout Persians make use of these " small carpets " (or rugs, as I will now call them) is that they may be able to offer their prayers in natural simplicity and humility. The rugs are specially made to serve this purpose, and presumably to enable them to perform their ablutions and religious observances, without coming in contact with the earth, which might have been defiled, for, failing the use of the rug, they are enjoined to dig up the earth upon which they pray, to make sure that the ground has not been contaminated by any human or animal excretions. It is also com- manded that rich clothes and ornaments should be laid aside, these trappings of earthly vanity and power being deemed likely to inspire pride and arrogance, which are inconsistent with that sense of self- abasement with which a supplicant should address the Deity. It will be recognized that the prayer rug serves as a useful depository of the rich habits and ornaments of which the devotees denude them- selves before beginning their prayers ; further, the ground on which they address their prayers is holy, and is therefore to be honoured, and only walked on with bare feet, or in any case without shoes. When the rug is spread out as already mentioned, the observer of these religious duties sits upon the lower portion of the rug in the attitude of prayer, the heels close together, upon which they let the body rest. Then the articles previously referred to are arranged near one another. Taking the comb and the mirror, the beard is combed, to make sure that there are no impurities within, the face being washed for the same reason ; then moving towards the top of the rug, stopping at the middle, and taking hold of the rosary and the small cake of earth, the beads are told, and the cake of earth is placed exactly in the centre of the rug, under the arch of the Mosque 256 Plate XXII Plate XXII ORIENTAL PRAYER RUG Size 5-10 x 3-10 Warp — 12 knots to the inch Weft — 11 knots to the inch I32 KNOTS TO THE SOJJARE INCH (See Analysis) .. v.i •• • Carpets Runners and Rugs represented in the design. Taking off the neck the purse, contain- ing money, and to which seals are attached, the rings are next drawn from the fingers, and placed near the other articles lying upon the rug. Gold must not be upon the person of the worshipper in any form when offering prayer, as it would make the ceremony null and void ; for this reason the men in Persia never wear gold rings, as, according to their way of thinking, it would be imitating idolaters to do so. All that is worn in the shape of jewellery is in silver ; but, when praying, even this is removed, in order to appear before God in the most abject humility. In the same way, neither sword nor dagger is worn, and soldiers who are unable to remove their arms in order to offer prayer, after assuming the prescribed attitude, hold their weapons in their hands, extending the arms. It has already been remarked that Persians seldom or never wear seals in their rings, the reason being that such seals generally bear their own names, or the names of saints, or those of ancestors, and they regard it as a profanation to wear anything of the sort when relieving nature, or touching what might be regarded as impure. Chardin devotes several pages to minute particulars of every small detail of man's observance of these religious rites, for it must be remembered that women are not allowed to join in public prayers at the Mosques, and must offer their devotions either in their own homes or when no men are present. It would be wearisome to pursue this subject ; but it may be mentioned that of the relics referred to, one consisted of a small piece of the pall covering the tomb of Mahomet ; this being renewed each year, the old one is made use of by the faithful for the purpose already described, the relic, of some black cloth, being deposited with the other articles upon the prayer rug. All the observances here recorded having been fulfilled with religious exactness, the offerers of prayers prostrate themselves upon their rugs, and with the face inclined towards Mecca, the feet placed close together, and the arms hanging by the side, prayers are begun. It may cause surprise that year after year genuine antique Oriental carpets and rugs are offered for sale by the leading carpet houses in this and other countries ; but when it is remembered that carpets almost take the place of shops with the Persian merchant, who in the large bazaars of Ispahan and other cities seat themselves, display their wares, and perhaps hold their title to their position by the space covered by the carpet, and that each father of a family at least has from time immemorial had his prayer rug, the wonder is not so great. I have been informed that two of the largest carpet- 257 17 Oriental Carpets importing houses in the world have agents in the East, who from the various carpet centres purchase each £40,000 worth of Oriental carpets and rugs annually ; at this rate the supply of the genuine antique will in time be exhausted, and even in recent years the supply of the finer examples has become sufficiently limited to cause a con- siderable increase in the cost. Whatever may be said as to the evil results of the Eastern carpet trade having in some directions got into the hands of mere "farmers" of the industry, who use the cheapest materials and aniline dyes of an inferior quality, it can be said, on the other hand, that for whoever wishes to have either a fine reproduction of an antique carpet or rug, or even a fine modern example in design and colour- ing, and will pay the price, it is quite possible to emulate the precedent of Mr. Robert Bell of the Girdlers' Company, and hand down a specimen of Oriental Art which will make his name famous when an ungrateful public has quite forgotten the particular qualities which should have kept his memory green without any such adventitious aid. I can only just refer to three interesting and instructive mono- graphs on the state of the modern carpet industry in India. The first is Carpet-Making in the Punjab, 1 905-1 906, by Mr. C. Latimer, who writes from Delhi, November 10, 1906. A frontispiece to this slim paper-covered book illustrates an " Amritsar Carpet Loom," and a double-page coloured plate at the end of the book illustrates a " Dari Loom " ; the former being a woollen pile carpet, and the latter a pileless cotton fabric. Mr. Latimer deals with all the processes of weaving, and gives particulars of the materials and dyes used, and many statistics, to which I must refer the reader. For my purpose, the most interesting portion of the monograph is the discussion of evidence as to the introduction of carpet-weaving into India, as to which, although the experts as usual disagree, the balance of evidence seems to confirm the tradition of the credit belonging to the great Mogul Emperor Akbar, who procured weavers from Persia and established them at Lahore. " Carpet- making as an Art Industry in the Punjab " is very fairly discussed, the verdict being that " the Punjab carpet at its best is a creditable production, its materials are good, its dyes are fast, its designs appropriate, and its workmanship such that it will wear for genera- tions. At its worst it is none of these things. But even at its best it is a trade product and not a work of art." We can leave Mr. Latimer here ; any attempt to make further use of the vast amount of information he has gathered together would take up too much 258 Carpets Runners and Rugs space, and it would be an injustice to the author to make extracts that might convey a false impression if made use of in any other sense than what it really is, a work for Government information and for the expert. The second monograph is Carpet-Weaving in Bengal, by N. G. Mukerji, Assistant Director of Agriculture, Bengal, and is dated from Calcutta, 1907. The author calls attention to points of manufacture which have intimate bearing upon the quality of the carpets pro- duced. He makes two observations which are well worth the closest consideration by those who wish to give commissions for really fine Oriental work. He opens section 40 with these remarks : " There are now few who will be willing to pay for the cost of a first class carpet like the famous Warangol (Hyderabad) carpet which belongs to Mr. Vincent Robinson, and which was shown in the Indian Section of the South Kensington Museum. This carpet has 400 knots to the square inch, and the patterns on it are so complicated that a change of needle is required for every knot." Section 41 is very significant, and I reproduce it in full : " I saw at Obra a large (9 x 4^ cubits) and to all outward appearance a very good carpet which was made for a rich zamindar, on order, out of a pattern supplied by him, and the weavers had used cotton out of old quilts, aniline dyes, and the pressing of the woof and the pile had been done very lightly. I asked the weavers why they had behaved like this, and their reply was they could not do any better when the price was fixed at Rs. 45. They could have done what was right if they were allowed Rs. 100 as price. If Obra weavers get Rs. 8.8 per square yard they can use new raw materials, Indian dyes, and they can press home the pile, with the woof, while weaving." It cannot be too strongly urged that if reproductions of the fine old Persian designs and colourings are asked for, the conditions upon which they were originally created must be followed as closely as can be arranged nowadays, when weavers willing to weave their whole life into a single carpet are naturally difficult to find. The materials can be procured ; but the enormous demand for wool in multitudinous directions has led to sheep -farming on a large scale, and it is impossible to think that thousands and hundreds of thousands of sheep can receive the specialized attention which the small flocks of fine- fleeced bearers of the choicest carpet wools had, when probably every single animal was known by name, and treated with a consideration which its importance deserved. Vegetable dyes can be procured, equal to the best of ancient days ; but, the demand for them being limited, they are not so easy to procure at a reasonable 259 Oriental Carpets price as formerly, and moreover, their expert use upon the old lines is a greater difficulty still, with the machine methods now so largely in use. The plain fact is that in the palmy days of hand-work in all classes of Art, with the leisurely study of every minute point tending towards perfection, artistic products were for the few and the wealthy. The very essence of modern manufacturing methods is a large and continuous production. Good work and artistic work can be produced, and is produced ; but it is only in very exceptional cases that opportunity of ample time and unlimited price is offered, permitting close study of details. It cannot be said that the falling off in artistic quality is all loss : variety and change are part and parcel of modern life, and in the artistic development of a nation the fact that a thousand can now have constantly before their eyes a very presentable reproduction of a fine old masterpiece, which originally was the exclusive delight of an individual, offers compensation for the fact that the necessity for cheap and speedy production has the inevitable result of some loss of permanency, which, as it means constant replacement, cannot be deplored in the interests of the manufacturing classes and masses. The third and last monograph referred to is by Mr. Henry T. Harris, and is of such importance that some general review of its pages is necessary. Issued from the Government Press, Madras, in 1908, it is the latest publication of its class, and the work has been carried out with a thoroughness which should make it of the greatest use to those practically interested. The title, Monograph on the Carpet Weaving Industry of Southern India, sufficiently explains the scope of the book, which I shall only make use of to illustrate and elucidate certain points which require more light than I have been able to throw upon them. The modestly-named " monograph " is really an exhaustive study of all the essential points of carpet manufacture as practised in this twentieth century, in the direction particularly selected ; and in the endeavour to give some idea of its contents, the difficulty has to be faced of being unfair to the author by quoting too freely from his pages, or of being equally remiss in not presenting my readers with facts which they have a right to expect. An illustrated frontispiece, drawn by Mr. Harris, gives particulars of four different kinds of knots, and is admirably clear as to the method in which this vital part of carpet manufacture is performed. In the opening section, entitled " Some Notes on the History of Oriental Carpets," Mr. Harris writes : " An ancient Jewish legend tells us that Naameh, the sister of Tubal Cain and the 260 Carpets Runners and Rugs daughter of Lamech, invented wool-spinning and cloth-weaving," which goes more than half-way to justify my idea that the origin of the carpet can only be measured by the creation of man. There are quite sufficient references in ancient authors to justify the antiquity of the carpet ; but the time has come to corroborate the various accounts handed down to us, and in this direction the assist- ance of the archaeologist is indispensable. The author in dealing with the introduction of the art of carpet-weaving into India, which he does in connection with various important centres of carpet manufacture, writes as follows : " Few of the ruling chiefs in South India do anything for the support of an industry, which, in its best days, was almost entirely carried on in the interests of Sovereigns, Princes, nobles, and the rich. There is little doubt that Akbar, ' the Great,' brought the art into North India from Persia, and established in Lahore a factory for the making of carpets for himself and his great oomras and feudatories. And, although carpet-weaving evidently came to South India with poor immigrants from Persia, it is reasonable to suppose that for a long time, at any rate, Princes and nobles were the best patrons of the weavers of the South." The reference to " poor immigrants from Persia " agrees very happily with Chardin's comment upon the decadence following the death of Shah Abbas the Great, when " the people began to pass into India," owing to the diminishing prosperity of Persia, which was very marked at the period when Soliman II. succeeded to the throne in 1666. Mr. Alfred Chatterton writes on " Carpet Weaving at Ellore," and has something to say as to jail carpets, the manufacture of which presents so many difficulties, and offers so many openings for bitter controversy, that I prefer to evade the subject here. From a purely common-sense point of view, if the sale of the really fine examples produced in such jails as the one at Yerrowda was regulated not by the cheapness of the labour, but upon the basis of the current commercial value of the fabrics produced, the charge of unfair competition would be largely removed. There should be no difficulty in having the prices of jail goods regulated, if not con- trolled, by recognized experts, both manufacturing and retail, and any possibility of unfairness in the decisions arrived at. Deeply interesting sections are devoted to " The Wool in the Carpet," and " The Spinning of the Wool." The author opens the first-named section with these significant words : " Unlike most other textile materials, such as cotton and silk, wool is not the product of certain latitudes only, but may be said to be a product of 261 17 a Oriental Carpets all parts of the world. Few animals adapt themselves so readily to diversities of climate and pasturage as the sheep, and few are more SUSCEPTIBLE TO IMPROVEMENTS INDUCED BY THE CARE OF MAN AND selection in breeding." The italics and capitals are mine, and are worth the concentrated attention of our future Minister of Commerce. In the huge sheep farms in Australia, some of them dealing with millions of sheep, it is obviously impossible for this close personal care and attention being given to the comparatively small number of sheep required for the carpet industry ; but there is nothing to prevent sufficient encouragement being given to the farmers in the British Isles, and in the Colonies if need be, to make it worth their while to cater specially for what is really quite a separate and distinct demand from that of the great revenue- producing industries. " The Spinning of Wool " is obviously of the greatest importance, especially when the evenness of the thread for the finer classes of carpets is considered ; but the first point is its quality, as to which the following remarks are vital : " The worth of any quantity of wool is determined by carefully observing a number of its physical properties, e.g. softness, fineness, length of staple, waviness, lustre, strength, elasticity, flexibility, colour, and the facility with which it can be dyed." All these virtues can be completely discounted by the use of improper soaps and chemicals in the cleaning processes preparatory to dyeing, the aim being to preserve all the fine natural properties of the wool fibres themselves, while eliminating all impurities which would prejudice the full absorption of the dyes, and the assimilation of their clear and essential tones. In dealing with the " Dyeing of the Wool," Mr. Harris rightly emphasizes the paramount importance of the process, which he gives historical interest to by going back to the year a.d. 1450, when " one Gehan Gobelin," of the famous family of Gobelins of tapestry fame, lived in a poor quarter of Paris, but helped to keep up the family repute, which has survived to the present day. " At Beauvais, Aubusson, and the Savonnerie, the dyeing for a long time had a great deal of the character of old Persian carpet colours, and it was only after nearly a century that French taste began seriously to influence the character of the colouring." At the Gobelins factory each shade is apparently graded into twelve tones, a minuteness of subdivision which may be useful in following the colours of a picture ; but even in tapestry of the legitimate school, let alone carpets of the finest period, such close shading is hardly necessary, when it is remembered that in the ordinary course of wear and exposure to 262 Carpets Runners and Rugs light of varying degrees a further breaking up of the original tones is bound to occur. It is surprising what effects of colour can be obtained by making use of not more than from four to six tones of the same shade ; the variety of tones that can be suggested by the same tone, placed in juxtaposition to contrasting shades, can only be realized by the close examination of the work of a capable artist and colourist, thoroughly familiar with the effect produced when the pile is cut, and inserted in the fabric, for which the colours have been prepared. Mr. Harris has naturally a good deal to say as to aniline dyes, and very little good ; yet he admits there are aniline dyes and aniline dyes ; and as I have already had occasion to mention, when particular care is exercised in their selection, and the best process of using them is consistently observed, it may be said that for machine-made carpets aniline dyes are the inevitable concomitant of the modern requirement for low prices and speedy delivery. In connection with this subject, Mr. Harris writes : " The alizarine and chromo-alizarine colours are many of them quite as fast as, or faster than the old vegetable ones, but their proper use needs a certain amount of skilled training, the possession of exact scales and weights for getting out very minute quantities, and a certain number of fairly pure European drugs." This is a very fair summing up of the case for the best class of aniline dyes, of which Mr. Harris goes on to say : " Many of the best of these colours have not been on the market long enough for one to be able to decide whether their ' ripening,' or fading, is likely to be in the direction of ' softening down,' as is the case with most of the old vegetable colours." Mr. Harris devotes twenty pages to dyeing, and gives some seventy recipes, which should be of the greatest value to the manufacturer, and also to the expert. It is not to the purpose of this volume to go practically into such matters ; sufficient has been said to bring home to those unfamiliar with any carpet-manufacturing process that the production of the masterpieces of Oriental Carpet Art has not been the happy accident of climate, locality, and royal patronage, but is due to the infinite art and knowledge of the weaver, steeped in centuries of tradition. Mr. Harris treats of " Looms, Warping, Weaving, etc. " ; he has a most interesting section devoted to the " Symbolism of the Oriental Carpet," and another on "The Patterning of the Carpet." An " Extract from Monograph on the Woollen Fabric Industry of the Madras Presidency," a " List of Questions, upon the Replies to which some of the Information given in this Monograph is based," 263 Oriental Carpets " Statistics," and an " Appendix " conclude the literary portion of his work, which is almost inexhaustible in its interest. It only remains to mention, among the illustrations, a section of a carpet loom ; a page devoted to " Carpet-weaver's Tools " ; two full pages, with description, illustrating the " Symbolism of the Carpet," consisting of flower, fruit, and emblematic forms ; characteristic border edgings, and narrow dividing bands ; and lastly, 30 plates of carpet and rug designs. I have nothing further to say with regard to the main object of this division, but, before concluding, may as well mention that while signs of age naturally accompany even the best preserved genuine antique carpets and rugs, they are copied so skilfully that it is not safe to rely solely upon them. By constant folding, I have seen a really fine example of a sixteenth-century carpet marked by a series of creases, in the hollows of which the surface pile has entirely dis- appeared ; the same carpet had the worn-out edges bound with silk ribbon ; this is sometimes done by sewing the edge over and over, the colour of the thread used generally being as near as possible to the lost colour. It will be understood that the outside edges of a carpet or rug present the first signs of wear, there being no protection from the effect of the foot treading upon the uneven surface. This binding is easily done to the most modern example, and is an unsafe guide. After continual wear, the surface of a carpet frequently does scant justice to its original design and colouring ; but the back, in which the appearance of the surface colours is shown in uncut pile effect, will sometimes give indications of virtues beneath the accumu- lated dirt of ages, which surprise the purchaser or owner who entrusts it to a capable cleaning process, in which chemicals should be rigidly excluded. Few desiring to become the possessors of fine pictures, tapestries, historical furniture, first editions of the great authors, china and porcelain, violins, and the hundred and one artistic trifles that tempt the amateur collector, would dream of doing more than risk a chance sale in an auction-room, without the guidance of a recognized expert ; or if they did, regret would be the only result, for choice things seldom get out of their class, and are not lost sight of by those whose life interest it is to know all about them, and to keep in touch with them, however often they change hands. The same wise dis- cretion applied to the Oriental Carpet will save much heart-burning, for the amount of precise information even now available will not prevent disappointment to those who think they can rely upon word descriptions and coloured plates, however well done. Constant familiarity with every phase and characteristic of design and colour- 264 Carpets Runners and Rugs ing, and constant actual handling of authentic examples, are the only means of arriving at a sure judgment. The centenary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe seems to be a suit- able occasion to refer to an essay of his, entitled the " Philosophy of Furniture," with which I will conclude this division, not only on account of its general interest, but also because the excerpts selected have some bearing on carpets generally, and on the question of expert judgment. It will not be forgotten that Poe died in 1849, and that the essay from which the following extracts are selected was probably an early magazine article, some seventy or eighty years ago. " In the internal decoration, if not in the external architecture of their residences, the English are supreme. The Italians have but little sentiment beyond marbles and colours. In France, meliora pro- bant deteriora sequuntur — the people are too much a race of gad-abouts to maintain those household proprieties of which, indeed, they have a delicate appreciation, or at least the elements of a proper sense. The Chinese and most of the Eastern races have a warm but in- appropriate fancy. The Scotch are poor decorists. The Dutch have perhaps an indeterminate idea that a curtain is not a cabbage. In Spain they are all curtains — a nation of hangmen. The Russians do not furnish. The Hottentots and Kickapoos are very well in their way. The Yankees alone are preposterous. " Carpets are better understood of late than of ancient days, but we still very frequently err in their patterns and colours. The soul of the apartment is the carpet. From it are deduced not only the hues but the forms of all objects incumbent. A judge at common law may be an ordinary man ; a good judge of a carpet must be 2. genius. Yet we have heard discoursing of carpets, with the air ' d'un mouton qui reve,' fellows who should not and who could not be entrusted with the management of their own moustaches. " Every one knows that a large floor may have a covering of large figures, and that a small one must have a covering of small — yet this is not all the knowledge in the world. " As regards texture, the Saxony is alone admissible. Brussels is the preterpluperfect tense of fashion, and Turkey is taste in its dying agonies. " Touching pattern — a carpet should not be bedizened out like a Riccaree Indian — all red chalk, yellow ochre, and cock's feathers. In brief — distinct grounds, and vivid circular or cycloid figures, of ;zi[i!ff 1,), Hv,V;:'. Joseph Marie Jacquard only those of the adapter, not the inventor ; but this is just as reasonable as it would be to deprive Watt of the merits of his engine, because he did not invent steam. Both men were pioneers in their respective directions, in the sense that they both achieved, for useful and practical results, what had not previous to their efforts been anything more than the far-seeing ideas of a Nicholson, who was the guiding star but " never actually constructed a machine." It has already been remarked that the introduction of the Jacquard machine did not dispense with the operations of dividing the warp, passing the shuttle, and inserting and drawing out the wires ; the first of which until the introduction of the steam-power loom in 1 85 1 was done by foot-treadles, while the other operations were by hand. At first the Jacquard machine was worked by hand ; but an ingenious weaver hit upon the idea of turning the cylinder and raising the lash by means of a foot lever, which remained in use until the whole of the operations of weaving were automatically performed by the loom, which now only requires careful watching to see that the worsted, warp, and weft threads remain taut and unbroken, that the wires do not " skip " and cause imperfect work, that the shuttle does not fly out of its box and groove, and finally that the finished carpet does not get doubled round the spiked roller carrying the fabric on to a movable bar immediately below, from which the finished piece is eventually removed. Even his work is measured for the weaver, who beyond arranging his colours in the frames, tying in his warp, filling his shuttle, and wielding the oil-can, is more or less of an automaton, whose services will doubtless be displaced in the near future by a central bureau in each factory, electrically controlling the operations of each individual loom, in the same way as the torpedoes of modern warfare are trained to perform their diabolical evolutions. In the following table it is presumed that Book Printing and Jacquard Weaving are up-to-date and in full working order: — BOOK PRINTING AND JACQUARD WEAVING Book Printing Jacquard Weaving w A complete assortment of type of any 1x1 The corresponding feature to a fount one particular style is called a " fount," of type is a frame of the coloured and may vary in amount to any ex- worsted threads which form the pile tent, according as it may be required of the carpet. The length of the in large or small quantities. thread wound on each bobbin regu- The different founts of type are lates the length of the fabric to be arranged in cases, the upper cases woven. containing the capitals and other For a five-frame carpet the bobbins types less frequently used ; and the of coloured worsted are arranged in 289 19 Oriental Carpets lower cases containing the smaller letters, stops, numerals, signs, and generally the miscellaneous types con- stantly required, which consequently have to be " handy " for the com- positor. The individual type is a piece of metal about an inch long, the letter or sign to be printed being in relief on one end ; a notch or " nick " upon the lower end of each type bar en- ables the compositor to arrange his types by the feel ; this nick, and the letter or sign, face the compositor, who by constant familiarity and the guiding nick can handle the type right side up or upside down indiffer- ently. The varieties of types the com- positor has to handle is in marked contrast to the single Jacquard stamp- ing punch, which is invariably of one pattern. x The compositor, having his " copy " x before him, arranges the types in a setting-stick, a narrow metal tray, with a thin lower rim the depth of which allows the head of the type to project ; and with a stronger rim on the right-hand side, to resist the pres- sure of a movable bar, regulated by a screw, to enable it to be fixed accord- ing to the width of the page to be set up. The types are arranged in the stick, type by type, and from left to right, the nick facing upwards, so that the matter set up is upside down until transferred to the galley. When the setting-stick is full, the type is transferred to a galley — a brass tray with wooden sides, correspond- ing with the size of the page to be set up — and the operation of transfer- ring the type from setting-stick to galley frame is continued until the galley is full. This galley when filled contains matter in one column, and the types are kept together by means of wedges driven in against the sides. It will be readily understood that, being a flat movable tray, when the type is in position, with the letters upside down, as it comes from the setting-stick, the reversal of the galley 290 five separate frames, one above the other. The top frame generally con- tains the colour forming the ground or main colour of the carpet ; the second frame, the lightest colour ; the third, the darkest ; while the fourth and fifth frames contain the assorted coloured threads which are used in " chintz " effects, and in Oriental colourings when the colouring de- mands variety. The mixed colours are arranged in the lower frames, as being more convenient for the weaver to handle, and arrange his bobbins. The punches used in stamping the cards are plain round bars of steel, the lower end having a groove with sharp edges to cut the card, and the upper end a head, to keep it in the stamping plate, and to offer resistance to the pressure used when the opera- tion of stamping is in progress. The stamper, having her coloured design paper before her, arranges the punches in a perforated metal plate, with handles, which corresponds to the setting-stick. The method of arrang- ing the punches differs entirely from that of setting type ; but the misplace- ment of a single punch causes a defect in design and colouring. The cards to be stamped, which have been numbered 1 and up, according to the length of the design, are placed one by one in a strong metal box with a movable bottom ; a strong hinged plate encloses the card between the two plates, which have perforations corresponding with the stamping-plate. The punches being arranged in the stamping-plate, this is placed immedi- ately over the two plates referred to, a strong metal plate slides over the stamping-box, pressure is exercised by machinery from below, by means of an eccentric wheel ; the card is stamped, and when all are done, they are ready for lacing. It is a curious coincidence that the stamper does her work from the design paper upside down, the number on each card being on the left. When the card is laced, this number is on Joseph Marie Jacquard shows the type ready for printing. A first rough proof is now taken from the type in the galley, by means of a hand-press. A trained proof-reader carefully looks over this to note any errors made by the compositor ; a second or a third proof may be taken in the same way for complicated matter or an exacting author ; and finally a " clean " proof is taken, for the author to overlook and make further suggestions, which each time results in the operation of proof-taking, until each page of matter is perfect. This operation of taking proofs cor- responds with the Jacquard making of trials, dealt with under z. When the author has been at last satisfied, the type is taken from the galleys and arranged in pages. This operation requires the greatest dexterity and nicety in the handling of the two or three thousand separate types making a page, the number, of course, varying according to the size of the book. Any failure to keep the mass of type firmly in hand while transferring from galley to chase re- sults in " printer's pie," the unlucky compositor having to do his work all over again, a penalty little short of being condemned to the " Galleys," from which fact the galley-tray into which the type is placed for proofs takes its name. The pages are finally locked up by means of wedges in the iron chases (French chdsse, a frame) or " formes," also from the French. The basis of calculation for arriving at y the number of pages to be arranged for in the completed book is that the average length of a word is equal to five small " n's " placed together. It will be understood that after averag- ing the author's copy, on the basis of the number of separate words con- tained in the work, a calculation averaging each word as being equal to five small n's gives the resulting size of the book, according to the size of the page. As a matter of interesting com- parison between Book Printing and 291 the right-hand side, and also when placed upon the Jacquard cylinder for weaving. After the whole of the cards re- quired to form the design have been stamped according to number, the stamper's work is ended. The number of cards required for each design as much depends upon the size and length of the pattern as the amount of type depends upon the size of the page and the number of pages in a book. There cannot be less than 4, 6, or 8 cards required to go once round a square, hexagonal, or octa- gonal Jacquard cylinder, while as many as 10,806 cards were required for the Jacquard reproduction of the Ardebil Carpet, illustrated in colour in this volume. The cards being stamped, the lacer has to do her work, which consists in lacing or sewing the cards together in a continuous chain. This at one time was done by hand ; but the same work is now performed by an in- genious machine. The method of preparing the cards for the Jacquard cylinder varies according to the prin- ciple upon which the Jacquard is worked, some cards being "wired," or fastened together by wires, the whole width of the cards required to comprise the full width of the fabric. In other systems, each row of cards (as noted in the next section) is separ- ate and distinct from the others re- quired for the various widths of the fabric. The basis of calculation for arriving at the designed and coloured area of a carpet is the single spot or " cord " of colour, which corresponds with the Oriental hand-knot ; the term " cord " is used whether referring to the warp or to the weft. A row of cords from edge to edge of the width of the fabric is called a " lash " ; the row of similar cords the length of the fabric is called a " course " ; and in calculating area, the number of cords in the lash and course, multiplied together, gives the aggregate cords in the square. For instance, the Ardebil Jacquard repro- Oriental Carpets Carpet -weaving of any description, assuming a page of type of the size of this volume contains 2500 separate type letters per page, this number divided into the number of cords in the Ardebil Jacquard reproduction, viz. 1,383,168, gives a handsome book containing 553 closely-printed pages. To place this comparison on a proper basis, it may be said that the designed, coloured, and stamped pattern, which is revealed to the eye instantaneously, is equal to a thick volume of 553 pages, to arrive at the contents of which the book has to be supported in the hand, and the pages turned over one by one, from begin- ning to end. It is not perhaps to be wondered at that the Orientals, who are not great readers, prefer the luxury of reclining upon a carpet of artistic suggestion, and lazily reading the verses from the Koran woven thereon. In transferring the type from the galleys to the chases, the most important operation is arranging or "imposing" the pages of type, so that when the printed sheets are folded, the numbered pages follow one another in due order, upon which the sequence of the printed matter depends. It will be understood that in the same way that the misplacement of a single type causes a mistake, so the imposing of a page of type in the wrong position upsets the sequence of the pages, necessitating the whole double sheet being printed over again, or if patched, the disturbance of the folded order of the sheets. The type is arranged in the chases, and the sheet folded, according to the size of the book. Bearing in mind that each sheet is printed on both sides, that is, on the inside and the outside of the sheet, the following particulars give some of the standard sizes : — Elephant. — In this size each side of the sheet has only one page printed thereon. An example of this un- usually large size is found in the Vienna Carpet Book, in which the type is arranged in double columns. It will be understood that in the case duction already referred to has 1 801 cords in the length, and 768 in the width, or 1,383,168 cords of colour are required to form the complete carpet, which is equal to the same number of hand-tied knots. Upon the same basis of calculation, if the original Ardebil Carpet were reproduced upon the lines of the smaller carpet above referred to, which measures 15-3 x 6-9, as against the original 34-6 x 17-6, the number of separate cords of colour required to complete the larger size of carpet would be 8,111,334, which, compared with the 33,037,200 hand-tied knots in the Persian masterpiece, offers a useful idea of the fineness of the Oriental fabric, which is four times as fine as the Jacquard masterpiece, of the same design and colouring, whether the size of that illustrated by Plate III, or of the original. The cards having been laced in their proper order, according to the numbers written on each card by the stamper, the chain of cards is taken to the loom, placed round the Jacquard cylinder, and the ends are laced together, forming a continuous row, which auto- matically repeats the pattern, until the fabric is woven the required length. The misplacement of a single card causes a fault in the fabric which can only be rectified if noticed at once, in which case the fabric can be unwoven, the cards unlaced and put in their proper order ; otherwise the portion wrongly woven is completely spoiled. The first operation when the cards are in position on the Jacquard is to make a pattern, which discloses any defect either in the stamping or the lacing of the cards. Unless a serious defect necessitates stamping an entire card afresh, the " corrector," or man who has charge of the card depart- ment, punches a hole by hand where required, or arranges for a blank, to operate the needle, by filling in a hole. The next process is a full pattern to gauge the general effect of the design and colouring ; this generally necessi- tates some slight alteration in the 292 Joseph Marie Jacquard of this and similar books no folding is required. Folio. — Two pages of type appear on each side of the sheet, or four pages on each sheet, which is folded once. The Shakespeare Folio of 1623 well illustrates this size of book. Quarto or ^.to. — Four pages of type appear on each side of the sheet, or eight pages in all. The sheet is folded twice. This and the following sizes are sufficiently familiar. Octavo or 8vo. — In this size there are eight pages of type upon each side of the sheet, or sixteen pages in all. The sheet is folded three times. i6mo. — Sixteen pages of type are printed on each side of the sheet in this size, and the full sheet, printed on both sides, and folded four times, contains thirty-two pages of printed matter. According to a well-known book of reference, the sizes of printing papers range from " Post," measuring 19J x 15! inches, to "Double Royal," having a surface of 40 x 25 inches, so it will be seen that there is latitude in both directions, from a size of book largely exceeding the Elephant referred to in the table, down to one the size of a postage-stamp. An important feature in printing and binding is the " signature," a letter, or figure, printed on each sheet, which not only indicates the number of times the sheet has been folded, and consequently the size of the book, but also affords a sure guide to the sequence of the pages, and would serve, if any author desired, to avoid the aesthetic disfigurement of pages caused by numbering them. Early printed books only bore the " signa- ture," which was therefore of the first importance, and is the only means by which the integrity of an old book can be ascertained, outside the reading matter, which to an amateur in any case is extremely puzzling. After the sheets are printed and folded, as explained, the next process is the binding, previous to which the folded sheets have to be sewn together. 2 93 design, and consequently in the cards, to improve the balance of the design or colouring, or both. A final or "clean" pattern is then woven for careful examination, and if approved, the pattern is passed for weaving goods. As a rule, when a set of cards are on the loom for what is known as " pattern-trying," a number of trials in various effects of colour are made, and the great advantage of the Jacquard system of weaving is that the Jacquard requires no alteration whatever for the process, any new coloured threads required being placed in the frames, the threads passed through the eyelets in the lash cords, during which pro- cess the cards remain upon the cylinder and the whole Jacquard apparatus re- mains untouched. The standard of measurement in Jacquard goods as to width is 9 inches, or a quarter of a yard, 2-4 meaning 18 inches wide; 3-4 — the standard width — 27 inches wide ; 4-4, 36 inches, or 3 feet ; and so on up to 16-4, or 12 feet wide. The number of rows, or chains of cards, depends upon the width of the carpet, as the following table will show : — 2-4 2 rows of cards. 3-4 2 4"4 3 5-4 4 °-4 4 » 7-4 5 8-4 6 9-4 6 16-4 11 „ It will be seen that the same number of rows of cards are required for two different widths, the reason being that " half-cards " are not made use of, it being necessary to have the complete card with the large holes punched at the sides, to fit on the pegs of the Jacquard cylinder, which keeps the chain of cards in position, and helps to turn them over when the cylinder revolves. It will be understood that in a width of fabric requiring several rows 19 a Oriental Carpets There is a correspondence in this to the process of " sewing " or making up a Jacquard carpet, made in various widths. It does not necessarily follow that a printing establishment also does the binding, which indeed is a separate and distinct process, just as much as the making up of a carpet, both re- quiring expert handling. After any particular book is printed, the chases containing the type are stored for the next " edition." This sometimes having an uncomfortable habit of being deferred, in entire dis- regard of the merits of the work, the printer has to wait events with all the patience he can muster, which means keeping " locked up," in a double sense, both his type and his capital. The forty to fifty tons of type a large printing establishment has to "tie up" for an indefinite time is a serious matter for any but a very large concern, in which the resources in all directions are equal to any strain im- posed upon them. It will be understood that when author and printer have given up all hope of a book being in such demand as to require a second edition, a de- cision has to be come to as to break- ing up the type in the chases and "distributing " it, as the term is, after which it can be used again for as many other separate works as may be called for in each particular fount of type. It is hard to fix a limit of durability for type, which, being of metal and "hard-faced," should almost last for ever. The first type cast in England was by William Caslon in 1720, and his famous founts of type are in use now in many directions. John Baskerville of Birmingham (1706- 1775) also cast, and used in the series of works issued by him, a leaner- faced type, which had in its time a great vogue, the first important classical work of the fifty-five printed by him being a fine quarto Virgil, issued in 1757. Baskerville's printing plant was purchased in 1779 by the great French author Beaumarchais, who used it for the first complete edition of cards, the misplacement of an entire row would be fatal ; to guard against this, each row is lettered A and up, to Z if need be ; this letter also shows where each row of cards begins its particular part in the completed design. It will be seen that this card " signature " is of equal importance with the sheet signature in printing. The process of manufacture is the same for carpets woven in breadths, and in one width, without seam, or " seamless," as they are called. When carpets are woven in breadths, the next process is the " making up," or fitting to any particular-sized room, the term for which is " planning," which is either done by a firm exclusively devoted to this class of work, just the same as a binder, or, in the case of the large retail carpet houses, in their own planning - rooms, which require a large unbroken floor space and an expert staff of planners and sewers. Few manufacturers do more than have a sufficient staff* of planners and sewers to oblige customers who do not possess a planning-room. Any large Jacquard carpet manu- factory has anything up to 12,000 sets of paper designs, which can be manu- factured in any of the numerous fabrics which the Jacquard machine will produce. It would be impossible to have all these designs represented by cards for weaving them, for it must be remembered that each body has its border ; and in addition to this, stairs of various widths up to 12 feet wide to "match," as it is called. In the same way, therefore, as the printer has to distribute his type, the Jacquard manufacturer has to destroy his cards, either to make room for new cards or when the cards are worn out by constant use. When once destroyed, the whole process of stamping and lacing has to be gone over again, as already explained. At a rough guess, anything over a hundred tons of stamped cards have to be kept con- stantly in stock, for the repetition of any particular width of any particular design which may be asked for. 294 Joseph Marie Jacquard ot Voltaire's IVorks, which is known from the small German town it was printed at as the Kehl Edition. Issued in 1785, this fine edition of the most remarkable of the French writers was therefore very happily printed by English machines, and from types designed and founded in England by John Baskerville ; and by reason probably of the strong feeling still existing against Voltaire's writ- ings, in spite of his death in 1778, the edition in question was printed at the small town of Kehl in the Duchy of Baden. Thus, very happily, Eng- land, France, and Germany have been associated in literature, and may yet be in other more far-reaching direc- tions, for as "Art has no Nationality," its influence may extend the saying to " Civilization has no Nationality." It only remains to say that both William Caslon and John Baskerville were born in Worcestershire, which therefore has the honour of having produced the first Englishman capable of competing with the foreign type- founders, and the Englishman who not only designed and founded his type, but issued books to the world, one of which Macaulay, speaking of the great Virgil before mentioned, said " was the first of those magnifi- cent editions which went forth to astonish all the librarians of Europe." Incidentally, the county in which Caslon and Baskerville were born adjoins the county in which Shake- speare was born, and for many years lived, and in which he died — as happy a conjunction of events as those re- corded in a previous paragraph. I close this brief account of some of the processes of printing with the assertion that the Carpet, Music, and the Book are the three greatest civilizing forces in the World, and that the greatest of these is the " Word." As a last coincidence between book printing and Jacquard carpet-weaving, in the same way as a printer can vary the matter or " colour " of his page when the type is distributed, so a set of Jacquard cards, when once stamped, can be used for any variety of colour- ing under the sun, which colouring depends entirely upon the arrangement of the bobbins of coloured worsted in the frames. It may not be inappro- priate to record here what is called a " plant " or " plant-slip," which is woven after each colouring of a pattern, whether such pattern is for the pre- liminary pattern only or being made for goods. Obviously this plant-slip cannot be woven before the stamping and lacing of the cards has been done, for which reason it has not been men- tioned before, although it may be recorded here that the frames of colours for producing the first pattern of a new design are arranged by means of a paper plant prepared by the artist. After the completion of each order, whether for bulk or a special quantity for some particular purpose, the last work of the weaver and the Jacquard apparatus is to weave this " plant," which serves as an exact record of the design, colouring, and quality of the pattern or goods it is connected with, particulars of all of which and the date are attached to each slip. The cards have to be stamped for the plant slip, and are placed on the cylinder after the design set of cards have been taken off". The slip shows 3 to 4 inches of the pattern, one lash of the four lower frames, and two lashes to denote the upper or ground frame. Until destroyed from time to time, a million of these " plants " will accumulate, each recording its distinct design, colouring, and quality. Truly a " Garden for the Gods." The block-book marked the transition from the fine old hand- printed and illuminated manuscripts which were produced in com- parative abundance up to the close of the Middle Ages, to the time when the invention of movable type clearly showed types 295 Oriental Carpets fully equal to the best hand-work, and consequently artistically pleasing to the eye and restful to the mind, and, the supply being unlimited, the death-knell of hand-work from a purely utilitarian point of view was sounded once and for all. It is not to be supposed that the art of illumination as an art for the wealthy patron, the natural outlet for the man of genius inclined that way, and perhaps the hobby of the talented amateur, died entirely upon the introduc- tion of printing. The reverse, indeed, in some directions was the case ; but it was " Art for Art's sake," and as usually happens when this is so, there was little room for the practice of the art with those to whom making a living was the first consideration. As an illustration of the fact that true Art can survive the most cruel strokes of fortune, the exquisite work of the famous calligrapher Nicolas Jarry can be mentioned as equalling, if not surpassing, any- thing of the kind done at any period of the art. When the splendid Hamilton pictures, books, and manuscripts were disposed of in 1 883- 1884, the whole collection of manuscripts was purchased by the Prussian Government for the Berlin Museum, for the sum of £70,000, or the exact sum paid by the British Government in 1885 for the Marlborough Raphael, " Ansidei Madonna," and £2000 less than the preposterous ransom by which the Norfolk Holbein, " Princess Christina of Denmark, widow of Francisco Sforza, Duke of Milan," was saved to the nation in June 1909. Amongst the collection which thus passed from this country to the enterprising and artistic nation whose agents never seem to lose an opportunity of acquiring anything unique and priceless, were three small Prayer-Books, written and illuminated by Jarry in 1650, 1652, and 1663. He is spoken of in Bouillet's Dictionnaire Universe! cPHistoire et de Geographie as having been born in Paris towards the year 1620 (date of death unknown), and is described as " Writer and Copier of Music " to King Louis XIV. ; he may also be regarded as the last of the great calligraphists. Reference has already been made to William Blake's drawings to the Book of yob, 1825, and at the same sale at which the volume realized the enormous sum of £5600 (at the sale of original pro- ductions of Blake, the property of the Earl of Crewe, March 30, 1903) were other written and illuminated manuscripts, all exhibiting the unique style of the poet-artist. It is well known that the late William Morris was in his early artistic life attracted by the arts of writing and illumination, as indeed he was by anything medieval ; in the Easter Art Annual of The Art 'Journal, Extra Number, 1899, are three specimens of his work, reproduced by permission of Lady 296 Joseph Marie Jacquard Burne-Jones. These examples bring the art up to the close of the nineteenth century ; but again, charming as it is — and the delightful work of Miss Florence Kingsford for Mr. St. John Hornby's " Ashendene Press " has still to be mentioned — the art has long ceased to be the necessity it was before the introduction of the wood- block and the movable types. The fineness of the dividing-line between handwriting and the first beginnings of the printed book is shown by the fact that there is still a moot point as to whether the wood-block or movable type was responsible for breaking through the traditions of the calligraphist. The probability seems to rest with the wood-block ; but there is so much to be said on both sides, the matter can well be left to experts. After this further mention of the arts of the calligraphist and illuminator, the stage seems to have arrived when a fresh comparison can fairly be drawn between these arts and the art of the Oriental carpet-weaver, of which latter the Ardebil Carpet is a unique illustra- tion, from the fact that in its general style of design it has distinctly the suggestion of having at least been inspired from the Koran, and was very probably designed by the Court artist of the period from one of the fine illuminated manuscripts in the royal collection. In considering the difference in the materials used in exhibiting the respective merits of the arts named, the balance of credit is largely on the side of the carpet, which at every step of its manufacture, as regards texture, design, and colouring, presented difficulties which could only be overcome by a master of all three branches of the art; for even presuming that Maksoud had, as I imagine, a sufficient working guide, the time was far distant when the Jacquard machine relieved the weaver of any anxiety as to design and colouring, and the merit of the finished carpet belongs to Maksoud of Kashan, and Maksoud alone ; the artist's design without the weaver would have been but a manuscript, and it cannot be gainsaid that the merits of the fabric itself have a value quite outside any other artistic considera- tion, while it is the combination of the qualities which raise the carpet above any other of a like class. The arts of the calligraphist and illuminator are essentially feminine ; and in spite of the heroic subjects frequently depicted, the same can be said of tapestry, which irresistibly reminds one of the practice of the art by Homer's Penelope ; and, over two thousand years later, of Queen Mathilde, of Bayeux Tapestry fame. The Aubusson and Savonnerie carpets are distinct of their class, and whatever their merits as fabrics may be, they have little suggestion of the true Oriental designs and colourings. The late Mr. William Morris, in 297 Oriental Carpets spite of his admiration for the fine Persian carpets, and his desire to " make England independent of the East for carpets which may claim to be considered works of art," very strangely made no attempt to emulate the wonderful specimens of the great period of the sixteenth century, up to the death of Shah Abbas in 1628. Mr. Morris issued his Carpet Circular, announcing his intentions with regard to this new outlet for his artistic resources, and his views as to its development, in the year 1880, at which time the very finest examples of Persian and Indian antique carpets could have been obtained at prices which would have shown a much larger profit than his collection of manu- scripts, which I believe realized a very handsome return upon his outlay, when sold after his death. The true Oriental Carpet is vigorous, robust, and of fine-bred strength in texture, design, and colouring, and can claim in all its essential characteristics to be thoroughly masculine. The Jacquard carpet, whether from the inevitable necessity of dealing with the continuous rows of coloured threads, lying upon one another in the series of courses forming the width, or from a serious and scientific study of the fine Oriental carpets, approaches more closely to the true Oriental fabric than any other make of carpet. The preceding division, " Carpets, Runners, and Rugs," having particular reference to the finer grades of Persian and Indian carpets, it may be convenient to refer briefly here to the leading varieties of Jacquard carpets, and at the same time to mention other makes, which, while presenting superficial resemblances, are nevertheless made upon distinctly different principles, as regards the essentials of Design and Colouring. Hand-made Axminster. — The process in this splendid fabric is a mere modification of the Persian method, the worsteds used being actually knotted to the warp threads. This quality, which is as distinct in its manufacture as the old hand-made " finger-rug " quality already referred to, is only again mentioned here to enable the uninitiated to understand better the machine-made Chenille and Royal Axminster fabrics, which will soon be referred to. Brussels Carpets. — I have no information as to when this fabric was first made in the Belgian capital, which gave it a name which it has since held in all the countries of its manufacture. It would undoubtedly precede the cut pile, in the same way as the ancient plaiting would naturally come before any attempt to cut threads, the sufficient bind of which, afterwards, formed one of the great problems to be faced, when the superior effect of the velvet surface was first 298 Joseph Marie Jacquard discovered. Introduced into this country in 1749, there has been no material change in its manufacture, and from its nature, no other method of reproducing the clean firm surface of looped pile threads is likely to be attained. It is to be specially noted that the worsted threads of which the surface is composed are dyed in such quantities of the same colour, that when wound upon bobbins and placed in the frames, each single thread used is of one uniform colour through- out its entire length. This fact necessitates the use of the Jacquard, whereas in printed fabrics each thread is parti-coloured, the design and colouring being formed automatically from a single beam or " frame " of colour, previously printed, the coloured portions of each separate thread being so arranged that the withdrawal of the wire, whether Brussels or Velvet, leaves the exact spot of uniform colour of which the pattern is built up. The quality of a Brussels carpet cannot be judged upon the mere basis of the number of frames of colours of which it is made ; it is quite possible for a carpet of this make of any single colour to be of a much higher grade than the five or six frames to which the fabric is generally confined, on account of the fact that only one of the frames of worsted can appear upon the surface. In explanation of this seeming contradiction, it is obvious that one frame of the finest grade of worsted possible to be introduced to form the pile of any Jacquard fabric, whether Brussels or Velvet, may be superior to five frames of ordinary quality of worsted, only one of which can be drawn to the surface at a time. In the absence of the intertwining which occurs in the rise and fall of the worsted threads in a five-frame carpet, for example (for in proportional degree the same remark applies to a four-, three-, or two-frame carpet), the weft is some- times passed twice across the warp threads in a plain colour Brussels, but even this may not be necessary if the pile is very closely woven, which would naturally present a closer, firmer, wearing surface. These features of the Brussels carpet are more particularly dealt with, as the same principles affect all qualities made by the Jacquard process of weaving. Only a thorough knowledge of all the points affecting quality can be applied to an expert discrimination as to the respective merits of a plain colour, two, three, four, or more frames of colour, which, as far as the scope of this book is concerned, are only of importance as affecting the variety of colouring which in the reproduction of Oriental carpets, with their unlimited variety of colour, is of paramount importance. Wilton Carpets. — First made in France, and introduced into this country in 1745. Excepting the fact that the velvet pile is formed 299 Oriental Carpets by the withdrawal of a wire with a knife at the end, instead of the plain wire which leaves an uncut loop, the general principles upon which this fabric is produced are precisely the same as in Brussels. Saxony Brussels Carpets. — The difference between a Brussels and Wilton worsted and a Saxony worsted is that the former consists of several fine threads, loosely combined to form the single thread of varying thickness according to the quality ; the Saxony thread, which is generally of a thick heavy grade, is twisted together in the form of a string, the several threads of which this " string " is composed, pre- serving its form in Brussels, giving a somewhat coarse knotted surface, of, however, great resisting powers. I have no absolute information as to when this particular class of worsted thread was first used in the manufacture of carpets ; it was, however, probably copied from some of the Oriental fabrics, perhaps the Turkey variety. Saxony Pile Carpets. — Made in precisely the same way as the Brussels variety, the knife-wire cutting the Brussels loops, and forming the pile as in Wilton and kindred qualities of the same manufacture. To appreciate the merits of the Jacquard process of manufacture, it has been necessary to deal with the four distinct makes mentioned, which embrace first in Brussels and Wilton the loosely combined fine threads, which, however, count only as one thread in the colour and design effect, representing one knot in the Oriental carpet, and one " cord," as it is called, in the Jacquard carpet ; and the Saxony Brussels and Saxony Velvet fabrics, in which the closely twisted strands of worsted make a thick heavy quality, in which the characteristic " twist " of the worsted used gives that defined effect to each cord without which many of the Oriental fabrics could not be reproduced. With the unlimited variation in the " pitch " of the Jacquard fabric, the fineness or coarseness of which consists of the number of cords to the square inch ; and the infinite variations in the height of the pile, which is controlled entirely by the wire used, there is no grade of Oriental carpet, or any other fabric, which cannot be successfully imitated ; and this is the distinctive feature of the Jacquard process of manufacture, and in this respect it can be com- pared with first the Oriental carpet, and again with the printing process in which the variety of types used, and the variations in the colours of the inks, correspond with the features of design and colouring in the carpet. Bearing in mind the essential points of first, the Brussels loop and the Velvet cut loop ; secondly, the Brussels and Wilton yarns and the Saxony Brussels and Saxony Velvet yarns ; and thirdly, the plain wire and the knife-wire, which regulate the height and 300 Joseph Marie Jacquard denseness of the surface, the claims that can be made for the Jacquard products as being facile princeps the legitimate successors of the Oriental hand-made fabrics will, I conceive, be readily admitted. Before proceeding to the remaining machine-made fabrics, it is well to say that as the wire regulates the height of the pile, in a manner not requiring further explanation, so the thinness of the blade of the wire regulates the denseness of the pile, the way of the warp, that is, calculated in the length of the carpet. Measured in the width, or the way of the weft, the pile is regulated by the number of threads in the warp ; it is also obvious that the thickness of the worsted materials used has much the same effect as the means above sug- gested, but it is to be kept in mind that if the pitch of the carpet has to be reduced to accommodate them, the thicker the worsteds, the coarser the effects of design and colouring. The marvellous adaptability of the Jacquard method of producing design and colouring at one and the same time is demonstrated by the fact that it is equally applicable to the finest and the coarsest fabrics without in any degree prejudicing its facility in execution and effectiveness in the resulting fabric. The surpassing merits of Jacquard's invention can be summed up in its effective simplicity of construction ; its universal application and adaptability to all classes of Designs, Colourings, and Qualities ; and its capacity for weaving the familiar, convenient, and economical breadth or " piece " fabrics, and the seamless carpet measuring 1 2 feet in width, with equal sure- ness and ease. Tapestry Brussels and Velvet. — Patented in 1832. The worsted threads forming the pile are first wound round a gigantic drum and the colours are then printed on them in such a fashion that when placed upon a beam the full width of the fabric, and woven off upon a loom of tbe same class as the Jacquard loom, the design and colour- ings are automatically formed, without the use of a Jacquard or any other similar machine. The series of worsted bobbins in frames used in the Jacquard process are entirely dispensed with, and as the whole of the worsted used forms the pile, the process is the most economical of its kind. The Brussels and Velvet qualities are made in precisely the same way as in the Jacquard process ; a plain wire, when withdrawn, leaving a loop ; and the knife-wire cutting the loops when drawn out, thus forming the velvet surface. Chenille Axminster. — Patented in 1839, and is exclusively a cut pile fabric. The pile or " fur," as it is called, is woven quite separately from the final process of weaving the finished fabric, during which latter operation the fur is attached to the warp by an ingenious 301 ' Oriental Carpets process, which results in the whole of the worsted being upon the surface. The separate tufts of colour in the fur are woven according to the coloured paper design, and there are no limits to either design or colour. The number of qualities can also be readily varied, and the fabric generally is as attractive in appearance as it is ingenious in the method of its manufacture. Neither Jacquard nor wires are used in this fabric, and the height of the pile is regulated entirely by the height of the coloured tufts forming the fur, which is passed from edge to edge of the warp threads in a shuttle-box, and stroked and pressed by the weaver into position with hand combs. Royal Axminster. — Introduced into England in 1878, and is exclusively a velvet pile fabric. The process of forming the design and colouring is quite distinct from any of the fabrics yet mentioned. Woollen or worsted threads of a Saxony twist, each thread of one continuous colour, are first " set " or arranged upon long bobbins or "spools" the exact width of the fabric. The number of these spools varies according to the length of the design, while the colour and position of each thread on the spool creates the design, which is set up from a paper design, each square of which represents a tuft of the threads, which are cut off as follows. To understand the formation of the surface pile in its full pattern of design and colouring, it is to be understood that each spool has a tin tube attached to it, which may be described as a comb, the teeth of which are hollow. Each separate thread of coloured woollen or worsted is passed through one of these hollow teeth, which are divided from one another, according to the fineness or coarseness of the fabric in course of weaving. The spools with their burden of arranged colours in the hollow-toothed combs are attached to a pair of linked chains, a spring on each side of the spool gripping the chains, which pass over teethed wheels, the said wheels and chains being fixed according to the width of the fabric. A wooden frame- work fixed above the loom supports the chains holding the spools, which pass round wheels fixed immediately above the metal plate over which the warp threads pass. Two metal arms grip each spool as it is carried along by the chains, and dip the teeth of the comb (through each hollow tooth of which the coloured pile threads project) between the warp threads. A comb beneath the warp threads turns up the projecting ends of the threads, still attached to the spools ; another sley-comb with flattened teeth and rounded ends comes up from the back and presses the tufts close up against the row of tufts and the weft threads previously made, and the spool threads are then cut off the requisite length as follows. 302 Joseph Marie Jacquard After the hollow-toothed combs insert the coloured threads of woollen or worsted into the warp threads, and when the ends of these threads are turned up as explained above, a long blade, the width of the fabric (called the " ledger " blade) moves forward and is met by another very slightly rounded blade (the " curved " blade) which with a kind of guillotine motion cuts off the threads, now firmly attached to the warp by the weft, which with motions alter- nating with those already described has done its appointed part. The ledger blade which just clears the sley from behind, and the curved blade which with a corresponding sweeping motion moves forward to meet it over the finished fabric, regulate the height of the pile. No wires are used ; and, as will be understood, the Jacquard has no part in this fabric. Any reasonable variety of quality can be made on this loom ; but the expense of setting the design and colouring, the necessity for the hollow-toothed comb regulating the number of threads in the width, and the fact that each loom can only weave its own particular width — these features in the process, the expense of which can only be reduced by making large quantities of each design and colouring, make it necessary to confine the fabric to a very few standard grades, in which, too, the worsted or woollen threads vary little. The whole process is extremely interesting, and the invention one in which genius has successfully attained a result which, while comparing favourably with any other fabric of its class, has no features in common as regards the way the design and colouring are formed ; in these respects, infinite variety is possible, and the actual effect of the Oriental carpet, even including the appearance of the frequent re-dyeings which vary the same colours, can be obtained in Royal Axminster, as also in Chenille Axminster, but in the latter case by an entirely different process. There is no necessity to refer again to any of these three distinct fabrics, namely, Tapestry Brussels and Velvet, Chenille Axminster, and Royal Axminster, in which the Jacquard machine has no part. The perforating or stamping of the cards, which by means of the Jacquard machine form the design and colouring, being of the greatest importance, it is well to remember that as the misplacement of a single letter causes an error in the printed page, so the mis- placement of a punch in the stamping-plate equally causes a mistake, which has to be " corrected," as the process of filling in one hole and punching another is called. It may serve further to illustrate the importance of the preliminary process of stamping the cards, when comparison is made with the now universally familiar Pianola, 3°3 Oriental Carpets Angelus, and Orchestrelle piano-players. It will be understood that in the perforated rolls used in these instruments a wrongly-perforated hole causes a false note, which is more readily detected than the single false colour cords here and there, which are hardly detected unless completing the outline or colouring of a prominent figure. Imagine the effect of a false letter in printing and a false note in music, and the misplacement of a single punch in stamping the cards for Jacquard's machine will give a sufficient impres- sion that the operation of arranging the punches for stamping the Jacquard cards is just as important in its way as the arranging of the type in producing a printed page of literary matter. It is not perhaps too much nowadays to say that the design and colouring resulting from the use of the stamped cards operating the Jacquard machine are jointly equal to the average literature resulting from the Printer's efforts, and that the association of Jacquard's inven- tion with the art of printing constitutes a claim for consideration which the following necessarily brief and imperfect memoir could not establish outside the manifest results obtained by the use of the "Jacquard," which is synonymous with the man himself. On December 28, 1908, wishing to have the best data for drawing up a short notice of the eminent French inventor, Joseph Marie Jacquard of Lyons, I wrote to the London agent of one of the leading booksellers in Paris, asking for a particular work which, from information obtained at the British Museum, I had reason to think would serve my purpose. Failing in this quarter, and two direct inquiries through an important second-hand book- seller in Paris meeting with a like result, I was compelled, on March 1 1 of this year, to do the best I could with the works on the subject to be found in the British Museum Library. The list of works under the heading "Jacquard" is given at the head of this division, and, having insufficient acquaintance with the German language to justify my consulting the pages of Professor Kohl, I found myself reduced to the two French works on the subject. After waiting about half an hour, the courteous attendant brought me a slim paper-covered booklet, which turned out to be Madame Grandsard's sympathetic little sketch of the great man ; at the same time I was handed my application slip for " Du Saussois — Galerie des hommes utiles — Jacquard," to which was attached a slip bearing the intimation, " This book is at the Binder's ; if it is urgently required, application should be made to the Superintendent of the Reading- Room." Having specially gone up to London for the particular 3°4 Plate XXIV Plate XXIV ORIENTAL INSCRIPTION RUG Size 4.-2 x 3—1 Warp — 17 knots to the inch Weft — 13 knots to the inch 221 KNOTS TO THE SQ.UARE INCH (See Analysis) Joseph Marie Jacquard purpose of consulting the Library upon points rendered necessary by the scanty information obtainable from other sources, and having also to return home at the latest on the following day, I determined to deal with the solitary work at my disposal more thoroughly than would have been possible if any large selection had been available, and I venture to think that the result cannot be regarded as entirely unsatisfactory under the circumstances, here explained for the reason that I do not wish the absence of a number of authorities on the subject to imply that the lack is due to negligence on my part, or as showing a want of appreciation of the interest attaching to a man to whom this country, with so many others, owes a debt which will be hardly paid. Madame Grandsard's little book, only 128 pages of which are devoted to Jacquard, — the remainder (from page 129 to 144) giving a sketch of the life of the eminent French chemist, M. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, — is evidently the work of either a relation or a sympathetic friend, who with good reason might have regretted that the life of a man with such claims upon his nation had received up to the time of her own effort the tribute of only one work, which, if I am fortunate enough to procure it, will, I hope, be printed in full. It is quite gratifying and appropriate to be able to record that the book to which I shall devote the remainder of this division is one of a series of Lives of Architects, Painters, and Artisans " le plus celebre," which include such names as Charlemagne, Pierre d'Aubusson, Christopher Columbus, Napoleon, Michael Angelo, and Raphael, with many others whose classification suggested a consider- able extension of the original scope of the series. I cannot do better than follow Madame Grandsard's pages as closely as possible ; but at the outset I find it necessary to mention that throughout the book there is almost a complete absence of dates ; one at least, the important date of Jacquard's death, being given as August 6, 1834, whereas several other authorities give August 7, 1834, which, I think, can be accepted as final. The absence of dates and the mistake above recorded do not in any degree affect the general character of the particulars given ; the extreme difficulty of accurately recalling such details thirty-five years after the events (for Madame Grandsard's book was published in 1869) sufficiently accounts for slips of the sort. I shall duly acknowledge the information added to Madame Grandsard's account ; but, unless specifically mentioned, the Life which follows must be attributed to her pen, and I here gratefully make my personal acknowledgments, for the kindly record was an unexpected and genuine pleasure. 3°5 20 Oriental Carpets Towards the middle of the last century, there might have been seen in one of the most important factories in Lyons, a boy of from eight to nine years of age, whose puny body hardly seemed capable of enduring the labour imposed upon him. Stooping under the loom, the boy was busily engaged in re- tying the threads as they broke, while the weaver energetically added to the weft, which was growing under his fingers. " Courage, Joseph, courage ! " said the weaver from time to time, in a tone of voice which showed that the poor boy's exertions touched him to the heart. The child summoned up all his strength to continue his task, but an instant after, raised his head towards the weaver, showing his forehead bathed with perspiration, as if he sought to move him by the sight of his weakness. " What can I do for you, my poor boy ? " said the weaver ; " I will tell you : take a quarter of an hour's rest, for you need it ; but I shall have to stop my work, and at the end of the day the time lost will be deducted." " Ah ! I will continue working, father," sighed the child ; " I must help to take mother sufficient money to buy some food, for she is so sad when we want for anything." The father tenderly stroked the long locks of his son, already bending down to his work of re- tying the threads, and this encouragement and applause of his courageous resolution comforted the child for a long time afterwards. The weaver's name was Jean-Charles Jacquard. The Cambridge Modern History throws some light upon the conditions under which the silk factories in Lyons were conducted. Continuing the paragraph, a portion of which is quoted at the head of this division, it says, referring to the Jacquard machine : " It brought no change in the industrial organisation of the Lyons trade. The capitalist maitre fabric ant, more a merchant than a manufacturer, directed the course of business as in the eighteenth century, giving out designs and material to the subordinate maitre owvrier and his journey-men." It can be imagined that with this division of respon- sibility, and the entrusting of essential details, and especially leaving the handing out of materials to subordinates, the opportunities for petty tyranny, if not peculation and making money out of the weavers, would not be neglected. The conditions under which even the skilled working classes laboured in those days quite support the suggestion that any failure in the result of the day's work would be rigorously taken into account, and the scanty earnings possible would not bear any reduction. Madame Antoinette Jacquard had objected to her son working in the mills ; but, the father pointing out that the boy would have 306 Joseph Marie Jacquard to take early to laborious habits, as he had to earn his living with his hands, she gave way and let him go, with the result described. On returning home from this hard day's work, Joseph Marie betrayed by his pale face and worn-out body that he had not the strength to continue in his present position ; and one morning, being unable to rise from his bed, and also suffering excruciating pains in his head, Madame Jacquard announced her intention of endeavouring to apprentice the boy to a bookbinder, in whose employment, she told her husband, skill more than strength was required ; the intelligent Joseph in his new sphere would distinguish himself some day. Joseph liked his new occupation, and progressed so well that in less than three months he was the best workman in the shop, and zeal and energy were rewarded by quite a high salary for his " Happiness is not for this world," as Madame Grandsard expresses it, and Joseph Jacquard soon had to find this out. His father and mother both fell ill, upon which Joseph at once gave up his work to be with his parents, but, presumably owing to his master's kind- ness, was allowed to take work home ; which cheerfully undertaking with his usual activity and interest, he at the same time devoted himself to the task of attending upon his parents. In spite of Joseph's sacrificing exertions, both his parents died, and at the age of sixteen he found himself alone in the world. Four years later, Jacquard (as we shall now call him) gave up his bookbinding, and having saved a little money, invested it in a hat- making business, in which he succeeded beyond his hopes. He married, and in due course had a son, whom he named Charles. It is not surprising, with our later knowledge of his amiable character, to learn from Madame Grandsard that Jacquard was loved and esteemed by his workpeople. Madame Jacquard sold the goods and controlled the workmen, and in the space of four years the pair found themselves well enough off to move into a better house, in which later the little family was installed. In this house Jacquard and his family lived for fifteen years. The Revolution of 1789 came to disturb their happiness, and Jacquard and his wife had the grief of seeing their son Charles enrolled as a soldier. The Bastille was demolished, and the throne of Louis XIV. tottered to its foundations. Jacquard and his wife, overwhelmed by anxiety for their son's safety, neglected their business, to the joy of their rivals, who had envied them for the past twenty years. Madame Jacquard had warned her husband not 307 Oriental Carpets to mix with politics ; but one morning he failed to salute his neighbour Pierre Cotard, who in revenge threatened to denounce him as a " suspect." On August 24, 1793, Lyons was in a state of siege. Jacquard, evidently through the jealous hatred of his rival Pierre Cotard, was denounced, his house burned to the ground, and he himself only saved by allowing kindly neighbours to persuade him to fly. He joined his son Charles at Cambrai, where he was fighting with the Revolutionary army against the Austrians, and for six months the father and son fought side by side in many sanguinary engagements, in which both proved their valour. One day the enemy in stronger force than usual made a general attack upon the French, and Jacquard responding to the cry of " Forward ! " advanced with his son and a young Lyonnais at his side ; both were shot down, and the heart-broken father had the melancholy satisfaction of supporting his dying son, and in receiving from him a pocket-book, to be afterwards handed to the sorrow-stricken mother. The battle in which Charles Jacquard lost his life would probably be when the French were defeated at Caesar's Camp, near Cambrai, by the allied army under the Duke of York, on April 24, 1794. It appears that Jacquard first turned his attention to the machine which bears his name as early as 1790, probably soon after the time when, his son being conscripted, his thoughts were diverted from his business. When his affairs later got into a bad way, and his work- men were reluctantly compelled to leave him one by one, his attention was called to an advertisement in an English newspaper, in which a prize of 50,000 francs was offered for a machine which would weave nets. Jacquard, urged on by the encouragement of his friends and neighbours, and perhaps more still by his own and his wife's necessities (for by this time the death of their only son had wrecked their lives and happiness, and their business was a thing of the past), seriously gave his mind to an endeavour to secure the prize, in which he was apparently unsuccessful, as the net he succeeded in making was thrown aside and almost forgotten. Probably soon after he was declared First Consul on November 10, 1799, Napoleon found time to turn his attention to the industrial resources of the country he doubtless felt he would soon rule over. By some means Jacquard's net-making experiments came to Napoleon's ears, and Jacquard was first commanded to appear before the Prefect of Lyons ; and later, by order of the First Consul, was summoned to Paris, with an arbitrariness which barely left him time to pack his personal belongings, although he found time to 308 Joseph Marie Jacquard write a letter to his wife, in which he expressed confidence in the result of his coming interview with the great man. Napoleon interviewed Jacquard in the presence of Carnot, who at first, with the greatest courtesy, conducted the interrogations, until a little man in a blue uniform, whom Jacquard at first had not particularly noted, came forward, and brusquely took matters into his own hands, questioning Jacquard closely as to the merits of his net- making machine, which he had reconstructed previously by order of the Prefect of Lyons. Evidently satisfied with Jacquard's replies, and perhaps secretly pleased with the ready intelligence and modest confidence displayed by the inventor, Napoleon gave him an allowance of 6000 francs, and installed him in the Conservatoire of Arts and Industries. Jacques de Vaucanson, born of a noble family at Grenoble, in Dauphine, February 24, 1709, had in 1745 invented a loom which, the story goes, Jacquard discovered forgotten and neglected in a hidden corner of the Conservatoire. What stage this invention had arrived at it is impossible to say ; but it is scarcely likely that any practical results had been obtained, or it would surely have not been allowed to lapse, although the Revolution in 1789 was quite sufficient to throw out of gear any industrial or mechanical opera- tions which were not in actual going order. In any case, the following further interview with Napoleon, as related by Madame Grandsard, goes to show that Jacquard acted in perfect honesty, as might have been expected from his character, and justice was doubt- less done to any portion of Vaucanson's invention which Jacquard made use of in perfecting his own. The date is not recorded ; but presumably as soon as Jacquard was given sufficient time to arrive at some practical results from his stay in the Conservatoire, he again met Napoleon, and was afforded the opportunity of explaining the progress he had made. Brushing aside a machine Jacquard had constructed for making shawls, Napoleon proceeded at once to the room in which the more important machine for weaving figured silks was erected for his inspection. Jacquard explained the machine to Napoleon in words to this effect : " This loom, invented by Vaucanson, and perfected by me, is a combination of all the principles of weaving ; it simplifies the weaver's work ; enables him to work like a man, instead of becoming a hunchback, as frequently happens to the Lyons weavers ; and dispenses with the children having to crouch down under the loom, to tie up the broken threads." Jacquard could not have spoken more to the point had he been a diplomatist. Napoleon 309 20 a Oriental Carpets would instantly recognize the advantages resulting from the increased production ; but it is equally certain that the advantage to the physical condition of the weavers, and especially the children, would even more impress the victor of Marengo, who would doubtless have in his mind the potential value of the soldiers that the good city of Lyons could furnish at his command, and with respect to whom sound thews and sinews, and robust constitutions, would be more to the point than even the prosperity he spared no effort to obtain for them, and all the Frenchmen in like case, whom he would later call his own. Napoleon, with the good-nature which he so well knew how to exercise, cordially congratulated Jacquard, and shook him by the hand, saying, " You are a great citizen ; why have you taken up these grand ideas so late in life ? I shall not delay to recompense you for the important service you have rendered to your country. When your loom is finally completed, you can return to Lyons, and I will charge myself with your future." Jacquard's machine was shown at the National Exhibition held in Paris in 1801, and, as already noted, the invention was patented on December 23 of the same year. Jacquard's experience with his fellow-countrymen forms such a curious parallel to that of the Rev. Edmund Cartwright, the English inventor of the power-loom for weaving cotton, that some reference will be made here, not only for the reason above given, but also on account of its general interest. It is, of course, beyond question that by Cartwright's invention many difficulties were cleared out of the way for the carpet loom, and to this extent, as James Watt and Jacquard later joined hands, we can at this point introduce the reputed inventor of the first power-loom. Edmund Cartwright was born at Marnham, Nottinghamshire, in 1743. Educated at Oxford, he obtained the Rectory of Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire, in 1779, where on his glebe-land he made improvements in agriculture. A visit to Arkwright's cotton-spinning mills in Derbyshire directed his attention to the processes of weaving there in operation, and after numerous experiments he produced his first rudely-constructed power-loom, a patent for which was granted on April 4, 1785. Increased experience showing him that much yet remained to be done, he persevered with his idea, and a final patent was taken out on August 1, 1787. Cartwright erected a factory at Doncaster, in which his power-loom was used ; but he met with such determined opposition, and the expense was so great, that he had to abandon it. A mill set up in Manchester with four 310 Joseph Marie Jacquard hundred of his power-looms was burned down ; and it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century that the power-loom came into practical use. It is interesting to add that Cartwright took out a patent in 1790 for combing wool ; and was associated with Robert Fulton in his experiment for applying steam-power to navigation. Cartwright received a grant of £10,000 from the Government in 1809, in recognition of his services to his country, and this he enjoyed until October 30, 1823, when he died at Hastings. Samuel Crompton, who invented the "mule-jenny" in 1779, was also reduced to accepting a Government grant in 1 8 1 2, of the amount of £5000 — a poor recompense for an invention which enriched thousands and provided occupation for millions. The experience of William Lee, the pioneer inventor of industrial automatic machines, was more unhappy still. Said to have been heir to a good estate, Lee matriculated as a Sizar of Christ's College, Cambridge, in May 1579. He subsequently removed to St. John's College in the same University, and obtained his B.A. degree, 1582-83. There is some doubt as to the M.A., which is supposed to have followed in 1586. In 1589, when Curate of Calverton, about five miles from Nottingham, he invented the Stocking Frame, under romantic circumstances which will not bear scrutiny. After vain efforts to obtain a patent for his invention, which was refused by Queen Elizabeth, Lee lost all hope of recognition in his own country, and took his machine to France, on the invitation of Sully, the great Minister of Henry IV., whose name has already been coupled with Colbert's. Misfortune seems to have dogged Lee's footsteps from the very first, for before he could make arrangements to establish his new business the King was assassinated by Ravaillac, May 14, 1 610 ; overcome by this last blow, Lee died the same year in Paris, it is said broken-hearted, and apparently without having derived any benefit from an invention which should at least have secured for him an honourable competence. Jacquard's experience was bitter enough ; but he was saved from the neglect which might otherwise have attended his exertions by the recognition of Napoleon, to whom the very smallest detail affecting the welfare of his subjects and kingdom had sufficient importance to secure his personal attention. In spite, however, of the countenance of the greatest man of his age, Jacquard was accused of intending to ruin the Lyons silk industry, and he was only saved from being thrown into the Rhone by the timely arrival of the city gendarmes. A decree was pronounced, which in the light of present- day knowledge is amusing enough, although it was serious for 3" Oriental Carpets Jacquard at the time ; this sapient decree declared that " the Jacquard machines being more harmful than useful to industry, they should be burned on the public Place." This was accordingly done, on the Place Sathonay, whereon, in 1840, a simple statue was erected to the man who in his day was chiefly instrumental in reviving a decaying industry, and from whose efforts a prosperity which endures to the present day set in. MM. Grand freres, successors of Camille Pernon, manufacturers of rich furniture-covering materials, for four years from the introduc- tion of the Jacquard machine vainly endeavoured to convince the workmen of its merits ; it was not until 1809 that they succeeded in demonstrating its economy in use, and simplicity of action. In 181 2 few of the old-fashioned machines survived in Lyons, Jacquard's invention having been universally adopted, and with only slight modifications in detail the machine in its broad principles remains to this day much the same as when it left the hands of its great inventor. It has already been mentioned that James Watt, apparently in the year of his death, visited Jacquard, and the coincidence of this meeting is too striking to be passed lightly. James Watt in 1765 performed condensation in a separate vessel from the cylinder ; in 1769 he took out his first patent, produced his expansion engine in 1778, and invented his double engine, taking out his first patent for it in 1 78 1. Madame Grandsard gives no date ; but from the account which follows it will be seen that the meeting was in 1 819, or possibly the year before, at which time the inventor of the steam engine would be eighty-two years of age, and the inventor of the Jacquard machine sixty-six. Both were at that time honoured in their respective countries. It is almost incredible to think that James Watt at such an advanced age could have undertaken the fatigue of a journey to Paris, for a steamboat service was not established between Dover and Calais until 1 82 1 ; steam, however, had been used in crossing the Atlantic in 181 8 and 1819, and it is by no means improbable that James Watt's journey to France was undertaken first with the special object of gauging the possibilities of the Channel passage, and that his unique experience in the application of steam-power would be regarded as of such importance as to induce him to take risks which would be amply repaid by the benefits arising to the two countries. Resuming Madame Grandsard's narrative : James Watt visited Jacquard in behalf of the English Government, to make a generous offer for the use of his inventions. Jacquard, recognizing that the 312 Joseph Marie Jacquard economical advantages to be obtained from the application of the machine to the textile industries of France's strongest competitor would be to the disadvantage of his native land, refused all offers. This exhibition of noble disinterestedness and practical patriotism on the part of Jacquard moved Watt profoundly. Refraining from urging the object of his visit, he left Jacquard, warmly expressing the admiration his conduct had inspired. Some weeks after Watt's visit, and in the year 1819, a gendarme called upon Jacquard and handed him a sealed packet, which proved to contain a brevet, entitling him to be known in future as Joseph Marie Jacquard, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Overjoyed by this tardy recognition of his services, Jacquard announced the good news to Madame Jacquard, saying, " Look, my dear wife, they have done me justice at last, since I now have the record Pour avoir bien merite de sa patrie." His wife Marguerite, with a shrewd appreciation of the gratitude of her countrymen, and probably embittered by many years of neglect, reminded Jacquard of the recent visit of the great Englishman, to whom she attributed the conferring of the honour. " True," replied Jacquard sadly, " I know that he is a Member of the Institute of France. Ah I cest done a un Anglais que je dois ce brevet, moi qui eprouvais tant de bonheur a Fattribuer a la reconnaissance de mon pays ! " a sentence the beauty and full meaning of which would be lost in any other language than the original. It is possible that this simple relation may be looked upon as one of the things which ought to have happened, and that it may go the way of other romances which a cold scientific desire for mere accuracy, rather than a real regard for truth, reduces to the bare category of" unproven facts." If this is the case already, or becomes the case, the legend can accompany the equally interesting narratives with regard to Cyrus the Great, and Shah Abbas the Great, in whose company Joseph Marie Jacquard can be safely allowed to remain in the annals of romance, as it is actually closely associated with the great Persian monarch, whose palace carpet factory has furnished many glorious specimens of the art which Jacquard's machine has successfully reproduced, thus playing its part in perpetuating their inimitable designs and colouring, if not even, in some degree, their textures. It is well to record here that Jacquard had for some years enjoyed a pension of £60 a year granted by Napoleon, and also a royalty of £2 for each machine sold, which modest tribute elicited the remark from Napoleon, when he signed the document authorizing it, " Here 3i3 Oriental Carpets at last is a man who is satisfied with very little " — a comment very possibly drawn forth from his experience of the extravagant demands made by those with far less recommendation to his consideration. In addition to this source of income, in 1806 the city of Lyons had granted him a pension of 1000 crowns — a meagre sum ; when twitted about it by some great personage, Jacquard replied that it was all that he required, and that he had not asked for anything. It is not usually the inventor who reaps the fruits of his genius and industry ; it is those who exploit it, and make use of it. Jacquard had ample opportunity of witnessing this. On all sides he saw his fellow-citizens growing rich by means of the largely increased out- put resulting from his invention, and also from its economy in use, while he himself was simply placed beyond actual want and the need for exertion in his old age. Truly he had need of all the philosophy and patriotism he could muster. It is said that when the contrast between his own position and that of the many wealthy men around him whom he had benefited was brought to his notice, he remarked, " At least I have the satisfaction of having been a good citizen, and of conferring benefits on my native town." After Jacquard had received the well-deserved honours already recorded, his wife Marguerite died from a violent attack of fever. Jacquard, prostrated by this blow, realized an investment which he had made from money painfully saved from his scanty resources, and purchasing a small property in the village of Oullins, some three miles from Lyons, installed himself there with his old housekeeper Marie. He tried to distract his attention from troubles by devoting himself to gardening, but with little avail. He endeared himself to the villagers by his kindly disposition, and on occasions was doubtless called upon to gratify the genuine desire for information as to his invention, and also to respond to the mere curiosity of others, to whom the man who had actually conversed with the great Napoleon would be an object of the greatest interest, for it may be noted that the late Emperor of the French had died at St. Helena on May 5, 1 82 1. Jacquard's amiable disposition is shown by the fact that Madame Grandsard thought it worth while to record that on occasions he begged holidays for the schoolboys, whom he enter- tained, it may be supposed, with lavish generosity. After a brief illness, the time came when it was necessary to administer the last sacrament, the day, according to the little book I am making use of, being August 6, 1834, though several independent authorities give it as August 7. It is pleasant to know that his faithful old housekeeper Marie, and probably a relation Denise, were 3H Joseph Marie Jacquard with him when he died. At the good old age of eighty-two, Joseph Marie Jacquard quietly passed away to join the wife and son he had so much loved, whose loss clouded his otherwise happy life. Jacquard was buried at Oullins. The simple tablet in the village church was the first tribute to his memory, and for this reason is worthy of reproduction : A LA MEMOIRE DE JOSEPH-MARIE JACQUARD, MECANICIEN CELEBRE HOMME DE BIEN ET DE GENIE, MORT A OULLINS, DANS SA MAISON, AU SEIN DES CONSOLATIONS RELIGIEUSES. AU NOM DES HABITANTS DE LA COMMUNE HOMMAGE DU CONSEIL MUNICIPAL DONT IL A FAIT PARTIE. The coffin was followed to the grave by a few friends in deep mourning, and by a body of thirty weavers, who probably formed a deputation representative of the leading silk-factories in Lyons. A representative of the Lyons Society of Agriculture and the Useful Arts pronounced the eulogium, from which the following extracts will be of interest. Referring to the fact that, although of a simple, modest, retiring nature, Jacquard was nevertheless one of the most eminent notabilities of European industry, and as well known in London as in Phila- delphia, in St. Petersburg as in Calcutta, the speaker called attention to the fact that by means of Jacquard's wonderful invention, which automatically reproduced the most elaborate design and colour effects while dispensing with superfluous labour, the great and splendid manufactures of industrial France had been extended, developed, perfected, and enriched. Jacquard for years had been allowed to live in his native town unnoticed, overlooked, and neglected, until the discerning eye of the great Emperor Napoleon singled him out, after which all was well with him. Recalling Jacquard's summons to Paris, and his work in the Con- servatoire of Arts and Industries, the speaker picturesquely gave particulars of the circumstance which first turned Jacquard's attention to the machine with which his name is most closely associated — for it must be remembered that he was by no means a man of only one idea. Seeking for inspiration from the numerous models stored away in the Conservatoire Museum, Jacquard at last found the long- 3*5 Oriental Carpets forgotten model of Vaucanson's loom ; and as Correggio, upon seeing for the first time Raphael's frescoes in the Vatican, conscious of his own transcendent but less regarded talents, broke forth with the memorable words, " Anch' io son pittore ! " so Jacquard upon seeing Vaucanson's model exclaimed, " Et moi aussi je suis mecanicien ! " The memory of many a great man, whether king, statesman, soldier, artist, or professor of letters, has been kept alive by means of some simple and easily remembered anecdote, which survives his achievements, and it may be the same with Jacquard. When the aeroplane has quite obliterated the remembrance of the Flying Carpet of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, and the electric automata of the future have rendered the cumbrous inventions of past ages obsolete, it may happen that the image of the middle-aged Jacquard, gazing at Vaucanson's model in the great Conservatoire Museum, Paris, will come to the memory, and perhaps in imagina- tion the half-breathed words of the newly-awakened inventor will again be heard, " Et moi aussi je suis mecanicien ! " Madame Grandsard closes her Life of Jacquard with the mention of the statue raised to his memory on the very Place Sathonay upon which, at the beginning of the century, his models had been publicly burned. A rough lithograph of this monument forms the frontis- piece to her little volume, which records it as being the work of M. Faytier, and that it was inaugurated on August 16, 1840. The only portrait of Jacquard within my knowledge is that painted by Jean Claude Bonnefond, who was born at Lyons, March 27, 1796, and died there June 27, i860. Bonnefond studied in Rome, 1826 ; became Director of the Art School of his native town in 1 83 1 ; and in 1837 was elected a Member of the Academy. His well-known picture of Jacquard, dated 1834, was commissioned by the city of Lyons, and is now in the local Museum. It is of sufficient interest to justify a brief description. Jacquard is repre- sented as seated in an elaborately carved and upholstered chair, dressed in a flowing, open, broad-lapelled coat, with ample white waistcoat, and the collar and stock of the period ; he, of course, has in his buttonhole the ribbon of the Legion of Honour. His right hand, holding a pair of compasses, rests upon a pile of Jacquard cards, some plain and others perforated ; his left hand, holding a handkerchief, lightly rests upon the arm of the chair. On the left- hand side of the picture is to be seen a working model of his machine, with its band of perforated cards wrapped round the cylinder. In the background is a workman's bench, with racks holding gouges and chisels, and above, a shelf with lathe wheels and 316 Joseph Marie Jacquard other implements, the use of which enabled him to achieve his ends. In the foreground the most prominent feature is a large pulley, or perhaps measuring-wheel, which rests against a sley, while below it is a weaver's shuttle ; all these are in relief against a piece of woven stuff, with a figured pattern which undoubtedly was produced by means of the Jacquard machine. The cracked pane in the window is perhaps emblematic of the strikes which accompanied the intro- duction of his invention, while the high tower of the ancient cathedral suggests the city of Lyons. There is a certain sense of incongruity in Jacquard's being in full festive attire while in his workshop, and surrounded with implements which suggest hard work rather than a holiday (this feature is absent from a corresponding picture representing the violin-maker, Stradivarius, under similar conditions) ; the object, however, was doubtless to epitomize his career as a whole, and having been apparently painted in the year of his death, the details represented would depend upon the capacity of the artist to assimilate the word descriptions which were probably his only guide. The picture has been wholly and partially reproduced in woven silk at various times ; the section I am fortunate enough to possess was woven at the Paris International Exhibition, opened April I, 1867. A small oval reproduction from the same picture is to be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington, bearing the legend, " Portrait of J. M. Jacquard, woven by his own Machine " ; presumably near by is a model of the machine itself; and illustrations of both the man and his machine are given in Social 'England, where Jacquard figures among the great textile inventors of the nineteenth century. The birthplace of any man of note is interesting ; but the city of Lyons has historical claims which would make it worthy of mention quite outside the fact of its having had the honour of enrol- ling amongst its great sons the man to whom this division is dedicated. Lyons, the ancient Lugdunum, was founded by the Pro-Consul Munatius Plancus, 43 B.C., and became the capital of Celtic Gaul, or the Lyonnaise. Destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt by Nero. Severus ruined it a.d. 197 ; but it was restored by Constantine. It was the residence of the Kings of Burgundy till the end of the fifth century, and was ravaged by the Saracens in the eighth century. Afterwards governed by its archbishops, feudatories of the German Empire, it was annexed to France in 13 12. The cathedral, built between the twelfth and the fifteenth centuries, is a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with traces of Oriental influence ; the Arch- bishop bears the proud title of " Primate of all the Gauls." 3 J 7 Oriental Carpets Lyons has a University, a Library of 130,000 volumes, and a Museum of Arts and Industries which is unique in France. The second city of France in regard to population and commercial importance, it is the most important centre of silk-weaving in the western world. The birthplace of Germanicus, the Emperors Claudius, Marcus Aurelius, and Caracalla, Lyons can also claim the famous bibliophile Grolier ; the architect Delorme ; the De Jussieus, botanists ; the painter Meissonier ; the famous beauty of the salons, Madame Recamier ; and has also the closest associations with the savant Ampere, and the renowned surgeon Bonnet, known as " Bonnet of Lyons." It remains to mention the name of Joseph Marie Jacquard, inventor and patriot, for not the least of his recommendations to the notice of posterity is that he refused to enrich himself at the expense of his country. I cannot do better than conclude this brief and inadequate sketch by using the words of the small band of mourners who had the privilege of paying the last tributes of respect to the fine old man whose sterling character enabled him to overcome adversity, as it prevented his being spoiled by prosperity : " Adieu, Jacquard, adieu ! " 3i8 ROMANCE ROMANCE THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA From the Entrance Gate (See Analysis) CHAPTER V ROMANCE To the one who watched and wondered that November morning the thing seemed full of sorrow — the sorrow of the man who built it for the woman he loved, and the sorrow of the workmen who died in the building — used up like cattle. And in the face of this sorrow the Taj flushed in the sunlight and was beautiful, after the beauty of a woman who has done no wrong. — Rudyard Kipling. There is probably no building in the world with which romance is so closely associated as it is with the Taj Mahal, Agra, which no traveller seems to have seen without an irresistible desire to indulge in poetical allusions to its extreme beauty under all aspects, and to the pathetic and romantic circumstances amid which it came into being. Sir William Wilson Hunter speaks of it as " the exquisite mausoleum of the Taj Mahal, a dream in marble, ' designed by Titans and finished by jewellers.' " The late Mr. G. W. Steevens thus records his impressions upon a first view of it : "I raised my eyes, and there, on the edge of the ugly prairie, sat a fair white palace with domes and minarets. So exquisite in symmetry, so softly lustrous in tint, it could hardly be substantial, and I all but cried, ' Mirage ! ' " A native writer, Syad Muhammad Latif, from whose book, Agra, Historical and Descriptive, I shall have occasion to quote freely in describing the Taj and its history, gives his impressions as follows : " The sight of the Taj by moonlight is most entrancing. The whole structure appears to sparkle like a diamond in the bright slanting rays ; and the pure white dome, raised on a marble pavement, viewed from a distance, looks like a brilliant pearl on a silvery plate. The decorations on the marble wall seem like so many gems set on an ornament, while the calm stream flowing by its side, coupled with the soft shadow cast around by the trees, adds to the loveliness of the scene. Nothing but a whispering breeze breaks the surrounding calm." Before proceeding to relate in plain narrative form the circum- stances which induced me to be persuaded that as the Taj Mahal is 321 21 Oriental Carpets the finest building of its kind in the world, so it contained, and still may contain, the finest carpet ever produced — which is as emblematic of the famous Mumtaz Mahal as the building itself — I will give some account of the lives of those who directly or indirectly have bearing upon what this chapter has to offer. Timur, or Tamerlane, the great Tartar conqueror, invaded India in 1398 ; but, after nameless atrocities, returned to his own kingdom in 1399, leaving few traces of his power, except desolated cities. In the person of Babar, Timur left a descendant who, invading India in 1526, after the memorable battle of Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, in 1527, firmly established his authority, and founded the great Mogul dynasty, which, with the unlimited wealth it commanded, held the most splendid court in Asia until the close of the eighteenth century. Babar died at Agra, at the early age of forty-eight. His eldest son, Humayun, succeeded him, and married a girl of exquisite beauty, Hamida Bano, in 1541. Akbar, their first child, came into the world, amid the most romantic circumstances, on October 15,1 542, at Amarkot, on the edge of the deserts of Marwar, whither Humayun had been compelled to fly, driven by the inhospitality of Mai Deo, Rajah of Jodhpur. Akbar, dying in the Fort of Agra on October 13, 1605, left the way open to his son Salem, who was crowned the same year, under the pompous title of Nur-ud-din Jahangir, " Conqueror of the World." The beautiful woman known as Nur Mahal, the " Light of the Palace," and later, on her marriage with Jahangir, as " Nur Jahan," the " Light of the World," had first been married to a brave soldier, Sher Afgan, who was put out of the way on his refusal to divorce his wife to enable Jahangir to marry her on his coming to the throne. The part of the palace where Nur Mahal spent the greater portion of her life still stands at Agra, and is known as the Jasmine Bower. Here Jahangir had first loved her ; but after the death of her husband he neglected her for four years before, chancing to meet her accidentally in the palace, his old love returned in full force, and he threw round her neck a chain of forty pearls which he wore. Nur Mahal was removed to the imperial quarters, and became Jahangir's favourite queen, to be known as long as history endures as Nur Jahan, the noble woman who for twenty years in ruling her husband ruled his kingdom and his fortunes. In the light of the artistic influences which doubtless went largely to form the tastes of her step-son Shah Jahan, it is well to quote the words of the native author referred to, which throw light upon the main incidents of this chapter. Referring to the period 322 Romance of her widowhood, he writes : " Nur Mahal had adorned these chambers with extraordinary splendour and magnificence. All the designs were her own, and the workmanship was by the hands of her own female slaves, under her personal direction. All the ladies of the harem consulted her in matters of jewellery and the painting of silk, and she introduced quite novel styles and fashions into the court. The seraglio resounded with her charms and talents." The artist and poet Shah Jahan, on the death of Jahangir on October 12, 1627, finally overcame the difficulties placed in the way of his accession, for which Nur Jahan was partly responsible, and in 1628 firmly seated himself upon the throne, and began a reign which, shadowed very soon after by the death of his favourite wife, the famous Mumtaz Mahal, nevertheless proved glorious from the exercise of the consummate taste and judgment which he had derived from his step-mother Nur Jahan, whose power upon his accession was at an end, although, to his credit be it noted when considering the general ruthlessness with which difficulties are removed in Eastern countries, Shah Jahan allowed her to retire into private life with a liberal pension, which bears testimony to the influence she had exercised for good during her long reign. Premising that the late Empress Nur Jahan, although " born in great poverty, was of a noble Persian family, and that her beauty won the love of Jahangir while they were both in their first youth, during the reign of Akbar," as stated by Sir W. W. Hunter in his Brief History of the Indian Peoples, I will quote verbatim from Mr. Latif, as giving the best account of Mumtaz Mahal, the woman who, beautiful herself, gave the inspiration which resulted in a building which has all the characteristics of the beautiful woman of any nationality — an elusive " something " which cannot be subjected to the cold-blooded dissection of the surgeon ; which defies the analysis of the scientific formulist ; and which, if appraised by an individual examination of the several features and members going to make the perfect whole, would reveal defects which are a constant joy to rivals, who " really can see nothing beautiful in her." Mrs. Flora Annie Steel, in India through the Ages, in describing the Taj Mahal, puts the matter concisely thus : " Perhaps the most bewildering thing about its beauty is the impossibility of saying wherein that beauty lies. Colour of stone, purity of outline, faultlessness of form, delicacy of decoration — all these are here ; but they are also in many a building from which the eye turns — and turns to forget. But once seen, the Taj— whether seen with approval or disapproval — is never forgotten." To return to Mr. Latif and Mumtaz Mahal : " Arjumand Bano 3 2 3 Oriental Carpets Begam, surnamed Mumtaz-uz-Zamani, or Mumtaz Mahal, was the daughter of Mirza Abul Hasan Asif Khan, or Asif Jah, the son of MirzaGhiasBeg Itimad-ud-daula, whose daughter, Nurjahan, was the wife of Jahangir. She was thus niece to Nurjahan, the step-mother of Shah Jahan. As the aunt was famous for her surpassing beauty and accomplishments, so was the niece ; as Nur Jahan had fascinated the libertine Jahangir with her charms, so Mumtaz subdued the stern Shah Jahan with her loveliness. Both in their turn exercised great influence over their lords and husbands. "Jahangir betrothed Mumtaz-uz-Zamani to Shah Jahan when the latter was fifteen years and eight months old. After the expiry of five years and three months, while Shah Jahan was twenty years and eleven months old, he was married to Mumtaz. The bride, at the time of marriage, was nineteen years, eight months, and nine days old. The marriage took place on the night of Friday, the 9th of Rabi ul-Awal, a.h. 1021 (a.d. 16 12). The affectionate royal father, at a propitious moment, bound the wreath of pearls to the turban of the bridegroom with his own hands. The nuptials took place in the palace of Itimad-ud-daula, the Emperor Jahangir gracing the occasion with his presence. The dowry was fixed at five lakhs of rupees. The couple remained on terms of deep affection throughout their lives." Could anything be more charming than this description of the betrothal and wedding of the lovely girl, whose attractions so well preluded the account of her marriage ? The precision of the details as to age, the date of the happy event, all give evidence of the minute exactness of the native mind ; but on this occasion at least I venture to think that not the smallest particular could be omitted without prejudicing the naiveness of the whole narrative. Mr. Latif proceeds : " His Majesty was so much attached to Mumtaz-uz-Zamani, that she was his inseparable companion, and he could not part with her even when engaged in military expeditions in remote parts of India such as the Deccan. What she wanted was never refused. She, in particular, acquired great fame for obtaining the free pardon of persons sentenced to undergo the extreme penalty of the law, and many whom she, out of compassion, recommended for the exercise of the King's prerogative, owed their life to her. " Shah Jahan had fourteen children by Mumtaz-uz-Zamani, of whom eight were sons and six daughters ; of these seven were alive at the time of the Empress's death." Following upon this sentence, Mr. Latif records with the utmost exactness the full sex, name, and date of birth of each of the fourteen children, in some cases even 324 Romance giving the day of the month. It was in giving birth to her last child that the Empress died ; this gives reason for reproducing the full wording of the record referred to, which can be taken as an example of the other entries : 14. — Gauhar Ara Begam (daughter), the last issue, born on the night of Wednesday, the 17th of Zika-ad, a.h. 1040 (a.d. 1630), in Burhanpur. "The entire court went into mourning. His Majesty put on white robes, and the Princes Royal, the grandees of the realm and officials and servants of state dressed themselves in mourning costume. Mumtaz-uz-Zamani, at the time of her death, was thirty-nine years, four months, and four days old. The poet Bebadal Khan found the date of her death in the hemistich : May paradise be the abode of Mumtaz Mahal." The above gives the date a.h. 1040 (a.d. 1630). After recording the arrangements made for the temporary inter- ment of the late Empress, during the completion of the final mausoleum, Mr. Latif continues : " The building of the Taj was commenced in 1630, or one year after the death of Mumtaz Mahal. The date of the completion of the building, inscribed on the front gateway, is 1057 (1648). It thus took eighteen years to complete. The cost was three millions sterling." In a footnote to this state- ment it is mentioned, " According to Tavernier, twenty-two years, which, no doubt, includes the period of the construction of the buildings attached to the Taj, the Caravan Serae, etc." The usual time assigned for the completion of the building is twenty-two years, and it is generally added that 20,000 workmen were continually employed in its construction. Mr. Latif s full account of the preliminary sketch of the lives of Shah Jahan and his Empress, with the very full particulars as to the building itself, runs to over 23 pages, and I must refer the reader to the book itself, which is not only of the greatest possible interest from the searching light thrown upon every aspect of the building, in its actual creation, and the romance attached to almost every stone of which it is constructed ; but also as being the work of a native gentleman of rank and position, it affords instructive insight into the minds of the native classes, to whom more and more the actual detail of the government of the great Indian Empire is being entrusted. It is necessary to my purpose to reproduce two further passages from Mr. Latif, and I wish to draw particular attention to them, as 325 21 a Oriental Carpets they have intimate bearing upon the information given to me some twenty-two years before the book I now quote from came into my possession. I merely mention as a curious coincidence that the period named agrees exactly with the period taken in building the Taj, and it will be found that the wonderful carpet to which I shall shortly refer took just two years less in the making, or twenty years, which again is just over the age of Mumtaz Mahal when she married Shah Jahan, and began her new life as wife and Empress of the man she loved, and who, sad to relate, in after years ended his life as the prisoner of the son who, the sixth pledge of their mutual affection, is a sufficiently significant factor from my point of view to cause me to refer again to Mr. Latifs chronology, and copy the following entry : — 6. — Mohammad Aurangzeb (son), born on the night of Saturday, the 15th of Zikad, a.h. 1027 (a.d. 161 7). Under the heading of" Tavernier's Account of the Building," Mr. Latif writes : " I witnessed," says Tavernier, " the commencement and accom- plishment of this great work, on which they have expended twenty- two years, during which twenty thousand men worked incessantly ; this is sufficient to enable one to realize that the cost of it has been enormous. It is said that the scaffoldings alone cost more than the entire work, because, from want of wood, they had all to be made of brick, as well as the supports of the arches ; this entailed much labour and a heavy expenditure. Shah Jahan began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river, but the war which he had with his sons interrupted his plans, and Aurangzeb, who reigns at present, is not disposed to complete it. A eunuch in command of 2000 men guards both the tombs of Begam and the Tasemacan, to which it is near at hand." The italics are mine, with the intention of emphasizing the practice which evidently ruled under Aurangzeb of carefully guarding the entrance and approaches to the tombs, which included that or Shah Jahan himself, which, be it noted, was only divided from the Taj by the river Jumna, which, taking a broad sweep round the Fort of Agra, is less than 300 yards from bank to bank, immediately opposite the enclosure surrounding the Taj, one corner of which abuts upon the river-bank. The second passage referred to reads as follows : " Whenever the King was in the metropolis, he attended the anniversary of his Queen in the company of his affectionate daughter, the Begam Sahib, and the ladies of the harem. The ladies occupied the central platform, 326 Romance being concealed from the public gaze by kanats, or screens of red cloth and velvet, while the Amirs assembled under shamianas which were pitched for the occasion. The fixed sum of rupees fifty thousand was on each occasion distributed in alms, half on the day of the anniversary and half on the following day. People assembled on the occasion of the anniversary from all parts of India." The end of Shah Jahan's career is soon told. He was seized with a dangerous illness in 1657, and his eldest son, Dara, was entrusted with the administration of the government ; but Aurangzeb, securing the aid of his brother Murad by stratagem, marched upon Agra, and in the battle of Samagarhat, at which point the two armies met, Dara was totally defeated in June 1658. Three days after the battle, Aurangzeb marched to Agra, and, awaiting his opportunity, eventually seized the person of the old Emperor, and kept him confined in one of the small palaces within the Fort of Agra until his death. Mr. Latif records that " Shah Jahan continued to live in regal state in Agra for seven years, and died in the Fort of Agra, December 1666. He had lived seventy-six years and reigned for thirty-one." Mr. Steevens, in his book In India, from which I have already quoted, thus records Shah Jahan's last moments : " Being grown very feeble, he begged to be laid in a chamber of the palace wherefrom he could see the Taj Mahal. This was granted him, so that he died with his eyes upon the tomb of the love of his youth." This may seem a lengthy prelude to a narrative which must of necessity be longer still ; but it has appeared to me absolutely necessary that some outline of the actual circumstances attending the conception and building of the Taj should be in the minds of readers before offering the particulars which can only have claim for credence on the basis of the personality of the Emperor Shah Jahan himself. The influence of his talented and artistic step-mother, the beautiful Nur Jahan, must have permeated his life until he came to the throne ; and it must not be forgotten that her niece, Mumtaz Mahal, could not have failed to keep upon the closest terms with a relation who, as the favourite wife of the ruling Emperor, Jahangir, could have made or marred her at any moment. Thus, himself a poet, artistic by nature, and influenced by the two most beautiful and clever women of their day, there are quite sufficient grounds for imagining that Shah Jahan would not stoop to the commonplaces of life, but with some of the eccentricity of genius followed up the inspiration which resulted in a building which is admittedly a masterpiece of poetical and imaginative conception, by an effort in an equally artistic direction, in which he intended to preserve for 3 2 7 Oriental Carpets his sole and exclusive gratification and solace the living presentment of the wife whom, whatever his later irregularities may have been, he never ceased to love and regret. It was my good fortune to be a passenger on the old Peninsular and Oriental s.s. Sutlej when she called at Bombay on her way home in September 1S86, and, having ten days to look around, I naturally endeavoured to make the best use of the opportunity. Passengers familiar with India had advised me to visit Agra, Delhi, and Jeypore, as the most representative cities within reasonable distance ; but tailing to find any companion willing to risk missing the boat with so short a time available, and also finding that the monotony of the long railway journeys would discount the pleasure to be derived from such a hastv look round, 1 decided to confine my attention to what was to be seen in and near Bombay, and then to visit Poona, which was truly enough described as being of some historical interest, and particularly agreeable at the time of year of which I am speaking. Having duly driven round Malabar Hill, admired the fine Rajabai Tower and the splendid and imposing buildings to be seen by the Esplanade, on the first day available for sight-seeing, I allowed myselt to be persuaded next day to visit the Elephanta Caves, near Bombay, which are sufficiently interesting to make some slight reference here excusable. Elephanta Island is reached by launch from Bombay : so, leaving the Apollo Bunder early one morning, a small party of passengers undertook the seven-mile run, with some curiosity aroused bv tales of the unusual nature of the sculptures to be seen. I must confess that, after overcoming a certain amount of awe, caused bv a knowledge that the caves dated back to the middle of the eighth or early in the ninth century, and that religious rites of a verv extra- ordinary character were carried on, in which the worship ot the female form divine was a conspicuous teature, I was only impressed bv the gloomv recesses of the immense caves, and the wonderful grotesque carving of the supporting pillars and of the figures which covered the walls in places. As the figure carvings introduce some of the leading deities of the Hindu Mythology, I will briefly refer to some of them: it is impossible to have a proper appreciation of the numerous temples to be found throughout India and Ceylon without some knowledge of the figures represented in the sculptures with which they are freely adorned. Borrowing from the Rev. \Y. J. Wilkins's HinJu Mytholcg} . I find that Brahma is the first of the three great Hindu gods, and is called the Creator, the rather of gods and men, and the lord of creatures. Vishnu, the Preserver, is the second person ot the Hindu 3*8 Romance Triad ; but, although called tbe second, he must not be regarded as in any way inferior to Brahma. Krishna may here be mentioned as the most interesting incarnation of Vishnu, on account of the opportunity it affords to trace in Hindu antiquity the gradual transformation of mortal heroes into representatives of a god, and on account of the numerous legends connected with it. The Elephanta sculptures are largely devoted to the representation of the third person in the triology, Siva, the Destroyer, to whom, therefore, special attention will here be paid. As Brahma was the Creator and Vishnu the Preserver, in order to complete the system, as all things are subject to decay, a Destroyer was necessary ; and destruction is regarded as the peculiar work of Siva. It must be remembered, however, that according to the teaching of Hinduism, death is not death in the sense of passing into non-existence, but simply a change into a new form of life. He who destroys, therefore, causes beings to assume new phases of existence — the Destroyer is really a re-Creator. Hence the name Siva, the Bright or Happy One, is given to him, which would not have been the case had he been regarded as the destroyer in the ordinary meaning of that term. In illustration of these apparently contradictory attributes, Siva in the Elephanta sculptures is represented as Brahma, the Creator, in mild and peaceful character, holding a citron ; as Rudra, the Destroyer, with an oval swelling above the nose, representing a third eye ; and as Vishnu, the Preserver, holding a lotus rlower in his hand. In one of the caves is to be seen a gigantic figure, half male, half female, representing Ardhanarishwara, the deity that combines the active or manlike attributes of Siva and the passive or womanlike attributes of Parvati, his wife. Indra, god of the firmament, in whose hands are thunder and lightning, at whose command refreshing- showers fall to render the earth fruitful, is represented ; and it is not surprising that, with the powers at his command, he is one of the most popular of the deities. It only remains to add Ganesha, the Indian god of Wisdom, who corresponds with the Janus of the Latins. He is also spoken of as the god of Prudence and Policy, and is the reputed eldest son of Siva and Parvati. Although not represented in the Elephanta sculptures, I take the opportunity here of again referring to Agni, the god of Fire, and one of the most prominent deities of the Vedas. In pictures he is shown as a red man, having three legs and seven arms, dark eyes, eyebrows, and hair. He rides on a ram, and wears a poita (Brah- man ical thread) and a garland of fruit. Agni is an immortal ; the lord, protector, king of men. He is the lord of the house, dwelling 3 2 9 Oriental Carpets in every abode. He is a guest in every home ; he despises no man ; he lives in every family. It is impossible to avoid being struck by the suggestion of a similarity between Jason of the Golden Fleece, the demi-god of Carpets, or the Patron of Carpets, and Agni, whose attributes of benevolence in the home might equally be regarded as associated with the domestic carpet, which being always present in a room, the following continuation of his functions is peculiarly appropriate. " He is considered as a mediator between gods and men, and as a witness of their actions ; hence to the present day he is worshipped, and his blessing sought on all solemn occasions, as at marriage, death, etc." The name Agni, and the ram upon which he is represented as riding, give point to the comparison made above, and it would be interesting to ascertain the connection, if it exists, between the ancient Greek hero of the Argonautic Expedition of 1263 B.C., and the Hindu God of the Vedas, described by Sir W. W. Hunter as " the Youngest of the Gods," " the Lord and Giver of Wealth." It may be mentioned that, according to one authority, the " Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindoos, were probably written about the sixth or seventh century b.c." The next day — to be as precise as Mr. Latif, on Thursday, September 30, 1886 — I accompanied some friends to what stands for the Bombay Museum, the School of Art, known in full as the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art, which was opened in 1857. The students are instructed in wood-carving, decorative painting, architectural sculpture, ornamental sculpture, and kindred crafts. The Lord Reay Art Workshops are situated in the grounds of the Museum. Within the main building a small collection of paint- ings gave promise of a Picture Gallery which would be worthy of the great city. I give these particulars because it was here that the first link in the chain of suggested evidence was forged, which led me to make inquiries as to the existence of Palace Carpets, resulting in the romance of the Mumtaz Mahal Carpet, which largely influenced me in compiling this book, with the object of obtaining information such as would enable me later to pursue inquiries upon the spot, which seems to be the only means of arriving at a final solution of the mystery surrounding the whole subject. Suspended from one of the galleries of the main building above described was a very fine Oriental carpet — fine as regards design, colouring, and texture ; upon inquiry, I found it had been manu- factured at the Yerrowda Jail, near Poona. Struck with the merits of the carpet, I entered into conversation with the kindly Director 33° Romance of the institute, with the object of ascertaining if by any chance I could witness the general details of an industry which would be of the greatest possible interest to me. After being informed that there was nothing to be seen in the way of the finer qualities of carpet-manufacture nearer than Poona, and also upon assurance that I should have no difficulty in obtaining permission to inspect the Yerrowda Jail, where carpet-making was carried on by the prisoners, I turned my attention to general inquiries as to anything fine to be seen in Carpets particularly, the possibility of specimens rivalling the fine Persian examples with which I had some familiarity naturally entering into my mind. With some reason I imagined that the finest specimens would be made for the palaces of the native rulers, and the Taj Mahal was uppermost in my mind from having been told that, whatever I omitted to see, the Taj was one thing which no one visiting India should leave without at least one visit ; unfortunately, this was quite impossible, and I had to be contented with what information I could obtain from close inquiry, while photographs, of which two illustrate this division, would have to suffice in satisfying the eye. The very courteous Director, who could hardly conceal his amusement at the pertinacity of my questions, soon informed me that the collections of the great Rajahs would not be opened to a stranger without a strong recommendation from a personal friend, or through an official source, and that, while undoubtedly carpets of the highest artistic merit would be in use in the palaces in occupation, they would not be found in such buildings as the Taj Mahal, only used for the particular purpose for which they were built. I pursued my inquiries with the view of ascertaining whether it was probable that when the Taj was completed, and during Shah Jahan's lifetime, there would not have been some conveniences in the shape of carpets, cushions, hangings, etc., for occasions when he might probably spend some days in silent meditation — upon anniversaries of his Queen's death, or when religious festivals were held. The reply was that the palaces within the Fort of Agra, which was sufficiently within distance of the Taj, could provide all that was necessary upon any occasion likely to arise. Not satisfied with the negative information I had hitherto received, and unwilling to relinquish the chance of obtaining inside information, which later might be useful, I next inquired if any portrait existed of the beautiful woman to whom such a superb shrine had been erected. The answer was that the customs of the country and the religion forbade the representation of the female form ; 33i Oriental Carpets and the Director added that as far as he was aware no picture of Mumtaz Mahal existed, or ever did exist, and that if any likeness had ever been executed by the express orders of Shah Jahan, it would certainly be for his eye alone, and that it would probably be destroyed at his death. This naturally led to inquiry as to any secret rooms in the Taj which might be used to preserve any personal relics of the Queen he had loved so much, and which also might be used as a kind of memorial chamber, in which the portrait would be a conspicuous feature. Having had no previous acquaint- ance with Indian or Oriental life, I am afraid I had visions of some- thing approaching a modern European Gallery, or of such a room as the one in the Doria Gallery, Rome, which is devoted exclusively to the display of the superb portrait of Pope Innocent X., by Velasquez, already referred to. I was speedily informed that anything in the shape of picture galleries would most likely be in the shape of frescoes painted upon the walls, and that certainly nothing of a personal nature, such as portraits of sovereign rulers and their families, would be displayed in any way which would under any possible circumstances bring them under the gaze of the public eye, let alone that of any foreigner. Having probably some sympathy over the barren results from my string of questions, and willing to afford me some satisfac- tion, the Director (I never ascertained his name) informed me that some years previously he had shown a remote descendant of Shah Jahan's family over the school, and the conversation turned on the secret chambers which were built in most if not all of the native palaces, probably for the same reason that many old mansions in this country had refuges from religious persecutions. A reason for such sources of safety, in which a turn of events might restore a fugitive to power, could not better be illustrated than in the fate of Shah Jahan himself, who when all his sons, with the sole exception of Dara, rebelled against him, remained for seven years a close prisoner. Shah Jahan's chances of recovering his throne, however, were from the first thwarted by the extraordinary apathy of his former subjects, which the traveller Bernier, who was at the time of Aurangzeb's usurpation (a.d. 1658) in Agra, remarked upon, expressing his surprise as follows : " I can indeed scarcely repress my indignation when I reflect that there was not a single movement, nor even a voice heard, in behalf of the aged and injured monarch." The close- ness with which Shah Jahan was kept in confinement is shown by the fact that shortly before his death, when he wished to see new Delhi, which had not even then reached completion, Aurangzeb, 332 Romance fearing lest the appearance of the aged King on an elephant might cause excitement among the people and raise a party in his favour, consented to gratify his father's wish only on condition that the journey to Delhi was made by boat, the return journey to Agra being made in the same way — a proposition which Shah Jahan indignantly refused. Before leaving my friend the Director, to whom I here tender my thanks, I invited him to repeat the information last given, which contained the only crumb of hope left in me, as to the possibility of unearthing something of interest on pursuing my inquiries in other quarters. He very kindly recalled a purely casual remark in which the native gentleman referred to had spoken of a tradition which had been passed down from members of Shah Jahan's household, to the effect that the Emperor had caused to be constructed a secret passage between the Fort and the splendid Mausoleum, which probably he would have the best of reasons for so constructing as to be of service to him in the event of his meeting with the ingratitude of his sons, which the experience of the great Akbar warned him might not improbably embitter his own later career. The fact of the old Emperor not having made use of any such passage would seem to denote an idle tale ; but if my subsequent inquiries in Poona have only the ghost of a suggestion of truth in them, it is quite possible that the refusal of Shah Jahan to be removed from his palace, except in his character as a sovereign, might be accounted for by his hope that some relaxation of the severity of his confinement would enable him eventually to escape, and, waiting for some turn of affairs in his favour, reassert his authority and his right to the throne. In describing the Fort of Agra, Mr. Latif writes : " To the south of the Khas Mahal, and close to the Amar Singh Gate, is a massive building in redstone, called the Jahangir Mahal, or the Palace of Jahangir, a singularly elegant and beautiful structure." It is worth while mentioning here that the palace in question is only about a mile and a half from the Taj, and (what is perhaps more to the point) less than 500 yards from the palace to the outside wall of the Fort, from which point to the nearest approach to the Taj would not be much more than a mile, so that once escaped from the palace, the way to a secret entrance leading into the Taj itself would not be fraught with insuperable difficulties. All this may seem fanciful ; but I venture to think that the following passage from Mr. Latif's book gives quite a different complexion to the remaining portion of this chapter, and it should consequently be read with the attention it deserves, as it entirely 333 Oriental Carpets depends upon the existence of some secret entrance and exit in the Taj, and the chamber or chambers which connected with it, whether or not the Mumtaz Mahal Carpet is a pure myth, or its manufacture and unknown fate are an historical fact, as I believe it to be, now that some corroboration of almost forgotten details has reconciled points which seemed to me at the time finally to dispose of the whole story. Following Mr. Latif's description of Jahangir's Palace comes the passage above referred to, which I quote verbatim, only adding the italics to emphasize the concluding sentence. He writes : " Among the wonders of the palace are the curious underground chambers, descent to which is obtained by broad stairs to the south of the Khas Mahal. The windows of these labyrinths, overlooking the Jumna, may be observed from the base of Jahangir's palace. The buildings extend over a considerable area and terminate in a Baoli, or well-house. In these vaulted chambers the Emperor and his delicate Harem found shelter from the burning heat of the sun and scorching winds in the summer. Fountains of water played and made the atmosphere cool and delicious. Here the Emperor, in his pleasant retreat, dashed through the pure and cold waters, the royal party was entertained with dancing and music, the chambers resounded with festive merriment. The avenues in the Baoli that surrounded the waters of the well were carpeted with cushions of soft velvet, on which sat the royal ladies, chattering and making merry, while the apathetic boatmen, gliding down the river, gazed up at the lofty walls, wondering what the laughter meant. A dark and dreary chamber at the extremity of the well was designed for the incarceration of women found guilty of misdemeanour. It is said one of these underground passages communicated with the Taj and the Sekandara ; but no outlet has yet been discovered." I left my friend the Director with, I am afraid, insufficient thanks for his courtesy and considerate kindness, and in the afternoon of the same day called upon M. Henri Follet, the French Consul. On learning that he had left for Poona in connection with the functions to be held on the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught (as I afterwards was informed), I was more than ever determined to lose no more time, and arranged to leave for Poona next morning. The next morning, Saturday, October 2, 1886, I left Bombay at 7.30 a.m., by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, the Victoria Terminus Station of which line is one of the modern architectural glories of India, and undoubtedly the finest railway station in the 334 Romance world. Until about sixty miles from Bombay the scenery is of no particular interest ; but from this point begins the ascent of the Ghauts, a work, which presented enormous engineering difficulties, successfully overcome. The engine was uncoupled, and two power- ful mountain engines took its place, and the train worked its way up a steep incline to the highest point of the line, where a reversing station prepared the way for the descent. The scenery for the sixteen miles of this Ghaut portion of the line was magnificent beyond description, and only comparable in my own experience with the splendid scenery upon the line leading to Katoomba, the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. The day was beautifully fine, and the view of the peaks rising on either side, with an occasional peep at a vast plain stretching as far as the eye could pierce below, was one never to be forgotten. Eager for anything novel, my eyes were busily engaged in endeavouring to see an elephant at work, and I was rewarded by a distant sight of one lazily engaged upon some labour. Arriving at Poona at 2.30 p.m., I proceeded to the Napier Hotel, to which I had been recommended, and was dismayed to find that every room was occupied, and that, owing to the influx of officials and visitors attracted by the several functions which were about to take place in connection with the Royal visit, there was no chance of obtaining any accommodation in the city. Thanks to the kindness of the proprieter of the hotel, I secured a " shake-down " for the night in a kind of outhouse, or scullery, in which there was no protection whatever from the outside, the " walls " consisting of open lattice-work festooned with creepers. For a first experience of the sort in a strange country, my quarters were not exactly calculated to secure repose, and I was by no means surprised to be awakened at about two or three in the morning by the flare of torches, and the cries of natives who in their loose white robes were eagerly engaged in some pursuit, which without an instant's reflection I connected with scenes familiar from reading accounts of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. ^ turn ed out afterwards that the commotion was nothing more serious than a hunt after an enormous rat, or " bandicoot," for the joy of killing which, and the opportunity of making unlimited noise, the whole posse comitatus of cooks, servants, waiters, and clerks came upon the scene, and gave me my first insight into the childishly simple and happy disposition of the natives, when not aroused by fears or prejudices. Next day I had the good fortune to be present at the opening of the Western India Fine Arts Exhibition, and listened with great 335 Oriental Carpets interest to the speech made by the Duke of Connaught ; my only recollection of it, I regret to say, is that I was struck with a foreign accent which I had not expected. I must confess to having been much interested in a group of young native ladies, who were in attendance upon the Duchess of Connaught, and who with their refined and expressive features, and their gauze -like flowing silk robes, delicately embroidered with gold, were exquisitely appropriate, in their fragile beauty, to the ceremoniousness of the occasion. The exhibits were of the usual interesting character. A series of twenty- one very cleverly painted water-colours illustrating native army costumes, executed by a young officer stationed in the city, attracted my attention. The modest sum of 200 rupees for the set would not have stood in the way of my acquiring them ; but, as they could not be removed while the Exhibition was open, and as I was so shortly leaving India, I did not accept the courteous offer of the artist to execute a fresh set. I had by this time secured rooms in the Napier Hotel, and was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Lieutenant Montanaro and his wife, who, with the latter's sister, Miss Hayter, and a friend, Lieutenant Day, shared my love for music ; and we very pleasantly spent the few evenings available, which otherwise might have been dull enough. It may seem curious to civilians that, being upon personal terms, and staying in the same house as the two young officers mentioned, I should not have been warned of the great review of troops, numbering some 40,000, which took place in the presence of the royal visitors on the morning of October 5 ; but such was the case. To my intense disgust, I found, on making inquiries as to the unusual stillness when I was leisurely having my morning tub, that the whole of Poona was out seeing the grand sight which I would have given my head to witness. The Review was at six o'clock in the morning, owing to the excessive heat ; which accounted for my not having seen the stir which would have caused me to make inquiries. I was not consoled later in the morning by seeing one of the splendid native Bengal Lancers ride by on a superb black horse. Expostulations with my friends only resulted in their saying that they never dreamt of my not knowing of the event, and that in any case, as far as they were concerned, it was only a feature in their " day's work," and it never entered their heads to mention the matter. It is not to the purpose to speak of my call upon M. Henri Follet, the French Consul at Bombay, already referred to ; nor of the various small functions I was fortunate to come in for owing to the lucky 33^ Romance coincidence of my visit with the Royal ceremonies ; but to those who may be inclined to think, that official, military, and civil life in India is all work and scant acknowledgment, it may be interesting to note in passing that an evening concert and amateur theatricals, which gave evidence of some talent, and a very enjoyable experience at the Poona Races, held upon the excellent Racecourse (which is now over a mile and a half in circumference, and encloses the whole of the parade ground), convinced me that there are ample com- pensations for the loss of the town life, absence from which to the uninitiated may seem to approach social ostracism. The afternoon of Tuesday, October 5, was the occasion of the opening of the Reay Market, the foundation-stone of which was laid by Lord Reay, Governor of Bombay. From this point I must relate the remainder of my stay in Poona with some particularity, as the series of small circumstances which began with my thwarted intention of attending the opening ceremony referred to were eventually to result in this chapter, which from some points of view is the most important in the book, as some may think upon reading it. I suppose that with an Englishman's first experience of the comparative cheapness of things, and the very moderate charges for carriage hire as compared with London, I must have given a lavish and open order for a turn-out suitable to the afternoon's event, for when the time came to start I was amazed to see a splendid carriage with a fine pair of horses approaching, the coachman and his groom in green livery, with snow-white turbans on their heads, the coach- man having also, if my memory serves, a touch of red embroidery just sufficient to distinguish his head-gear from the groom's. As if this were not enough, a couple of natives stood behind the carriage, holding on to the straps provided for the purpose. I must confess I thought some mistake had been made ; but, everything being apparently right, I prepared to make a start. Here came in one of those annoying little incidents which make or mar the pleasure of a day, or even have influence upon one's life. The very kindly proprietress of the hotel, probably instigated by her husband, had from the first taken an interest in me which I now realize was from an early understanding of the fact that I was the very greenest of green " griffins," and for the credit of the " Old Country " required a careful eye kept upon me. With a well-meant interference in my actions, which I am bound to confess I did not resent at the time, I was not allowed to start until close inquiries had been made as to the charge for the afternoon. I presume the figure mentioned was extortionate in the eyes of the worthy lady, 337 22 Oriental Carpets who would have a keen eye upon the hotel stables ; in any case, after a fluent harangue in the native tongue, I was persuaded to get out of the carriage, and with some misgivings saw this magnificent equipage slowly move out of sight, and derived small comfort from the assurance that in a few minutes it would come back, and that less than half the charge originally demanded would be gladly accepted. To do my kind friend justice, this would under ordinary circumstances have been a quite correct view of the situa- tion ; but I heard afterwards that, annoyed at being deprived of the expected heavy charge, and the accompanying unlimited douceurs to be expected upon a festive occasion, the livery -stable proprietors purposely replaced the carriage by the worst native-made carriage, horse and driver they could lay their hands on, and I have no doubt they secretly enjoyed the effectiveness of their revenge, which was gall and wormwood to me. To cut this portion of the story short : After waiting for about half an hour, I saw emerging from the dust of the heated road the most miserable horse it has ever been my lot to see ; the harness, if it could be so called, consisted of rough ropes for traces, and outside the solitary strap to hold up the shafts, the rest of the harness was nothing more or less than pieces of string, none too securely tied. The driver of this antiquated apology for a conveyance presented to my imagination all the ill omen of the " Ancient Mariner," and his woebegone visage clearly denoted that he had been informed that he need not expect anything but the bare hire from the niggardly Englishman. Even in my disgust at this apparition, I reflected that the unusual sight of the great gathering of Europeans and natives would be well worth seeing at any personal inconvenience and loss of dignity. Mustering all the resignation I could, I gave the order to proceed. After occasional stoppages to enable the driver to re-tie some of the loosened strings, I at last decided that to go farther, with the poor beast on its last legs, and the driver threatening collapse owing to the excessive heat, would be sheer cruelty. Very reluctantly I had myself taken back to the hotel, upon arriving at which I determined to get as much as I could out of the old gentleman who was driving me, and whose tongue I had already tuned to my purpose by the present of a whole rupee, which he received with the most evident and gratified astonishment. In a barbarous perversion of the English language, he had already accounted for his execrable fluency of tongue by proudly explain- ing that he had formed one of a party of native weavers who 338 Romance had worked at the London International Exhibition of 1874, and, sure of his audience, he regaled me with his experiences of the great city, of which I had had sufficient acquaintance to judge that the fertility of his imagination kept pace with his extraordinary loquacity, when he noticed the interest my numerous questions betrayed. I naturally made close inquiries as to what was to be seen at the Yerrowda Jail, which I was visiting the afternoon of the next day, and the old man answered questions as to the carpet-weaving and other employments carried on there with a readiness which suggested an intimate familiarity with its interior, which politeness prevented my calling his attention to. I was tempted to ask about the other centres of carpet-making, which I knew to be carried on in most of the important jails throughout the country, and on my expressing surprise at the extent of his information on the subject, he implied that he was of the caste of Saurashtrika, or carpet-weavers, which his family had followed for centuries. With too much inquisitiveness I asked how he had come to his present condition, in which, although I wisely refrained from saying so, he had evidently lost caste, to which he replied with the usual formula, " Sahib, I am a poor man." Some description of my old friend, whom for want of a better name I will call Fateh Khan, seems called for here : so with the clearest recollection of his personality, as far as a liberal accumulation of dirt and the shabbiest of clothes allowed, I will give my first impressions of him. Fateh Khan was a man of close upon seventy years of age, but of a spare, wiry figure, and had the appearance of not having allowed the troubles of this world to overburden him. His features were well enough formed, and of a somewhat different cast from those of the natives I had hitherto seen in the Bombay bazaars, and since then, in Poona ; his nose was thin and of good shape, and with a distinct curve down towards the mouth, which, as might be expected, was indefinite, although by no means large. His eyes I could not determine the colour of at the time, and, although I can see them as clearly as if it were yesterday, I can only remember that they had the sombre depth and colour of his race, and that there was the added expression of experiences in which fancied injustice had played its part, which, with a certain " tamed " look, might be taken to denote that his glib response to the inquiries I had made as to prison-carpets had not been all hearsay. His hair was naturally thin, and white, which, in contrast with his sallow skin, gave an impression of sadness, common to men of his age, for, generally 339 Oriental Carpets speaking, there is little use for the aged and worn-out in native countries, unless they combine this with something of the sage or " medicine-man." Taken all round, Fateh Khan was a very decent old fellow ; if he imposed upon me, I had excellent value at the time, and do not grudge the reward which he probably laid himself out to earn. After exhausting the subject of jails, it occurred to me to follow up the suggestion thrown out by the Director of the Bombay School of Art, which in conversation came to my memory. I noticed at once that his volubility forsook him when my questions turned upon the secret hiding-places and dungeons in the palaces of the Rajahs, and the fact only made me more curious to hear what he knew. I endeavoured to give him confidence by saying that as I was leaving India in a few days, and should probably never come back again, he need not fear the results of any information he might have to give ; but the impression of centuries of ruthless oppression by their Mogul masters, with whom human beings were as flies when they stood in the way of their ambition, let alone their safety, kept Fateh Khan mum, and I thought it wise to give him time to make up his mind that an infinitesimal risk of my " giving him away " would be compensated for by the pleasures attached to rupees five, which I already had promised him, and which I thought it judicious to double, on the understanding that he would tell me all he knew the next morning, when, having previously decided to visit the Parvati Hill, I thought I could not do better than get him to accompany me, in spite of the way I had been treated. So, impressing upon him that I wanted a good horse and carriage to take me to the Parvati Hill, and that, as I should want him to act as guide, he would have to bring a driver, we parted company, with many protestations of gratitude on his part and the inevitable " Sahib, I am a poor man." Next morning, Wednesday, October 6, I found a very decent carriage awaiting me, with a driver in livery, and my old friend Fateh Khan gorgeous in flowing cotton raiment and a snow-white turban, which, if I had given the matter sufficient attention, would clearly have indicated that he was primed with information, and, sure of his reward and something in addition, had already spent some of the promised rupees. On arriving at the foot of the Parvati Hill, I was too much interested in the expectation of the fine view I had been led to expect to permit Fateh Khan's chatter : so, overcoming the objection of the guides to my taking him with me, we undertook the series of 34° Romance broad steps, five to six feet wide and a foot deep, which, I was soon informed, the Prince of Wales had ridden up on an elephant on the occasion of his visit to Poona in 1875, in his progress through India. There are three temples on the Parvati Hill, the principal one, dedicated to Siva (with small shrines around it in honour of the Sun, Ganesha, Parvati, and Vishnu), being crowned by a gilt dome. The two other temples were outside the enclosure, and consequently did not attract my attention. From this temple, the Peshwa, Baji Rao, on November 5, 18 17, witnessed the total defeat of his army in the battle of Kirki, during the last Mahratta War (1817- 18 18), after which he fled from his capital. " On the inner side of the temple door a hollow in the paved courtyard is pointed out as the opening of an underground road to one of the Peshwa's palaces. The ladies of the zenana were borne through it to the temple and back, secure from the gaze of men. Did Baji Rao take this under- ground road when he fled ? " This from the Guide to Poona, from which I shall quote again. The appositeness of these little pieces of information induces me to relate what follows, which I should never have ventured to do in these sceptical times but for the gradual building up of accidentally acquired evidence, throwing side-lights upon Fateh Khan's narrative. After having revelled sufficiently in the magnificent panorama extended before me, and imbibed the romance attached to the whole surroundings, which the old priest in charge of the temple did not fail to do full justice to under the stimulating influence of a rupee, I thought the time and place appropriate for the tale Fateh Khan had to tell, and the old man, nothing loath, making his salaam, approached me, and prepared to unburden his load of fact or fiction. Impressing upon him that it was no use telling me lies, as I could easily ascertain the truth of his story from the Governor of the jail in the afternoon, I invited him to tell me all he knew, and, settling myself down with as much comfort as the absence of any accom- modation afforded, I awaited with some interest what would follow. It would serve no purpose to relate at length my frequent inter- ruptions, questionings, and cross-examinations, as the story progressed, nor the expostulations of the old man at my obvious incredulity, which seemed to hurt his feelings ; he called upon all the gods of the Hindu Mythology to witness to the truth of every word he said, and I must confess that at last I was ready to believe him ; and I will now reproduce the substance of his narrative, with such additions of detail as some acquaintance of Oriental life derived from a later 341 22 a Oriental Carpets visit to India, and from reading, and a much closer knowledge of Oriental Carpets and their romance, have enabled me to give, with- out any prejudice to the general broad facts which I made rough notes of when ample leisure on board ship gave me opportunity for doing so. Being fully aware of my interest in the Taj Mahal, Agra, and also in anything connected with carpets, which our conversation of the previous day would have impressed upon him, Fateh Khan with- out preamble spoke of the building itself, without any of the exaggerated rhapsodies which Europeans have generally bestowed upon it — perhaps owing to the hideous waste of native lives which continuously accompanied the long and wearisome period before it arrived at completion. I remember one piece of information, which the shape of the dome over the main portion of the building gives colour to, for it is not of the conventional mosque design. With sidelong looks which seemed to denote the old man's certainty of arousing my interest, Fateh Khan told me that it was said that the dome or cupola crowning the Taj had been suggested, and designed to Shah Jahan's orders, from the perfectly moulded breast of the woman to whose memory the building was being erected. A most improbable and impossible conceit to some, but to readers of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's " Troy Town " merely the romantic sentiment of an artistic and sensuous nature. As a symbol of perfect womanhood, the idea is beautiful ; and as a type of humanity generally, the whole aspect of the ancient Pyramid and Mosque form of architecture deserves a few moments' consideration. Some authorities attribute the Pyramid form to the old Fire Worshippers ; but is it not possible, indeed more likely, that the form stood for humanity at large, a form which would appeal to the human race, without distinction of race, creed, or sex ? With arms close to the sides, and a line intersecting the body at the waist, a very reasonable representation of the Taj will be suggested ; a line drawn from either side of the body so divided to the centre point of the top of the head forms a distinct pyramid, while a line clearing head and shoulders might stand for the original design of the Pyramids themselves. The same test can be applied to the whole human figure ; that is to say, taking a perpendicular line dividing the body, lines drawn clearing the head and shoulders, and meeting at the broad base which would automatically follow, give a pyramidal form which encourages my suggestion. It is curious that, following out this theory, the three great buildings, the Pyramids, the Parthenon, and the Taj, all have this Pyramid form ; the same 34 2 - »• ♦ » f fvr < PS o do J § •=• n an American Millionaire. London, July 29, 1905. The Athenaeum. A Unique Copy of the First Edition ofShakspeare's earliest Tragedy. London, January 21, 1905. The Illustrated London News. The Unique First Quarto Edition of " Titus Andronicus." Illustrated. (Title-page and last page of text.) London, February 11, 1905. The Athenaeum. The Original Bodleian Copy of the First Folio of Shaispeare. London, February 25, 1905. Montreal Gazette. Ephemerides. Montreal, November 7, 1885. W. HENRY HILL, ARTHUR F. HILL, F.S.A., and ALFRED E. HILL. Antonio Stradivari, his Life and Work (1644-1737). See "Contemporary Arts." C. STAINER. A Dictionary of Violin Makers. See "Contemporary Arts." JOHN HOLLAND ROSE, M.A. The Life of Napoleon I, including new materials from the British Official Records. 2 volumes. London, 1902. 39 6 Bibliography Carpets Runners and Rugs — continued The English Historical Review. A Short History of Napoleon the First, by JOHN ROBERT SEELEY. London, 1886. The First Napoleon: a Sketch, Political and Military, by JOHN CODMAN ROPES. Boston, 1885. Review by LORD ACTON. London, July 1887. W. J. WILKINS. Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic. See " Romance." SIR HERBERT RISLEY, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. The People of India. Calcutta, 1908. PROFESSOR A. MICHAELIS. A Century of Archaeological Discoveries. See " Contemporary Arts." Eastern Carpets. Twelve Early Examples. With Descriptive Notices by VINCENT J. ROBINSON, and a Preface by SIR GEORGE BIRDWOOD, C.S.I., M.D. Printed in Colours by WILLIAM GRIGGS, after Water- Colour Drawings by E. JULIA ROBINSON. Under the Sanction of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education. London, MDCCCLXXXII. Eastern Carpets. Twelve Early Examples. With Descriptive Notices by VINCENT J. ROBINSON, and a Preface by SIR GEORGE BIRDWOOD, M.D., LL.D, K.C.I.E. Printed in Colours by W. GRIGGS and MINTERN BROTHERS, after Water-Colour Drawings by E. JULIA ROBINSON. Second Series. Under the Sanction of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education. London, MDCCCXCIII. EDWARD STEBBING. The Holy Carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil. London, 1893. JOHN KIMBERLY MUMFORD. Oriental Rugs. First Edition. London, MDCCCCI. JOHN KIMBERLY MUMFORD. Oriental Rugs. Third Edition. New York, MDCCCCV. SIDNEY LEE. A Life of William Shakespeare. Illustrated Library Edition. London, 1899. ARISTOTLE on the Athenian Constitution. Translated with Introduction and Notes by F. G. KENYON, M.A. London, 1891. HOMER, The Odyssey of, translated by ALEXANDER POPE. To which are added The Battle of the Frogs and Mice, by PARNELL ; and the Hymns, by CHAPMAN and others. With Observations and Brief Notes by the Rev. J. S. WATSON, M.A., M.R.S.L. Illustrated with the entire series of FLAXMAN'S designs. London, 1881. The Odyssey of HOMER. Engraved from the compositions of JOHN FLAXMAN, R.A., Sculptor, London. London, 1805. A History of England in the Lives of Englishmen. Edited by George Godfrey Cunningham. Published in sixteen half-volumes. London and Edinburgh, 1850-1852. JOHN FLAXMAN, R.A. Lectures on Sculpture. With an introductory Lecture, and two Addresses to the Royal Academy on the death of Thomas Banks, in 1805, and of Antonio Canova, in 1822, and an Address on the death of Flaxman, by Sir Richard Westmacott, R.A. With fifty-three Plates. London, 1906. The Studio. The Royal Academy from Reynolds to Millais. The Record of a Century. The Special Summer Number, 1904. London, MCMIV. HOWARD PRIESTMAN. Principles of Worsted Spinning. With Diagrams. London, 1906. HOWARD PRIESTMAN. Principles of Woollen Spinning. With 1 1 1 Diagrams. London, 1908. REV. JOHN RICHARD BURTON, B.A. A History of Kidderminster, with short Accounts of some neighbouring Parishes. London, 1890. ALFRED BARLOW. The History and Principles of Weaving by Hand and by Power. Third edition. London, 1884. The Connoisseur. Holbein's portrait of King Henry VIII (Illustration). London, June '9°3- The Burlington Magazine. Oriental Carpets, Professor JOSEPH STRZYGOWSKI. London, October 1908. F. R. MARTIN. A History of Oriental Carpets Before 1800. Printed for the Author with Subvention from the Swedish Government in the I. and R. State and Court Printing Office. Vienna, 1908. 397 Oriental Carpets Carpets Runners and Rugs — continued H. B. WALTERS. The Art of the Greeks. See " Contemporary Arts." RUSSELL STURGIS. A History of Architecture. See " Contemporary Arts." The Edinburgh Review. Greek Art and Modern Craftsmanship. See " Contemporary Arts." ALEXANDER SPELTZ. Styles of Ornament. See " Contemporary Arts." JAMES FERGUSSON. A History of Architecture. See " Contemporary Arts." The British Museum. A Guide to the Exhibition in the King's Library. See "Jacquard." RUDYARD KIPLING, The Novels, Tales, and Poems of. "Outward Bound " edition. 12 volumes. New York, 1897. Musees Royaux des Arts Decoratifs de Bruxelles. Catalogue a" Etoffes Anciennes et Modernes, decrites par Madame ISABELLE ERRERA. Deuxieme edition. Ornee de 600 photogravures executees d'apres cliches originaux. Bruxelles, 1907. EDWARD STEP, F.L.S. Wayside and Woodland Blossoms. A Pocket Guide to British Wild- flowers for the Country Rambler. First Series. New edition, with clear descriptions of 394 species, with coloured figures of 127 species by MABEL E. STEP. London, 1905. JONATHAN SWIFT. Travels into several remote Nations of the World by LEMUEL GULLIVER, first a Surgeon and then a Captain of several Ships. London, 1882. RUDYARD KIPLING. Out of India. See " Romance." COLONEL SIR JOHN MALCOLM, K.C.B., K.L.S. The History of Persia from the most early period to the present time : containing an Account of the Religion, Government, Usages, and Character of the Inhabitants of that Kingdom. 2 volumes. London, MDCCCXV. M. HORACE HAYES. Riding and Hunting. With illustrations. London, 1 90 1. Guide to the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. London, 1909. W. L. COURTNEY, M.A., LL.D. The Literary Man's Bible. A Selection of Passages from the Old Testament, Historic, Poetic and Philosophic, illustrating Hebrew Literature. Arranged with introductory Essays and Annotations. London, 1907. CHARDIN. Voyages du Chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de P Orient. Nouvelle edition, soigneusement conferee sur les trois editions originales, augmentee d'une notice de la Perse, depuis les temps les plus recules jusqu'a ce jour, de notes, etc., par L. LANGLES. 10 volumes. Paris, 1811. HERODOTUS. Literally translated from the text of BAEHR. With a Geographical and General Index. By HENRY CARY, M.A. London, 1886. J. P. MAHAFFY. Greek Life and Thought, from the Age of Alexander to the Roman Conquest. London, 1887. PEPYS. The Diary of Samuel Pepys, M.A., F.R.S., Clerk of the Acts and Secretary to the Admiralty. Transcribed from the shorthand manuscript in the Pepysian Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge, by the Rev. MYNORS BRIGHT, M.A., late Fellow and President of the College. With LORD BRAYBROOKE'S Notes. Edited with additions by HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A. 8 volumes, with Index and Pepysiana, or 10 volumes in all. London, 1 893—1 899. RICHARD F. BURTON. A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertain- ments, now entitled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. With Introduction, Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men, and a Terminal Essay upon the History of the Nights. Benares : MDCCCLXXXV : Printed by the Kamashastra Society for Private Subscribers only. 10 volumes. Supplemental Nights to The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. With Notes Anthropological and Explana- tory. Benares : MDCCCLXXXVI-MDCCCLXXXVIII : Printed by the Kamashastra Society for Private Subscribers only. 6 volumes. Denver, Colorado, 1900-1901. The Daily Telegraph. The Ardabil or Ardebyl Carpet. London, August — , 1893. ESTHER SINGLETON. The Story of the White House. In two volumes, fully illustrated. Printed in United States of America. London, 1908. Ancient Oriental Carpets. By the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry, Vienna. Being a supplement to the Oriental Carpets published 1892 to 1896 by the 398 Bibliography Carpets Runners and Rugs — continued Imperial Royal Austrian Commercial Museum, Vienna. 25 plates in colours with Preface by the Editor, A. VON SCALA. Introduction by WILHELM BODE, Text by FRIEDRICH SARRE. 4 Parts. Leipzig, 1 906-1 908. The Westminster Gazette. An Unsuspected Treasure. London, March 24, 1900. One Hundred Carpet Designs, from various parts of India. With a Monograph by F. H. ANDREWS. Extracted from the Journal of Indian Art. London, 1905-1906. W. GRIGGS. Asian Carpets. XVI. and XVII. Century Designs, from the Jaipur Palaces, etc. etc., from material supplied with the permission of H.H. the Maharaja of Jaipur, and from other sources. With Text by Colonel T. H. HENDLEY, CLE. 6 Parts. London, 1905. La Collection Kelekain, Etoffes et Tapis d'Orient et de Venise. Notice de JULES GUIFFRE. Paris, 1908. ROSA BELLE HOLT. Rugs, Oriental and Occidental, Antique and Modern. A Handbook for Ready Reference. Chicago, 1901. MARY CHURCHILL RIPLEY. The Oriental Rug Book. With one hundred and sixty-four illustrations. London, 1905. RUDOLF NEUGEBAUER und JULIUS ORENDI, mit einer Einfuhrung von RICHARD GRAUL. Handbuch der Orientaliscken Teppichkunde, mit 152 teilweise ganzseitigen Textabbildungen, I Titlebild, 16 mehrfarbigen Tafeln, 12 Motivblattern, 1 Karte. Leipzig, 1909. GUSTAV SCHMORANZ. Oriental Enamelled Glass. Vienna and London, 1899. (Bernard Ouaritch — Catalogue No. 274. London, April, 1 909.) CAPTAIN SIR RICHARD F. BURTON, K.C.M.G., F.R.G.S., etc. etc. etc. Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. Edited by his Wife ISABEL BURTON. Memorial Edition. 2 volumes. London, MDCCCXCIII. C. LATIMER. Monograph on Carpet Making in the Punjab, IQ05-6. Lahore, 1907. N. G. MUKERJI, M.A., M.R.A.C, F.H.A.S. A Monograph on Carpet Weaving in Bengal. Calcutta, 1907. HENRY T. HARRIS. Monograph on the Carpet Weaving Industry of Southern India. With thirty Plates. Madras, 1908. EDGAR ALLAN POE, The Works of. 8 volumes. London, MDCCCXCV. Joseph Marie Jacquard THE CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORY. Planned by the late LORD ACTON, LL.D. Edited by A. W. WARD, Litt.D., G. W. PROTHERO, Litt.D., STANLEY LEATHES, M.A. Volume IX.— Napoleon. Cambridge, 1906. THE CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORT. Planned by the late LORD ACTON, LL.D. Edited by A. W. WARD, Litt.D., G. W. PROTHERO, Litt.D, STANLEY LEATHES, M.A. Volume X. — The Restoration. Cambridge, 1907. A. GRANDSARD. Jacquard, sa Vie, suivie d'une notice sur Lavoisier. Lille, 1869. ALFRED BARLOW. The History and Principles of Weaving by Hand and by Power. See " Carpets Runners and Rugs." CHARLES READE. The Cloister and the Hearth, a Tale of the Middle Ages. London, 1902. BERNARD QUARITCH. Palaeography. Notes upon the History of Writing and the Medieval Art of Illumination. Extended from a Lecture, delivered at a Conversazione of the Sette of Odd Volumes, at the Galleries of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, 1 2th December, 1893. London, privately printed, 1894. SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMPSON, K.C.B., I.S.O, D.C.L., LL.D, V.P.S.A, F.B.A. Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography. Third edition, with additions and corrections. London, 1906. 399 Oriental Carpets Joseph Marie Jacquard — continued Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Courrier Europeen de l'Art et de la Curiosite. 4.65" livraison. Tome quinzieme. 3 e periode. I er mars 1896. Bibliographie, Tapis a" Orient, signed A. R. Paris, 1896. ALOIS RIEGL. Ein Orientalise her Teppich vom Jahre 1202 n. Chr., una 1 die altesten Orientalischen Teppiche. With 2 plates in colour, and 16 illustrations in the text. Berlin, 1895. F. R. MARTIN. A History of Oriental Carpets Before 1800. See " Carpets Runners and Rugs." Oriental Carpets. See " Carpets Runners and Rugs." CYRIL DAVENPORT, V.D., F.S.A. The Book, its History and Development. Illustrated. London, 1907. The British Museum. A Guide to the Exhibition in the King's Library, illustrating the History of Printing, Music-Printing, and Book-Binding. Printed by Order of the Trustees. London, 1 90 1. The Daily Telegraph. The Ardabil or Ardebyl Carpet. See " Carpets Runners and Rugs." J. R. GREEN, M.A. A Short History of the English People. Illustrated edition. Edited by Mrs. J. R. GREEN and Miss KATE NORGATE. 4 volumes. London, 1902-1903. Social England. A Record of the Progress of the People in Religion, Laws, Learning, Arts, Industry, Commerce, Science, Literature, and Manners, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Edited by H. D. TRAILL, D.C.L., and J. S. MANN, M.A. 6 volumes. London, MCMII-MCMIV. Contributions towards A Dictionary of English Book Collectors, as also of some Foreign Collectors whose Libraries were incorporated in English Collections or whose Books are chiefly met with in England. Part V. The tenth and eleventh Dukes of Hamilton, 1 767-1 863. London, February, 1 894. Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette. For the Nation. Holbein's " Duchess of Milan " Saved. Gift of £40,000. London, June 4, 1909. Romance RUDYARD KIPLING. Out of India. Things I saw, and failed to see, in certain days and nights at Jeypore and elsewhere. New York, MDCCCXCV. SIR WILLIAM WILSON HUNTER, K.C.S.I., CLE., M.A. Oxon., LL.D. Cambridge. A Brief History of the Indian Peoples. Twenty-second edition. Eighty-fourth thousand. Oxford, 1897. G. W. STEEVENS. In India. With a Map. Edinburgh, MDCCCXCIX. SYAD MUHAMMAD LATIF, KHAN BAHADUR, F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S. Agra, Historical and Descriptive, with an Account of Akbar and his Court, and of the Modern City of Agra. Illustrated with Portraits of the Moghul Emperors, and Drawings of the Principal Architectural Monuments of that City and its Suburbs, and a Map of Agra. Calcutta, 1896. FLORA ANNIE STEEL. India through the Ages. A popular and picturesque History of Hindustan. With 7 Maps. London, 1908. W. J. WILKINS. Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic. Illustrated. Second edition. Calcutta, 1900. D. A. PINDER. Visitors' Illustrated Guide to Bombay. With Maps. Bombay, 1906. The Times of India Poona Directory and Guide. Corrected to 15th June. Bombay, 1905. KEENE'S Handbook for Visitors to Agra and its neighbourhood. Rewritten and brought up to date by E. A. DUNCAN, C.E., F.G.S. Seventh edition. Calcutta, 1909. DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI, The Collected Works of. Edited with Preface and Notes by WILLIAM M. ROSSETTI. 2 volumes. London, 1897. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. Complete Poems. Edited with Memorial Introduction and Notes by the Rev. ALEXANDER B. GROSART. 3 volumes. London, 1877. 400 Bibliography Romance — continued JOHN DONNE, The Poems of. Edited by E. K. CHAMBERS, with an Introduction by GEORGE SAINTSBURY. z volumes. London, 1896. ROBERT HERRICK. The Hesperides and Noble Numbers. Edited by ALFRED POLLARD, with a Preface by A. C. SWINBURNE. 2 volumes. London, 1891. Ancient Oriental Carpets. See " Carpets Runners and Rugs." JAMES FERGUSSON, D.C.L., F.R.S., M.R.A.S. History of Indian and Eastern Archi- tecture. London, 1891. H. DE BALZAC. The Unknown Masterpiece (Le Chef-d'ceuvre inconnu) and other Stories. Translated by ELLEN MARRIAGE, with a Preface by GEORGE SAINTSBURY. London, MDCCCXCVI. REFERENCE WORKS ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. Ninth Edition, vols. 1 to 24. Edinburgh, 1 875—1 888. New volumes, vols. 25 to 35. London, 1902. Constituting together the Tenth Edition of the work. CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA. A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge. New Edition. 10 volumes. London, 1908. M.-N. BOUILLET. Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire et de Geographic. Refondu sous la direction de L. G. GOURRAIGNE. Trente-troisieme edition, corrigee, completee et augmentee d'un nouveau supplement. Paris, 1908. M.-N. BOUILLET. Dictionnaire Universe! des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts. Refondu sous la direction de E. FAGUET (et) J. TANNERY. Dix-septieme edition, corrigee, com- pletee et augmentee d'un nouveau supplement. Paris, 1908. BRYAN'S Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. New Edition, revised and enlarged under the supervision of GEORGE C. WILLIAMSON, Litt.D. With numerous illustrations. 5 volumes. London, 1903-1905. DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY. Index and Epitome. Edited by SIDNEY LEE. London, 1903. G. VAPERAU. Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains, contenant toutes les personnes notables de la France et des pays etrangers. Sixieme edition, entierement refondue et considerable- ment augmentee. Paris, 1893. Supplement a la sixieme edition. Paris, 1895. HAYDN' S Dictionary of Dates, and Universal Information, relating to all Ages and Nations. By the late BENJAMIN VINCENT. Revised and brought up to date by Eminent Authorities. Twenty-fourth edition, containing the History of the World to the Summer of 1906. London, 1906. BLAIR'S Chronological Tables. Revised and enlarged, comprehending the Chronology and History of the World from the earliest Times to the Russian Treaty of Peace, April, 1856. By J. WILLOUGHBY ROSSE. London, 1904. LONGMAN'S Gazetteer of the World. Edited by GEORGE CHISHOLM, M.A., B.Sc. London, 1895. J. CH. TARVER. The Royal Phrasaeological English- French, French- English Dictionary. French-English Part. 5th edition. London, 1879. E. C. CLIFTON and ADRIAN GRIMAUX. A New Dictionary of the French ana English Languages. New Edition, revised and corrected. Paris, n.d. WEBSTER'S Collegiate Dictionary. A Dictionary of the English Language. London, 1907. ADELINE'S Art Dictionary, containing a complete index of all terms used in Art, Archi- tecture, Heraldry, and Archaeology. Translated from the French, and enlarged. London, 1891. Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient ana Modern, English and Foreign Sources. Selected and compiled by the Rev. JAMES WOOD. London, 1893. 4OI 26 INDEX INDEX INDEX Names of PERSONS, AUTHORS, etc., are set in Roman Caps. Names of PLACES, COUNTRIES, TOWNS, etc., are set in Italic Caps. Titles of Books, Magazines, etc., are set in. Small Italic. ABBAS, SHAH, THE GREAT, achievements and improvements effected by, 221 Ascent of throne, date of, 43 Carpets as influenced by, 31, 163, 214, 215, 225, 237> 343 Influence upon Persian, 55 Characteristics of, 218, 220-222 Contemporaries of, 222, 240 Co-operation of, with regard to introduction of Carpet-weaving into INDIA, 36S Death of, 31, 222 Decadence of Persian Carpets consequent upon, 224, 225, 239, 261, 379 Habits of, 220-221 Life of, 216-222 MOSQUE OF, 36S MUMTAZ MAHAL Carpet as affected by, 348 Physical appearance of, 223 Portrait of, 365 References to, 42, 44, 168, 217, 218, 313, 345, 365, 386 Sports of, 223 Succession to throne, date of, 205 Suggestive of glory and romance, 386 Violins of STRADIVARI and GUARNERI compared with finest period of, 79 ABBEYS, ERASMUS' writings regarding abuses of, 121 GREAT BRITAIN, date of existence in, 121 Suppression by HENRY VIII., 121 WESTMINSTER, important facts connected with, 122-123 Date of foundation, 122 Oriental Carpet in chancel of, 123 ACROPOLIS, ATHENS, description of, 139 References to, 138, 145 Acropolis of Athens, The (D'OOGE), 52, 390 ACTON, LORD, CAMBRIDGE MODERN HIST0R1", THE, 392, 399 A Short History of Napoleon the First (SEELEY), reviewed by, 225, 397 The First Napoleon (ROPES), reviewed by, 225, 397 ADAM, ROBERT and JAMES, work of, 140 ADDISON, JULIA DE WOLF, Art of the Pitti Palace, Florence, The, 391 ADELINE'S Art Dictionary, 401 AEETES, KING, meeting with JASON, 13, 14 PHRYXUS received by, 8 Products of kingdom, excellence of, 14 and 391 and, 4O5 AGNI, JASON'S similarity to, 330 Agra, Historical and Descriptive (LATIF), extracts from, 321, 322-327, 333-334, 352-353> 354, 4°° Reference to, 368 AKBAR THE GREAT, references to, 240, 247, 258, 261, 322, 323, 343, 368 Suggestive of glory and romance, 386 ALEXANDER THE GREAT, affection for war-charger Bucephalus, horseshoe and cloud forms in ARDEBIL Carpet as instances, 207, 244-245 Characteristics of, 245 Eastern life, effects of, 244, 245 PERSIA, conquest of, 242-244 References to, 165, 210, 223, 226, 229, 241, 242, 245 , Suggestive of glory and romance, 386 ALHAMBRA, PALACE OF. See SPAIN, PALACES Allegory, 3-24 Poetical, deficiencies of, 4 Uses of, 3, 4 Works relating to, 389 Almanac h Hachette, 148-149 ALMA-TADEMA, SIR L., Caracalla and Geta, 63, AMATI, NICOLO, violins of STRADIVARI 75. 76 AMELUNG, WALTHER (and HEINRICH HOLT- ZINGER), The Museums and Ruins of Rome, revision by MRS. ARTHUR STRONG, 391 Analysis of Illustrations, 363-386 Analysis of Oriental Carpets (RIEGL), 182, 208-213, 216, 236 Ancient Oriental Carpets, 209, 239, 348, 398, 401 ANDERSON, WILLIAM J., The Architecture of Greece and Rome, 390 The Architecture of the Renaissance in Italy, 390 ANDREWS, F. H., One Hundred Carpet Designs Mono- graph, 247, 399 ANGELO, MICHAEL, 347, 348 Sculpture by, 65 Work of, 61, 64, 65, 66, 72 Anglo-Saxon Re-vieiv, The, edited by LADY RANDOLPH CHURCHILL, 393 Reproductions of historical Bindings, 108 and Gazette des Beaux-Arts, comparison between support accorded to, 108 Aniline-dyes. See Dyeing, and Industries An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (SMITH), 395 26 a Oriental Carpets Antonio Stradivari (HILL), 76, 164, 392, 396 An Unsuspected Treasure [Westminster Gazette), 399 A. R., Tapis d'Orient [Gazette des Beaux-Arts), 400 Arabian Nights, The, quotation from, 172 Arabian Nights' Entertainments (BURTON), quotation from, 39 Arcadia (SIDNEY), poem entitled Zelmane to Ph'tloclea, 346 Architects, British, references to 123-125, 138, 140 Architecture, Arts of photography and reproduction in Monotone and Colour, their influence upon, 135, 136 Assyrian, absence of change in, 42 Disadvantage of use of wood as compared with stone, 42 Chaldean, NIMROD'S palace, date assigned by FERGUSSON, 40 Ornamental work in wall at WARKA, resembling native woven garments of Maoris, 40 Reference to, 40 Development of, as influenced by the provision of accommodation for Art treasures, 38 Egyptian, lotus flower, conventional, characteristic of, 194, 378 FRANCE, fine specimens in, 85, 86 Gothic, claim of ST. DENIS as k birthplace ' of, 85 Maori, earliest methods of architectural construc- tion recalled by, 149-150 Persian, advantage of use of stone, as compared with wood, 42 Quotation from writings of FERGUSSON, Sculpture and suggestion for establishment of School of, in connection with completion of EDINBURGH PARTHENON, 138 Stone, age of, in INDIA, 49 Stone for use in, introduction in INDIA, coincident with that of Buddhism, 49 Travelling facilities, influence upon, 135, 136 Architecture of Greece and Rome, The (ANDERSON and SPIERS), 390 Architecture of the Renaissance in Italy, The (ANDERSON), 39° ARDEBIL, CITY OF, reasons for decay, 205 Reason for importance of, 202 MOSQUE OF, 204, 205, 207, 209, 244 ARDEBIL, the Mosque Carpet, acquisition of, by SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM, 166 AMATI violin compared to, 79 Colour scheme of, 57 Completion, date of, 204, 208, 209 Date of, general reference to under 1539 of Christian Era being correspondent with 946 of Hegira, 204, 208, 209, 281, 384 Dedication, date of, 244 Design, description of, 204, 205-207 Design and colouring of, compared to masterpiece of J. M. MOREAU, 105 Design, colouring, and texture, 371 Educational effects of, 203, 205 Entry from Guide to the Victoria and Albert Museum, challenges with regard to accepted spelling of '''■ARDEBIL" and date contained in, 210 Excerpts from leading article of Daily Telegraph, 228-229 Horseshoe and Cloud forms, frequently used in, 206-208, 244 Importance of, entitling to rank as " Holy Carpet," 202 Inscription upon, 203, 204, 205, 208, 210, 369 Knotting of, 345 ARDEBIL, the Mosque Carpet {continued) MAKSOUD of KASHAN, work of, 69, 105, 131, 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, 210 Compared to CHOPIN'S Musical Composi- tions, 57 Manufacture of, probable length of time occupied in, 204 Influenced by death of SHAH ISMAIL I., 202-203 MUMTAZ MAHAL Carpet compared with, 345 Perfection displayed in, and means necessitated to attain, 131 Production, date of, 72 References to, 76, 161, 1S1, 282, 297, 347, 350, 375 Use of, in screening tombs of SHEIKH SEFI and ISMAIL I., 202, 254 VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, in- adequate accommodation for display of, 127 Argonautic Expedition, date of, 175 Industries, National, as affected by, 23 As the outcome of, 23 Interpretation of the Story of, 5-22 MEDEA, part played by, in accomplishment of object, 14-23 References to, 3, 229-230, 330 Voyages of DRAKE, FROBISHER, HAWKINS, RALEIGH, and HUMPHREY GILBERT compared to, 7 ARISTOTLE, Athenian Constitution, translated by KENYON, 397 Ethics of quotation from, translated by WELL- DON, 144 Nicomachean Ethics of The, translated by WELL- DON, 395 Papyrus of treatise on Constitution of Athens, trans- lation, issue, and date, 168 Politics of The, translated by WELLDON, 389 Quotation from writings of, 9 Art, accommodation for works of, influencing the develop- ment of Architecture, 38 Advance in, genius as affecting, 30 Ancient, decorative standpoint of, 35 Expression of, definite justification for belief ^ 35 Floor Ornament from Kuyundschik, 41 Perfection of, co-extensive with faculty of sight, 27, 34, 186 Assyrian, influence upon Grecian, 185 British temperament in relation to expression of, 116 Carpet-weaving as influencing, 27 Earliest forms of, suggestion with regard to use of Spiral Curve, 187 Early, excellence of, 37, 38 Effect of, more enduring upon Domestic Art pro- ducts, 38 FRANCE, attitude towards, 84 Position in world of, 85 French, CARDINALS RICHELIEU and MAZARIN'S influence upon, 86 Marriage connections of CHARLES I. as affecting, 86 Scale of Italian Art compared with, 86 GREAT BRITAIN, previous to invasion of Gauls, 121 Greek, detrimental effect of, comparison of modern Art with, 52 Importance of, in Art-history of world, 51 Influenced by Assyrian, 185 Study of the human form, 53 Impressionist Nature School of, debt to CON- STABLE, 126, 127 406 Index Art (continued) Influence of Primitives' work upon, 1 1 1 JASON and MEDEA as types of the combination of Industry and, 24 Nature surpassed by design of PARTHENON, 50 Nature's influence in propagating and fostering, 46, 47 " Nouveau," effect upon German Art, 145 Origins of, 186-188 PRE-RAPHAELITE School of, 128-129, 130 Production, inspiration in relation to, 129 Progress of, standpoints from which to judge, 35 Quality of modern, cheap and speedy production as affecting, 260 Secondary position of, to considerations of economy and utility, 115 Spanish, characteristics of, ornamentation and colouring of ALHAMBRA representative of, 1 11 Treasures of the Roman Church and their in- fluence, 84 YERKES Collection, bequest to NEW YORK CITY, 160, 161, 396 Art Journal, The (1899), 296 (March 1901), 125 Original Design for the National Gallery, London, I2 5> 394 Art Nouveau, 266 Art of the Greeks, The (WALTERS), 58, 1S7, 390, 398 Quotation from, 185 Art of the Pitti Palace, Florence, The (ADDISON), 391 Art of the Vatican, The (POTTER), 391 Art of William Morris, The (VALLANCE), 141, 395 Artists, British, 126-135 British Furnishing, 140-141 Japanese, 148 Arts, Chinese, individual character of, 146 Contemporary, 27-156 Splendour of, unexampled, under the MEDICI, Textile, apathy displayed in, 64 Claims of AUSTRIA, 145 Great masters' contribution to, 56 Greek painters and, 55, 56 Sheep Breeding, early knowledge of, as affect- ing purity of wool, 175-176 Arts and Crafts Society. See Exhibitions Asian Carpets (GRIGGS), 399 ASSYRIA, architectural arts of, absence of change in, 42 Quotation from writings of FERGUSSON, 42 Arts of, 40-42 Assyrian Architecture, disadvantage of use of wood as compared with stone, 42 Art, its influence upon Grecian decorative art, 185 Assyrian Palaces (FERGUSSON), reproduction of a Pavement Slab from the Central Palace, Koyunjik, 41 Athenaeum, The (May 1909), extract from, 103 MOLIERE'S CEuvres (1773), 392 The Original Bodleian Copy of the First Folio of Shak- speare, 396 Unique Copy of the First Edition of Shakspeare 's Earliest Tragedy, A, 396 Athenian Constitution, The, ARISTOTLE on, translated by KENYON, 397 Athens, its Rise and Fall (BULWER-LYTTON), refer- ence to, 139, 145, 395 AUBUSSON Carpet. See Carpets Tapestry. See Tapestries AUMALE, DUC D', Book Collection of, 107 Australasia (WILKINS), 396 AUSTRIA, arts of, 145-146 Claims of, with regard to Textile Arts, 145 Ave Roma Immortalis (CRAWFORD), 39 1 AXMINSTER Carpet. See Carpets Chenille. See Carpets Royal. See Carpets BACON, LORD, Dignity and Advancement of Learning, 3, 4, .5, 389 Fables, interpretation of, 5 Lack of business instinct, 117 Novum Organum, 1 17, 389, 394 Opinion of use of Fable, 60 Physical and Metaphysical Works of, The, edited by J. DEVEY, 389 Writings of, 242 BAEDEKER, KARL, Central Italy and Rome, 391 Italy, 391 Italy from the Alps to Naples, 391 Paris and Environs, 392 BALLOU, REV. HOSEA, quotation from, 385 BALZAC, H. DE, The Unknoivn Masterpiece, translated by ELLEN MARRIAGE, 359-360 (quota- tion), 401 BARLOW, ALFRED, The History and Principles of Weaving by Hand and by Poiver, 179 (quotation), 397, 399 BARNES, ARTHUR STAPYLTON, St. Peter in Rome, 63, 66, 391 BARRY, EDWARD MIDDLETON, architectural works assigned to, 124-125 HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT completed by, 124 BARRY, SIR CHARLES, HOUSES OF PARLIA- MENT designed by, 124 BARTOLOMEO, FRA, works of, 71 BASTIEN-LEPAGE, JULES, pictures by, 133 BATE, PERCY, English Pre-Raphaelite Painters, their Associates and Successors, The, 394 BAYEUX Tapestry. See Tapestries BEAUVAIS Lace. See Lace Tapestry. See Tapestries BENNETT- GOLDNEY, FRANCIS, Introduction to Chinese Porcelain, 395 BERALDI, HENRI, Estampes et Livres, 393 La Reliure du XIX e Siecle, 393 (and PORTALIS), Les Graveurs du Dix-Huitieme Siecle, 393 BERESFORD-CHANCELLOR, E., Private Palaces of London, 114 BERTAUX, £MILE, Rome, l'Antiquite (Paris, 1904), 391 Rome, de l'Ere des Catacombs a 1'Avenement de Jules II (Paris, 1905), 391 Rome, de 1'Avenement de Jules II a Nos Jours (Paris, 1905), 391 Rome, reference to, 67 BHATTACHARYA, JOGENDRA NATH, Hindu Castes and Sects, 118, 119, 394 BIBLIOTHE^UE NATION ALE, Catalogue. See Catalogues BIRDWOOD, SIR GEORGE, Eastern Carpets (ROBINSON), preface by, 397 Quotation from introductory article in Vienna Carpet Book, 43 BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY, Catalogue of, illustrated. See Catalogues BLAIR'S Chronological Tables, revised by ROSSE, 401 BLAKE, WILLIAM, illuminated manuscripts, 296 BODE, WILHELM, Introduction to Ancient Oriental Carpets, 398, 399, 401 BOMBAY, hanging Gardens and Reservoir at, 358 TOWERS OF SILENCE, 358-359 MUSEUM. See MUSEUMS 4O7 Oriental Carpets BONNEFOND, JEAN CLAUDE, portrait ot JAC- QUARD, 316-317 Book, its History and Development, The (DAVENPORT), 4.00 Book, its Printers, Illustrators and Binders from Gutenberg to the Present Time (BOUCHOT), 393 Book Printing and JACQ_UARD Weaving (comparative table of), 289-295 Books, binding of, by French publishers, 98, 99, 105, 106, 107 Collection of, points for consideration, 105 Collectors of, 109 DUC D'AUMALE'S Collection of, 107 Eighteenth - century French Illustrated, chiefly remarkable for Engravings, 98-106 Mastery of art of engraving in, 98 Position of, in domain of Art, 97 Reference to, 97-107 Illustrated, issue in broche, 98 By J. M. MOREAU, 103 M. JEAN GROLIER'S Collection and his generosity, 109 Printed from blocks, earliest date of, 188, 283 Prices realized by, 161 Printed from Movable Type, prices realized, 161 Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, The (BURTON), references to, 390, 398 BORGHESE GALLERY. SeeROME,snd GALLERIES BORGHESE VILLA. See ROME BOTANY BAY, first use of, 29, 30 BOUCHOT, HENRI, The Book, its Printers, Illustrators and Binders from Gutenberg to the Present Time, 393 BOUGUEREAU, M., pictures by, 134 BOUILLET, M.-N., Dictionnaire Universe! des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts, 401 Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire et de Geographic, references to, 43, 296, 363, 401 BOURGEOIS, EMILE, Le Grand Steele, 86, 87, 89, 90, 392 BOURNE and SHEPHERD {BOMB A Y), photographs of THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, 367 BRAYBROOKE, LORD, The Diary of Samuel Pepys, with Notes by, 398 BREAL, AUGUSTE, Velazquez, translated by MADAME SIMON BUSSY, 393 Brief History of the Indian Peoples, A (HUNTER), refer- ences to, 323, 389, 400 BRIGHT, REV. MYNORS, The Diary of Samuel Pepys, transcribed by, 398 BRITISH EMPIRE, symbolized by Rising Sun, 386 BRITISH MUSEUM, ELGIN Marbles acquired by. See MUSEUMS British Museum Catalogue. See Catalogues BROWN, FORD MADOX, extracts from Diary of, 129-130, 131 Pictures, 128, 129, 131 The Last of England, Catalogue notice of, 128-129 BRUGES, "Golden Fleece " relics exhibited at, 5 BRUSSELS Carpets. See Carpets Tapestry and Velvet. See Carpets BRYAN, Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, references to, 55, 112, 149, 363, 364,401 BUCKINGHAM PALACE, improvements. See PALACES, and Improvements Buddhism, coincident with introduction of stone for use in Indian architecture, 49 BULWER-LYTTON, SIR E., Athens, its Rise and Fall, references to, 139, 145, 395 Burden of Nineveh, The (ROSSETTI), 40 (quotation), 390 Burlington Magazine, The, 366 Article entitled Oriental Carpets, by PROFESSOR STRZYGOWSKI, in, references to, 183, 184, 209, 281, 385, 397 BURNE-JONES, SIR E., Art of, compared with that of WAGNER, 143, 144 Association with WILLIAM MORRIS, in revival of ancient art of tapestry-weaving, 142, 143 Pictures by, 133 BURNE-JONES, LADY, 296 BURTON, CAPTAIN SIR RICHARD F., Arabian Nights' Entertainments, quotation from, 39 Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, edited by ISABEL BURTON, 399. Quotations from writings, 227-22S The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, 390, 398 The Supplemental Nights to the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, 390, 398 BURTON, ISABEL, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, edited by, 399 BURTON, REV. JOHN RICHARD, A History of Kidderminster, 397 BUSSY, MADAME SIMON, Velazquez (BREAL), translated by, 393 BUTLER, LADY, 110 BYRON, LORD, Curse of Minerva, 166 Don Juan, unfinished poem, 135, 136 Quotation from, 136 Sardanapalus, 41, 42 The Works of, edited by HARTLEY COLE- RIDGE, 390, 395 CALIARI, PAOLO. See VERONESE, PAUL Calligraphy, art of, 296 Compared with Carpet-weaving, 297 Feminine character of, 297 CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORY, THE (ACTON), 306 (Vol. V., The Age of Louis XIV.), 90-93, 392 (Vol. IX., 1906, Napoleon), quotation from, 269, 399 (Vol. X., 1907, The Restoration), quotation from, 269, 399 CANALS, PANAMA, compared with the SYMPLE- GADES in voyage of the Argo, 11, 12 RED SEA, indifference to human life in making, 33 SUEZ, compared with the SYMPLEGADES in voyage of the Argo, 11, 12 CANOVA, work of, 52, 53, 65 Canterbury Times, The (N.Z.), Volcanic Eruption at Rotorua in the North Island, 396 Caracalla and Geta (ALMA-TADEMA), 391 CARDEN, ROBERT W., The City of Genoa, 391 Carpet, ARDEBIL, date of, under 1539 of Christian Era corresponding to 946 of Hegira, 204, 208, 209, 281, 384 An ideal Hieroglyph of Nature, 386 Derivation of word, 174 Designs, tabulated list of developed, 198, 199 Forms, advanced, tabulated list, 193-197 "Daisy" and "Lotus," 193 Early, tabulated list, 190-192 Horseshoe and Cloud, 373 Horseshoe, symbolical suggestion of, 196 "Pine," origin of, 195, 379 Romantic reason assigned for use of Cloud, Varied nature of, 348, 349, 372-384 Hieroglyph of Nature, 386 Hunting, 345 Industries, importance of process of dyeing wool, 262 Importance of spinning of wool, 262 Sheep Breeding in relation to, 262 408 Index Carpet [continued) Making, first English royal patron of the art, 1 80, 228 In the PUNJAB, 258 In YERROWDA JAIL, 330, 331, 354"356 Nations, the two Great, 386 Precedence of, in general and domestic interest, 3 8 5. Weaving, advance made in, 378 Oriental, inspiration of moment in relation to, 128 Persian, decline of, 348 Carpets, Ancient and Modern, unlimited variety in design and colouring, 379 Antique, their value compared with that of other first examples, 163 Antiquity of, claim for, 48, 261 ARDEBIL, 181, 282, 297, 347, 350, 375 Colour scheme of, 57 Date of, 31, 72, 281, 384 Date of completion of, 204, 208, 209 Description, 205-207 Design of, 204-205, 206 Design and colouring of, compared to masterpiece of J. M. MOREAU, 105 Design, colouring, and texture of, 371 Educational effects of, 203, 205 Excerpts from leading article in Daily Tele- graph, 228 Frequent use of Horseshoe and Cloud forms in, 206-208, 215, 244 Importance of, entitling to rank as a " Holy Carpet," 202 Inscription on, 203, 204, 205, 208-209, 210, 3 6 9 In VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, inadequate accommodation for display of, I27_ Knotting of, 345 Manufacture of, influenced by death of SHAH ISMAIL I., 202-203 Probable length of time taken in manufacture, 204 Used for screening tombs of SHEIKH SEFI and ISMAIL I., 202, 254 Art of making, introduced into INDIA from PERSIA, 245 Introduced into PERSIA by ancient Egyp- tians, 245 Various countries in which practised, 80 Artistic appearance or value of, affected by costliness of materials, 238 AUBUSSON and SAVONNERIE, Oriental designs and colourings in relation to, 297 AXMINSTER, hand-made, 298 Chenille, ingenuity of method of manufacture, 301, 302 Manufacture of machine-made, 176, 231 Method of forming pile, 182 Royal, process of forming design and colour- ing, 302 BRUSSELS, special features of, 298-299 (also Tapestry and Velvet), economy of pro- cess of manufacture, 301 Classification and dating, difficulties of, 79 CLEOPATRA smuggled in a bale of, 165 Date of example made under Mogul dynasty, 281, 282 Decadence of, after period of SHAH ABBAS THE GREAT, 224, 225, 239, 261, 379 Designs for, probable method with regard to trac- ing earliest, 192, 279 Possibly furnished by monks, 122 Carpets {continued) Designs for {continued?) Tabulated list of perfected, 202-216 Display of, difficulties with regard to, 127 Earliest date likely to be assigned to, 184 Early origin, 159 Exhibition at VIENNA. See Exhibitions. Fine examples of, prices realized, 159-160 Golden weights in tents of Persian monarchs, 46 Hand-woven, designed and coloured, table of, 282- 283 Historical inferences respecting, 164-176 " Holy," amount paid by CHARLES T. YERKES for, 160-16 1 Bequest to NEW YORK CITY by C. T. YERKES, 160, 161, 396 The ARDEBIL entitled to rank as, 202 Indian, made in YERROPVDA JAIL, examples in VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, 250-251, 261 (Mogul), examples in VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, 249-250 Introduction of gold and silver threads in, 283 JACQUARD, distinction between machine for producing design and colouring, and loom for weaving, 178 Distinctive feature of process of manufacture, 300 Leading varieties of, 298-301 Merits of, 235 Method of forming pile of, 181 References to, 176, 178, 371, 372, 375 Varieties most nearly approaching Oriental, 235-236 KIDDERMINSTER, date of introduction into ENGLAND, 178 or Scotch, oldest kind of machine-made, 178 Knotting, effect upon quality of texture, 236, 237 Description of various systems used in surface, 180-182 Kurdish, 227 LA SAVONNERIE, velvet carpets manufactured at, 88 Manufacture of, climatic conditions and their influence upon, 47 Introduced into ENGLAND by WILLIAM SHELDON, 228-229 Uncertainty of first date, 43 MARQUAND Collection, knotting of, 345 Mogul, DR. MARTIN'S, 281, 282 MUMTAZ MAHAL, date assigned to, 348 and ARDEBIL, comparison, 345 and Carpet in collection of H. G. MAR- QUAND, compared, 345 Description of prototype at MUSEE DES ARTS D$CORATIFS, 347-352 Knotting of, 345 Likeness of SHAH JAHAN'S EMPRESS woven into, 344, 346 References to, 105, 326, 330, 354, 356, 357, 359 SHAH ABBAS, influence upon, 348 Use of, in TAJ MAHAL, 352 Use of needles in, 174 Need for care of, 163, 169 Needlework and tapestry, reasons for inclusion with, 174 Oriental, 100 and JACQUARD, method of taking warp and weft measurements, 370 Artistic and commercial interests in manu- facture of, 82 Dyeing of, uncertain result with regard to, 118 409 Oriental Carpets Carpets {continued) Oriental {continued) Increasing production of, 152 In WESTMINSTER ABBEY, 123 Manufacture of " Antique " in, 82 Masculine character of, 298 Possibility of repair of valuable specimens, 379 Reasons for size of, 252-253 Systems of knotting, compared with knots used in hand-made AXMINSTERS, 182 Origin of, 126, 159, 261 Date assigned, 75 "Palace," history and principal features of, 211- 213 Persian, absence of reference to, in index to volumes by CHARDIN and MALCOLM, 227 Artistic genius in relation to initiation of weaving, 147 Colour reproductions in VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, 247, 249 Colours used in, 238 Compared with Italian violins, 79 Decadence after death of SHAH ABBAS, 224, 225, 239, 261, 379 Example in VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, 250 Harmony of effect in designs, 57 Influence of SHAH ABBAS upon, 55, 237 In SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM, 239-240 LORD CURZON'S references to, 227 Methods of gauging merits of, 236 Owned by GIRDLERS' COMPANY, 240, 246-247, 281 Description of, 247-248 Reproductions of old designs and colours, conditions necessary for securing, 259-260 SIR JOHN MALCOLM with regard to usage of, 203-204, 233-234 Value attaching to sixteenth century and SHAH ABBAS period, 237 Persian and Indian, frequent use of Horseshoe and Cloud forms in, 223 Frequent mention of " Tree of Life " or Cypress, 200 Love of horses given as reason for frequency of Horseshoe forms, 223-224, 244-245 Persian and TURKEY, manufacture of, surpassed at LA SAVONNERIE, 87 Persian, and violins, perfection attained within same period by both, 75, 79 Similarity of design traceable in sixteenth century, 75 Philosophy of Furniture by POE, excerpts from, 265-266 Prices realized by fine examples, 159, 160 " Royal," history and principal features of, 211 SAVON NERIE, method of forming pile of, 182 Preservation of artistic merits of, 117 SAXONY Pile, 300 SHAH ABBAS, description of design and colour- ing, 214-216 SHAH ABBAS'S influence upon, 31, 163, 214, 215. 22 5. 343 " Sixteenth Century," special features of, 213-214 Surface Pile, description of process used in forma- tion of, 302-303 Symbolization of Vedic god AGNI alleged, 165 TAJ, references to, 326, 330 Treatment of, need for care in, 231-232, 234-235 Woman's offences with regard to, 169-172, Use of, in tents of Persian monarchy, 45 Carpets {continued) Use of [continued) For tables, 226-227 In triumphal processions, 239 Uses of, by Orientals, 228-229, 233-234 WARANGOL, MR. VINCENT ROBINSON'S, 259 Weaving of, Industries and Arts as influenced by, 27 Industry carried on in YERROWDA JAIL, 119 Introduction into INDIA, 258 Introduction into INDIA of, co-operation of SHAH ABBAS with regard to, 368 JACgOARD process, 176 Practised in houses of weavers previous to introduction of power-loom, 179 Precedence in remote ages, 36 Process necessitated by mistake in, 131 Weaving or knotting of, simplicity with regard to methods, 178 WILTON, 299-300 Carpet Making in the Punjab, Monograph (LATIMER), 258, 399 Carpet-weaving and Printing (comparative table of), 282-286 Carpet Weaving at Ellore (CHATTERTON), 261 Carpet Weaving in Bengal, Monograph (MUKERJI) quotation from, 259, 399 Carpet Weaving Industry of Southern India, Monograph (HARRIS), 260, 399 Carpets Runners and Rugs, 159-266 Works relating to, 396-399 CARTER, HOWARD, Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou, The (DAVIS), illustrated by, 390 CARTWRIGHT, REV. EDMUND, power-loom, re- puted invention of, 310-311 CARY, HENRY, Herodotus, translated from the text of BAEHR, 398 CASTLES, WINDSOR, 124 Catalogue d'Etoffes Anciennes et Modernes (ERRERA), 191, 367. 398 Catalogues, BIBLI0THE2ZUE NATIONALE, Biscuits de Sevres, 392 Exhibition of Coloured Prints, Miniatures, etc., held at, 97 Medailles et Pierres Gravies, 392 Miniatures — Gouaches, Estampes en Couleurs Francaises et Anglaises, 392 BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY, 12S-129 (quotation), 394 Permanent Collection of Paintings in the Art Gallery, 394 BRITISH MUSEUM, 269, 304 CHRISTIE (Sale), 371, 372 DAMASCENE MORGAND, 106 Quotation from, 100, 101, 102 DUVEEN, MESSRS., extract from, 146-147 Introduction entitled Chinese Porcelain (BEN- NETT - GOLDNEY), quotations from, 146-147 EDOUARD RAHIR, 100, 105, 109 Quotation from, 104 McCULLOCH Collection, list of exhibits taken from Exhibition, 132-133, 134 MARQUAND, 159, 160, 211, 396 National Loan Exhibition, 396 gUARITCH, 161, 162 Royal Amateur Art Society, 392 SOTHEBY (Sale), 161-162 Cathedral Builders in England,The (PRIOR), 122, 123, 394 CATHEDRALS, chief, in The Cathedral Builders in England, 123 FLORENCE, humanity typified in architectural form, 343 4IO Index CATHEDRALS {continued) GREAT BRITAIN, Abbeys precursors of, 121 MILAN, 72, 73 ROME, humanity typified in architectural form, 343 ST. ALBANS, dates assigned, 123 ST. PAUL'S, humanity typified in architectural form, 343 Date of opening of Choir, 123 Design by SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN, 123 (Old) date of destruction in great fire, 123 CAVES, ELEPHANTA, 328 CAXTON, 270 Early efforts with movable types, 283 CELLINI, BENVENUTO, work of, 66 Central Italy and Rome (BAEDEKER), 391 Century of Archaeological Discoveries, A (MICHAELIS), 27 (quotation), 37, 166, 185, 389, 397 CHAMBERS, E. K., Poems of Donne, edited by, 401 CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA, 41, 159, 178, 200, 222-223, 384, 401 Article entitled Carpets, 179 Article on Wool, quotation from, 175 CHANCELLOR, E. BERESFORD, Private Palaces of London, The, 40, 390 CHANTILLY, CHATEAU OF, 109,110 CHARDIN, CHEVALIER, description of, in DICTION- ARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY, 44 Index to volumes on PERSIA, absence of refer- ence to Carpets in, 227 Opinion on Persian life and manners, 44-49 Vignette from Voyages en Perse, 386 Voyages du Chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de I'Orient, edited by LANGLES, 390, 398 Writings of, quotations from, 43, 213, 236, 238, 2 39> 2 54, 3 8 4 References to, 202, 214, 217, 218, 219, 220, 223, 225, 227, 241, 261 CHARLEMAGNE. See FRANCE CHARLES I., artistic proclivities of, 125 CHARLOT, MAURICE, Chateau de Fontainebleau, Le, 39 2 CHATEAUX, CHANTILLY, 109, no VERSAILLES, original, 93 CHATTERTON, ALFRED, Carpet Weaving at Elhre, 261 The Wool in the Carpet, 261-262 The Spinning of the Wool, 261-262 CHINA, arts of, 146-147 Beauty of Embroideries of, 147 Derivation of old English Finger-rug Weaving from, 281, 283 Chinese loom compared with English Finger-rug loom, 179 Spinning and Weaving Arts contemporary with those of EGYPT, 179 Chinese Porcelain, Introduction by BENNETT-GOLD- NEY, 395 CHIPPENDALE, THOMAS, work of, 141 CHISHOLM, GEORGE, LONGMAN'S Gazetteer of the World edited by, 401 Choix de Chansons (LABORDE), 103, 104, 105, 106 CHOPIN, musical compositions compared with work of MAKSOUD of KASHAN, 57 Chronologial Scheme of Greek Art (WALTERS), 51, 58 Chronological Table (MICHAELIS), quotation from, 166-167 CHURCHILL, LADY RANDOLPH, The Anglo-Saxon Review edited by, 393 Association with CYRIL DAVENPORT in connection with historical bindings of The Anglo-Saxon Review, 108 Reminiscences, 57, 391 City of Genoa, The (CARDEN), 391 Civilization, degrees of, 229 Human existence, earliest conditions without, 31, Increase of, causes difficulty in attributing to Art Treasures their original source, 40 Norman invasion and, 173 Reference to early existence of, in A History oj Architecture, 34 CLARKE.C. PURDON, Or;VWCar/>«j,English Edition edited by, 252, 396 CLAUSEN, GEORGE, pictures by, 133 The Development of Painting {Morning Post), ill, 393 CLEOPATRA, smuggling of, in a bale of carpets, 165 CLIFTON, E. C. (and GRIMAUX), A New Dictionary of the French and English Languages, 40 1 Cloister and the Hearth, The (READE), 399 Extract from, 277-278 Cloths, manufactories, establishment in FRANCE, 87 SEDAN, re-establishment of manufacture, 89 COHEN, HENRI, extract from writings of, 105 Guide de I' Amateur de Livres a Gravures du XVIII e Silcle, 107, 393 Expert knowledge of book-collecting of BARON ROGER PORTALIS and, 364 COLBERT, JEAN-BAPTISTE, portrait of, by DE CHAMPAIGNE, 364 Date and place of birth, 86 Date of death, 93 Illustration facing 27, 363 Manufactures established in FRANCE by, 87, 88, 89 Reference by MAZARIN, 363 References to, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95. "7 COLERIDGE, ERNEST HARTLEY, BYRON'S works edited by, 390, 395 Collections, Art, CHARLES I.'s, dispersal of larger portion, 125-126 In country towns, 115 Deceptions, and remedy for, 383 HAMILTON, sale of, 296 McCULLOCH, GEORGE, 132 MARQUAND, H.G., references to,i6o, 213, 215. 253- z 54 H. G. MARO_UAND'S Carpet and MUM- TAZ MAHAL Carpet compared, 345 H. G. MARgUAND'S, and high prices realized at Sale, 160, 164, 253-254 YERKES, C. T., references to, 160, 161, 396 Book, DUC D'AUMALE, 107 GROLIER, generosity of, 109 Points for consideration in, 105 Chinese Porcelain, 395 National, need of artistic surroundings for English, 113, 114, 115, 116 JONES Collection and LOUVRE, arrange- ment compared, 113 Inartistic surroundings of, 113, 114, 115, 116 WALLACE Collection, adequate arrange- ment of, 113 Pictures in, 1 11, 112 Collegiate Dictionary (WEBSTER), 401 COLOSSEUM. See ROME Colour, Oriental designs and instinctive use of, 44 Comment Discerner les Styles du VIII e au XIX* Sihles, (ROGER-MILES), 393 COMPANY, GIRDLERS', Persian Carpet, description of, 247-248 Painting in VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM of Persian Carpet, 247 4 II Oriental Carpets COMPANY, GIRDLERS' [continued) Persian Carpet, references to, 240, 246-247, 28 1 Comparative table of Printing and Carpet-weaving, 282- 286 Competition, typified by subjection of SYMPLEGADES, •3 Complete Poems (SIDNEY), 400 CONNAUGHT, DUKE OF, speech by, 336 Connoisseur, The, references to, 179, 180, 366 Holbein's Portrait of King Henry VIII., 397 CONSTABLE, JOHN, debt of Impressionist Nature Schools to CONSTABLE, 126, 127 Pictures of, 114, 115 Constitution of Athens (ARISTOTLE), papyrus of treatise on, translation, issue, and date, 168 Contemporary Arts, Works relating to, 389-396 Convict Stations, BOTANY BAY, VAN DIEMEN'S LAND, and NORFOLK ISLAND, 29, 30 COOK, Handbook to Florence, 391 COOK AND SON, THOMAS, provision of facilities for foreign travel to Home of Arts, 64 Cord, explanation of term, 386 CORNWALLIS-WEST, MRS. GEORGE, Reminis- cences of Lady Randolph Churchill, The, 57, 391 COURTNEY, W. L., The Literary Mans Bible, 210, 398 CRACOW CATHEDRAL Carpet. See MUMTAZ MAHAL Carpet CRAWFORD, FRANCIS MARION, Am Roma Im- mor talis, 391 Creation of the World, different dates assigned to epochs of, 28 CROMPTON, SAMUEL, invention of " Mule-Jenny," 311 CROTTET, E., Supplement a la 5'" c edition du Guide de I' Amateur de Litres a Figures du XVIIF Siecle, 393 CUMING, E. D., and SIR WALTER GILBEY, George Morland, His Life and Work, 394 CUNNINGHAM, GEORGE GODFREY, History of England in the Lives of Englishmen, A, 397 Curse of Minerva (BYRON), 166 CURZON, HON. GEORGE N., quotation from, 159 Persia and the Persian Siuestion, 217, 222, 227, 396 CURZON OF KEDLESTON, LORD, discipline and firmness in dealing with natives of India, 120 Interest in Artistic Industries, 119 Customs, disinclination of Eastern nations to introduce innovations, 48 Increase of luxury, and its influence upon Eastern .39 Life of cave and tent dwellers exemplified in Eastern life to-day, 39 Cypress, medicinal uses ascribed to wood and seeds, 201 or "Tree of Life," Carpet design of, 367 Significance of, 200 Symbolism of, 201 Trees, in garden of TAJ MAHAL, 200 Uses of wood of, 200-201 CYRUS THE GREAT, 216, 217, 222, 223, 313 Dabistan (FANY MOHHAMMED), 241 Daily Telegraph, The (August 1893), ARDEBIL Carpet, excerpts from leading article, 228 "The ARDABIL or ARDEBYL Carpet," 398, 400 Dante Gabriel Rossetti (STEPHENS), 395 DA SALO, GASPARO, violins first made in present form °y> 75 DAVENPORT, CYRIL, association with LADY RANDOLPH CHURCHILL in connection with historical bindings of The Anglo-Saxon Review, 108 41 DAVENPORT, CYRIL {continued) English Heraldic Book-Stamps, 393 Nature and scope of, 108, 109 The Book, its History and Development, 399 DA VINCI, LEONARDO, The Last Supper, 7Z DAVIS, THEODORE M., discoveries at BIBAN EL MOLUK, 167, 168, 184 Funeral Papyrus of louiya, 34, 390 Importance of discoveries in 1905 in WESTERN THEBES, 34 Tomb of IOUIYA and his wife TOUIYOU dis- covered by, 34 Tomb of louiya and Touiyou, 390 DAY, LEWIS F., William Morris and his Art, 395 Dearest Mezzotint on record, The (Sphere), 392 DE CHAMPAIGNE, PHILIPPE, work of, 364 Decorative Art of Sir Edward Bume - fones, The (VALLANCE), 142, 395 DE LETTENHOVE, BARON H. KERVYN, La Toison d'Or, 389 Quotation from, 3 DE LIANCOURT, A. G. and J. A. MANNING, Maximes de NapoUon, 393 Demi-Gods, origin of race, due to growth of human intelligence, 5 DENMARK, arts of, 146 DE NOLHAC, PIERRE (et A. PERATE), Le Musee National de Versailles, 392 DEROME, bindings of, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 Design, RAPHAEL Tapestries in VATICAN finest known specimens of textile, 69 Value of Colour to Artists, 58 Designer, art of, distinction between art of Painter and, 56 Designers, French, work of, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 Designs, ARDEBIL Carpet, description of, 205-207 References to, 204-205 Earliest carpet, probable method adopted with regard to tracing, 192, 279 HERATI, references to, 370, 373, 382 Importance of " Tree of Life " or Cypress in Oriental, 200, 201 In native Maori woven garments, 40 "Interrupted," example of, 382 Natural progress of, 193 Persian Carpet, harmony of effect in, 56, 57 Some Early Carpet Forms, 190-192 Some Advanced Carpet Forms, 193-197 Some Developed Carpet Designs, 198-199 Some Perfected Carpet Designs, 202-216 Textile, use in ornamental decoration of, 185-188 "Tree of Life," 367 Various forms of Carpet, 367, 368 Development of Painting, The (CLAUSEN), lecture from Morning Post, III, 393 DEVEY, J., BACON'S Physical and Metaphysical Works, edited by, 3S9 Devices, SHAH ABBAS, 369 Importance of introduction into carpets and rugs of, 370 Diaries, BROWN, FORD MADOX, quotations from, 129-130, 131 Diary of Samuel Pepys, The, 398 Dictionnaire Universal des Contemporains (VAPERAU), 401 Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire et de Geographic (BOUIL- LET), 43, 296, 363,401 Dictionary of English Book Collectors, A (Part V.), 400 DICTION AR Y OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPH V (edited by SIDNEY LEE), 44, 124-125, 401 Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (BRYAN), 55, 112, *49> 3 6 3> 3 6 4? 4°! 2 Index Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources (WOOD), 401 Dictionary of Violin-Makers, A (STAINER), 164, 392, 396 Dignity and Advancement of Learning (BACON), 3, 4 (quotations), 5, 389 DILKE, LADY, French Engravers and Draughtsmen of the XVlIIth Century, 393 Disjecta (HUMPHRIES), 393 DONALDSON, JAMES, Woman, 53, 54 (quotation), 390 Don Juan (BYRON), unfinished poem, 135, 136 DONNE, JOHN, Poems of, The, edited by E. K. CHAMBERS, 401 DORIA GALLERY. See ROME, and GALLERIES. Duchess of Milan (HOLBEIN), 138, 400 DUNCAN, E. A., KEENE'S Handbook for Visitors to Agra and its Neighbourhood, rewritten by, 368, 369, 400 DURUY, VICTOR, Histoire de France, 392 DU SAUSSOIS — Galerie des hommes utiles — Jacauard, 304-305 DUVEEN, MESSRS, Catalogue of, 146, 147 Dyeing, ancient method of, 176 Advance of PERSIA in art of, 47, 237 Discovery and development of aniline-dye industry, 118, 263 Displacement of older methods of Indian natives by use of aniline dyes, 118 Hand process, 176-177 Improvements effected by WILLIAM MORRIS, 142 Oriental, reasons attributed for merits of, 237 Skill of PHOENICIANS in, 175 Dyeing of the Wool (HARRIS), 262 Early Renaissance Architecture in England (GOTCH), 394 Eastern Carpets (ROBINSON), 167, 397 EATON, CHARLOTTE A., Rome in the Nineteenth Century, 391 EDINBURGH PARTHENON, scheme for reproduction of, 136-139 Edinburgh Parthenon, The (MITCHELL and HUMPHRIES), Edition de Luxe of, 137, 395 Edinburgh Review (1906), Greek Art and Modern Crafts- manship, 27 (quotation), 186, 389, 398 EGYPT, arts of, 32-40 Date of erection of Pyramids of GHIZEH, 32 Derivation of arts of Spinning and Weaving in, 179 Discovery of KING KHAFRA'S statue, 34, 151 Egyptian Excavation (Morning Post), 390 Ein Orientalischer Teppich vom Jahre 1202 n. Chr. und die altesten Orientalischen Teppiche (RIEGL), 281, 400 ELGIN, LORD, rescue of PARTHENON Sculptures by, 166 ELIZABETH, LADY HOLLAND, Journal of, edited by EARL OF ILCHESTER, 33, 389 ELTON, CHARLES, Origins of English History by, 120, 121 (quotations), 394 Embroideries, Chinese, 147 ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, 171, 401 End Papers, 369 ENGHIEN, DUC D\ execution of, 221 ENGLAND, representative names in Literature of, 112- 113 English Heraldic Book-Stamps (DAVENPORT), 393 Nature and Scope of, 108, 109 English Historical Review, The, review by LORD ACTON of volumes by ROPES and SEELEY, 225, 397 English Pre - Raphaelite Painters, their Associates and Successors, The (BATE), 394 Engravers, French, work of, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 Engraving, historical importance of Eighteenth Century French, 97 Ephemerides (Montreal Gazette), 396 ERASMUS, Writings of, quotations from, 229, 239 With regard to abuses of Abbeys, 121 ERRERA, MADAME ISABELLE, Catalogue d'Etojfes Anciennes et Modernes by, 191, 398 Estampes et Livres (BERALDI), 393 Ethics of ARISTOTLE, quotation from, 144 EVANS, ARTHUR J., discoveries at KNOSSOS, 184 Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette, The, bequest to A'fWrO.RArCTTrbyCHARLEST.YERKES of a "Holy Carpet," 160, 161, 396 False Scarabei, 37, 390 HOLBEIN'S Duchess of Milan, 400 Sealed nuith Blood, from, 33, 3S9 Shakespeare Folios. Enormous prices from an American Millionaire, 163, 396 Exhibition of Modern Works in Painting and Sculpture (McCULLOCH). See Exhibitions, and Collec- tions Exhibitions, Arts and Crafts, MORRIS and BURNE- JONES Tapestries at, 143 Chinese Porcelain (MESSRS. DUVEEN), 146, 395 LOUVRE, admirable arrangement of, 113 MANCHESTER Jubilee (1S87), admirable arrangement with regard to works in, 127-128 Examples of Pre-Raphaelite School in, 128- 129, 1 30-1 3 1 Paintings illustrative of British Art of Victorian era in, 127, 128, 130, 131 Modern Works in Painting and Sculpture, list of artists and their work taken from catalogue of McCULLOCH Collection, 132-133, 134 National Loan (1909-10), Catalogue of the Pictures and Draivings in the, 396 VAN DYCK pictures in, 156 PARIS (1900), specimens of GOBELINS Tapestry reproduced from paintings of GUS- TAVE MOREAU at, 363 Royal Academy of Arts, Modern Works in Painting and Sculpture forming the Collection of the late GEORGE McCULLOCH, 394 Royal Amateur Art Society, French Engravings of the Eighteenth Century in, 97, 392 TATEGALLERY,Qomoa.zeA with McCULLOCH Collection, 132 VATICAN, admirable arrangement of, 113 VIENNA Carpet, 145, 211, 213 Position of Carpets as affected by, 165, 166 WESTERN INDIA Fine Arts, opening of, 335- 336 Fables, earliest records found in Allegory, 5 " Golden Fleece," explanation of, 7 Interpretation by LORD BACON, 5 MINERVA and ARACHNE, 168, 174 Story of CYRUS, 216, 217 Use of, in illustrating fact, 60 Fabrics, Textile, inception through plaiting, 184 Origin found in Mosaics of, 185 FAGUET, E. (et) J. TANNERY, Dictionnaire Universe! des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts, revised by, 401 False Scarabei (Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette), 37, 39° FANY MOHHAMMED, Dabistan, 241 FERGUSSON, JAMES, A History of Architecture, 32, 63>.389» 398 Assyrian Palaces, 41 413 Oriental Carpets FERGUSSON, JAMES {continued) History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, 49, 352, 401 Mediaeval Architecture, 187 Writings of, quotations from, 40, 42 FIELD, WALTER TAYLOR, Rome, 391 First Napoleon, The (ROPES), 225, 397 FITZGERALD, EDWARD, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam rendered into English verse, 396 FLAXMAN, JOHN, birth of, 365 Contents of Special Summer Number of The Studio, 366 Death of, 365 HOMER'S Iliad, engraved from compositions of, 389 Odyssey, engraved from compositions of, 397 Lectures on Sculpture by, 397 Penelope surprised by the Suitors, 168, 173 Work of, 365-366 FLETCHER, PROFESSOR BANISTER (and BANISTER F. FLETCHER), A History of Architecture, 390 BANISTER F. (and PROFESSOR BANISTER FLETCHER), A History of Architecture, 390 FLORENCE, claim of, as an Art centre, 71 MAUSOLEUM OF THE MEDICI, 72 Picture galleries, 70-72 PITTI PALACE, 71, 72 UFFIZI GALLERY, 71 FOURNIER, ED., VArt de la Reliure en France au dernier s Siecles, 393 FRANCE, artistic temperament of all classes in, 93 Arts of, 84-11 1 COLBERT'S policy as affecting, 93 Attitude of, towards Art, 84. Birthplace of Gothic Architecture, 85 Buildings in, architecturally fine, 85, 86 CHARLEMAGNE and NAPOLEON, ACHIL- LES reincarnated in, 210 Cloth manufacture, establishment of, 87 COLBERT, administration of, 89, 90 Career of, 90-93 Industrial schemes of, 91, 92 Coronation of CHARLEMAGNE, 84 Eighteenth Century French Art, artistic persons who created period entitled, 96 Painters of the period entitled, 95 Sculptors of the period entitled, 96 First Empire, distinctive Art style under, no FOU&UET, trial of, 90-91 Guild of Carpet-makers in, 282 Highest traditions of Italian School carried out by, 86 Le Grand Steele, 86 PARIS made capital of, 84 PERSIAN and TURKEY Carpets surpassed at LA SAFONNERIE, 87 Silk manufacture, establishment of, 87 Venetian glass, successful imitation of, 87 Free Trade, adoption by GREAT BRITAIN, 155 SYMPLEGADES' loss of power to harm com- pared to Prohibitive Tariffs supplanted by, 13 French Art, marriage connections of CHARLES I. as affecting, 86 Scale of Italian Art compared with, 86, no Books, bindings by French publishers, 98, 99, 105, 106, 107 DEROME, bindings of, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 Important eighteenth century illustrated, 97- 107 Issue in broc he of, 98 French Art (continued) Books, mastery of art of engraving in eighteenth century illustrated, 98 Position in domain of Art of eighteenth cen- tury illustrated, 97 Designers, important, 105-107 Engravers, notable eighteenth century, 97 Engraving, historical importance of eighteenth century, 97 Industries and Commerce, COLBERT'S influence on, 89, 92 Lithographers, notable nineteenth century, no Manufactures established by COLBERT, 87, 88, Musicians, notable nineteenth century, no Painters, notable nineteenth century, no, in Sculptors, notable nineteenth century, no French Amateur Art Society, works of GUSTAVE MOREAU exhibited at, 363 French and English Portraits in Paris (Times), 392 French Engravers and Draughtsmen of the XVIIIth Century (DILKE), 393 French Engravings of the XVIIIth Century, Royal Amateur Art Society Exhibition, 392 French Prints of the Eighteenth Century (NEVILL), 393 French Revolution (17S9), reference to, 307-308 Frescoes, PINTURICCHIO, 67 RAPHAEL, 56, 68 Use in textile fabrics of Ancient Greek designs from, 58 FROUDE, J. A., Life and Letters of Erasmus, 394 Oceana, 396 Funeral Papyrus of louiya, The (DAVIS), 34, 390 GALBRUN, CH. (and TRAWINSKI), Popular Guide to the Louvre Museum, 392 GALLERIES, BORGHESE, 70 DORIA, pictures in, 112 LOUVRE, 347 NATIONAL, Alexander and the Family of Darius in, 243-244 Pictures in, 1 1 1 Purchase of VELASQUEZ' Venus and Cupid by, 111 Rejection of original design for, 115, 125 Picture, FLORENCE, 70-72 ROME, 69-71, 72 PITTI, 71 PRADO, pictures in, 1 1 1 ROSPIGLIOSI, 70 UFFIZI, 7 1 GARDNER, PERCY, A Century of Archaeological Discoveries (MICHAELIS), with preface by, 389, 397 . . Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Editor of, permission for repro- duction of engraving of Medea and Jason granted by, 363 References to, 209, 366, 400 The Anglo-Saxon Review and, comparison between support accorded to, 108 GEFFROY, GUSTAVE, Les Muse'es d'Europe, Madrid, 393 Genius as affecting Science, Art, Literature, and Industry, 3° GENOA, birthplace of COLUMBUS, 73 PAGAN INI, 74 Honour accorded to PAGANINI'S violin by, 74 George Morland, His Life and Work (GILBEY and CUMING), 127, 394 GERMANY, " Art Nouveau " as affecting Art of, 145 Arts of, 145 Development of commerce by, 153 4I4 Index GERMANY (continued) Home of modern printing, 145 Music, 145 GERSPACH, M., Les Bordures de la Tapisserie, Les Actes des Apbtres, d'apr'es les Cartons de Raphael, 391 Pamphlet on RAPHAEL Tapestries by, 68 GHIZEH, Pyramids of, 32 GILBERTSON, LEWIS, St. Paul's Cathedral, 394 GILBEY, SIR WALTER (and E. D. CUMING), George Morland, His Life and Work, 127, 394 GIRDLERS' COMPANY. See Companies Glass, Venetian, successful imitation in FRANCE, 87 Gobelins Tapestry {Times), 392 GOBELINS Tapestry. See Tapestries "Golden Fleece," fable explained, 7 Order of, date and institution, 3, 23 Golden, Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, scientific classi- fication guided by, 28 GONCOURT, E. et J. DE, VArt du Dix-Huiticme Siecle, 393 GOTCH, J. ALFRED, Early Renaissance Architecture in England, 394 GOURRAIGNE, L. G., Dictionnaire Universe! d'Histoire et dt Geographic (BOUILLET), revised by, 401 GOYA, pictures of, 112 GRANDSARD (MADAME ANTOINETTE), Jac- quard, sa Vie, 305-316 (quotations), 399 GRANT, PROFESSOR, The Age of Louis XIV., 90-93, 392 GRAUL, RICHARD, Handbuch der Orientalischen Tep- pichkunde, introduction by, 399 GREAT BRITAIN, Abbeys, earliest existence of, 121 Precursors of Cathedrals, 121 Art in, previous to invasion of Gauls, immature state of, 121 Artists of, 126-145 Arts of, 112-145 Free Trade adopted by, 155 Mechanical and industrial efficiency of, 116 Vicissitudes of, 154-155 Great Indian Peninsular Railway. See Railways Grecian, Art, historical importance of, 5 1 Designs, use in textile fabrics of ancient, 58 Painters, anecdotes of, 60, 61, 62 HOMER'S poems used by, 63 Important, 59-61, 62 Textile Arts, Greek painters and, 55, 56 GREECE, arts of, 51-63 Comparison between artistic tendencies of ROME and, 62 Decorative Art influenced by ASSYRIA, 185 FARNESINA and RAPHAEL Loggie, orna- mental decoration of, 59 Greek Art and Modern Craftsmanship (Edinburgh Review), 27 (quotation), 186, 389, 398 Greek Buildings (LETHABY), 390 Greek Life and Thought (MAHAFFY), 226, 242-244, 398 GREEN, J. R., A Short History of the English People, 399 MRS. J. R., A Short H.tory of the English People, edited by, 399 GRIGGS, W., Asian Carpets, 399 Eastern Carpets (ROBINSON), printed in colours b y» 397 and MINTERN BROTHERS, Eastern Carpets (ROBINSON), printed in colours by, 397 GRIMAUX, ADRIAN (and CLIFTON), A New Dic- tionary of the French and English Languages, 40 1 GROLIER, JEAN, birthplace of, 107 Book-collection of, 109 Library of, 107, 108 GROSART, REV. ALEXANDER B., Complete Poems of Sir Philip Sidney, edited by, 400 GRUEL, L., Manuel Historique et Bibliographique de V Amateur de Reliures, 393 GUARNERI, GIUSEPPE, " King Joseph " violin of, 78 Personal details relating to, 77 Violins of STRADIVARI and, 77, 78 GUERBER, H. A., The Myths of Greece and Rome, 389 Guide Books, AGRA and its neighbourhood, Handbook for Visitors to (KEENE), 400 A Guide to the Exhibition in the King's Library (BRITISH MUSEUM), 188, 390, 400 BOMBAY, Visitors' Illustrated Guide to (PINDER), 400 FLORENCE, Handbook to (COOK), 391 Guide Illustre des Palais et jfardins de Trianon, 392 ITALY (BAEDEKER), 391 Central, and ROME (BAEDEKER), 391 From the ALPS to NAPLES (BAEDEKER) 391 Le Muse'e National de Versailles (NOLHAC et PttRATE), 392 LOUVRE MUSEUM, Popular Guide to the (TRAWINSKI and GALBRUN), 392 PARIS and Environs (BAEDEKER), 392 POONA Directory and Guide (Times of India), 354, 400 ROME(E. REYNOLDS-BALL), 391 ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL (GILBERTSON), 394 Une fournee a Versailles, 392 VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSINGTON, 210 (entry from), 398 Guide de T Amateur de Litres a Gravures du XVIII e Sihcle, (COHEN), 107, 364, 393 Guide to the Exhibition in the King's Library, A (BRITISH MUSEUM), 188, 390, 400 Guide to the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, 210, 398 GUIFFRE, JULES, La Collection Kelekain, 399 GUIGUARD, JOAN, Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile, 393 Guilds, Carpet-makers', existence in FRANCE of, 282 HACKLUIT, RICHARD. See HAKLUYT HAF1Z, poem by, 209 HAKLUYT, RICHARD, The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffaues and Discoveries of the English Nation Made by Sea or Over-land, 396 Quotation, 159 Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography (THOMPSON), 280, 396, 399 To Agra and its neighbourhood (KEENE), 400 To Florence (COOK), 391 Handbuch der Orientalischen Teppichkunde (NEUGE- BAUER and ORENDI), 399 Hand-printed and Illuminated Manuscripts (table of), 282-283 Hand-woven, Designed and Coloured Carpets (table of), 282-283 " Happer Japanese Prints," sale of, 98, 148 Harper's Monthly Magazine, 395 HARRIS, HENRY T., Dyeing of the Wool, 262-263 Monograph on the Carpet Weaving Industry of Southern India, 182, 260-261, 373, 399 HAVELL, E. B., Indian Sculpture and Painting, 49, 50, 5". 39° Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (VINCENT), 3 (quotation), 242, 401 HAYES, M. HORACE, Riding and Hunting, 206, 398 HAZLITT, W. CAREW, The Venetian Republic, 73, 391 Hegira, Christian Eras 1535, 1539, correspondent with 942, 946 of, 208-210 Definition of word, 384 415 Oriental Carpets HELLESPONT, christening of, 8 HENDLEY, COLONEL, Asian Carpets (GRIGGS), text by, 399 HENRY VIII., Abbeys suppressed by, 121 HERODOTUS translated by CARY, from the text of BAEHR, 398 HERON -ALLEN, ED., Nicolo Paganini and his Guarnerius, edited by, 392 PAGANINI'S violin described by, 74 HERRICK, ROBERT, The Hesperides and Noble Numbers, 400 Hieroglyph, 386 HILL, MESSRS., Antonio Stradivari, 76, 392, 396 Eminence of firm, 81, 82 Origin of family, 81 Violin industry carried on by, 81 HIND, A. M., A Short History of Engraving and Etching, 393 Hindu Castes and Sects (BHATTACHARYA), 118, 119, 394 Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic (WILKINS), 165, 397, 4°° Histoire de France (DURUY), 392 Histoire de la Bibliophile (TECHENER), 393 History and Principles of Weaving by Hand and by Power, The (BARLOW), 179, 397, 399 of Architecture, A (FERGUSSON), 32, 63, 389, 398 (FLETCHER), 390 (STURGIS), 34 (quotation), 1S6, 390, 398 of Charlemagne, The (JAMES), 391 of England in the Lives of Englishmen, A (CUNNINGHAM), 365 (quotation), 397 of Indian and Eastern Architecture (FERGUSSON), 49 (quotation), 352, 401 of Kidderminster, A (BURTON), 397 of Modern Painting, The (MUTHER), 148, 363, 395 of Oriental Carpets Before 1S00, A (MARTIN), 183, 281, 397, 400 of Persia, The (MALCOLM), 196 (quotation), "7, 3 6 5. 39°, 398 HOGARTH, Industry and Idleness, 284 HOLBEIN'S Duchess of Milan, purchase by NATIONAL GALLERY of, 138,400 Portrait of King Henry Fill. (CONNOISSEUR), 179, 180, 397 HOLLAND, arts of, m-112 HOLLAND, LADY, The Journal of, 33 (quotation), 389 HOLT, ROSA BELLE, Rugs, Oriental and Occidental, Antique and Modern, 399 HOLTZINGER, HEINRICH (and AMELUNG), The Museums and Ruins of Rome, 391 " Holy Carpet," A, bequest to New York city by CHARLES T. YERKES of, 160, 161, 396 Importance of ARDEBIL entitling to rank as, 202 Holy Carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil, The (STEBBING), 167, 209, 367, 397 HOMER, The Iliad of, 16S, 172, 389 The Odyssey of, 168, 172-173, 397 Story of PENELOPE from The Odyssey of, 168, I72-I73. '74 Horses, esteem in which held in INDIA, 196, 223 Horseshoe forms on Persian and Indian carpets due to prominence given to, 223-224, 244 Persian monarchs' love of, 196, 223-224 Horseshoe, the. See Symbolism, and Carpet Forms HUGGINS, LADY, Antonio Stradivari (HILL), with introductory note by, 392, 396 HUGHES, DR. REGINALD, Social England, 366, HUMPHREYS, ARTHUR L., Maximes de Napoleon, 116 (quotation) HUMPHRIES, SYDNEY, Disjecta, 393 (and W. MITCHELL), The Edinburgh Parthenon 137, 395. Reception accorded to Edition de Luxe, 137 HUNT, HOLMAN, pictures of, 130 HUNTER, SIR WILLIAM WILSON, A Brief History of the Indian Peoples, 323, 3S9, 400 Writings of, quotations from, 321, 330 Hunting Carpet, 345 ILCHESTER, LORD, The Journal of Elizabeth Lady Holland, edited by, 33 (quotation), 389 Iliad of HOMER, The, 168, 172, 3S9 Drawings illustrating, 168 Illumination, art of, Carpet - weaving compared with, 282, 297 Feminine character of, 297 Introduction of printing as affecting, 296-297 Introduction of gold and silver thread in carpets suggested by book, or vice versa, 283 Origin of word, 283 Illuminations, Colour reproductions in VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSING- TON, 249 Illustrated Catalogue of the Art and Literary Property of HENRY G. MARO.UAND, 211,396. See also Catalogues Illustrated London Neivs, The, 396 Illustrations, analysis of, 363-369 Are indexed under their titles. See also List of Illustrations on page xi Improvements, BUCKINGHAM PALACE, 128 MARBLE ARCH, rejection of original design, "5 In India (STEEVENS), 119, 327, 355-356 (quotations), 394, 4°° INDIA, arts of, 49-51 Carpet-Making in the Punjab (LATIMER), 258 Carpet-making introduced into, 258, 261 Connection between PERSIA and, 240-241 Estimation of horses in, 196, 223 Mogul dynasty founded, 322 One of the two Great Carpet Nations, 386 Persian weavers introduced into, 343 Spinning and weaving in, 179 Stone for permanent building material introduced into, 49 India through the Ages (STEEL), 323, 400 Indian Art, position of Carpets with regard to, 368 TAJ MAHAL ideal symbol of, 368 Carpet-weavers, descent of, 368 Native life, difficulties in dealing with, 120 Indian Carpets (ROBINSON), 252, 280 Indian Sculpture and Painting (HAVELL), 49, 50, 51, 390 Indians, American, art of tattooing, 149 Arts of, 149 Industries, aniline dye, displacement of older methods of Indian natives by, 118 Discovery and development of, 118, 263 Origin of, 118 Production of artistic fabrics as affected by, 118 Art, advance of JAPAN in warfare as affecting Japanese, 147 Carpet, explanation of terms used in JACQUARD, 274-277 Importance of wool-dyeing in, 262 Importance of wool-spinning in, 262 Sheep-breeding in relation to, 262 Weaving as influencing, 27 Climatic conditions and their influence upon Persian, 46, 47 Establishment by CYRUS and CAMBYSES of, 43 416 Index Industries [continued) French. See FRANCE National, Argonautic expedition as affecting, 23 Revival by MEDEA of, 21 Industry, Genius as affecting advance in, 30 JASON and MEDEA as types of the combination of Art and, 24 Industry and Idleness (HOGARTH), 284 Inventors, references to, 271, 272, 280 ISMAIL I., SHAH, Carpets as influenced by death of, 202-203 Death of, 202 Sophi dynasty founded by, 202, 207, 208 ISSUS, battle of, 242-243 Italy (BAEDEKER), 391 ITALY, arts of, 62-83 Italy from the Alps to Naples (BAEDEKER), 391 JACQUARD, ARDEBIL Carpet (Plate III), illus. facing 36, 37 1 Carpet (Plate IV), illus. facing 48, 371 (Plate VI), illus. facing 72, 372 (Plate X), illus. facing 144, 375 (Plate XI), illus. facing 164, 375 Design (Plate II), illus. facing 12, 370 Distinctive feature of process of manufacture, 300 Industry, explanation of terms used in, 274- 277 Leading varieties of, 298-301 Loom for weaving, distinction between machine for producing design and colouring and, 178, 278 Merits of, 235 Method of forming pile, 181 References to, 176, 178 Varieties most nearly approaching Oriental Carpets, 235 Cord both Warp and Weft, 386 ListofWorksin BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY under heading, 269, 304 Machine, adaptability of, 301 Adaptation of perforated card system, 270, 286-287 Application of steam power, 277 Comparative simplicity with regard to opera- tion, 271 Date of earliest, 308 Description of, 272-274 Exhibition of, 310 Patenting of, 277, 285, 286, 288, 310 Pianola, Angelus, and Orchestrelle piano- players compared with, 303-304 Printing compared with, 304 References to, 285, 286, 288-2S9 Universal adoption of, 312 Working of, 272-274 Prayer Rug (Plate XXIII), illus. facing 288, 383 Runner (Plate XV), illus. facing 204, 377 Weaving, Printing compared with, 269-272, 277, 278 Process, references to, 176, 178, 273, 285, 289-295 and Book Printing (comparative table of), 289-295 JACQUARD, JOSEPH MARIE, illus. facing 269, 367 Apprenticeship to bookbinder, 307 Birth of, 269 Birthplace of, 317 Career of, effect of NAPOLEON'S influence upon, 3 1 ', 3'3. 3'4, 3>5 Death of, 269, 305, 314-315 Division relating to, 269-318 JACQUARD, JOSEPH MARIE {continued) Early sufferings of, 270, 306-307 Eulogy on, 315, 316 Invention of loom by, 269, 270 Life of, 305-316 Made member of the Legion of Honour, 313 NAPOLEON'S meetings with, 308-310, 314 Recognition of work, 309, 310, 311, 313, 315 Parentage, 270 Portrait by BONNEFOND, 316-317, 367 In woven silk, 317, 367 References to, 107, 285 Statue in memory of, 316 VAUCANSON'S model discovered by, 285, 309, 316 WATT'S meeting with, 312-313 Work of, 384 Works relating to, 399-400 Jacquard, sa Vie (GRANDSARD), 269, 304, 399 JAHAN, SHAH, accession of, 323 Death of, 327 Poem in praise of TAJ MAHAL, 353 Reference to, 359 Suggestive of Glory and Romance, 386 Weavers and materials brought from PERSIA by, 343. 34+ JAIL, POONA, references to, 251, 331 YERRQWDA, description of, 354, 355, 356 Fine examples of Indian Carpets made in, 119, 250-251, 261, 330-331 Industries carried on in Reformatory for boys in connection with, 354-356 Particulars of Carpet-making industry carried on in, 177, 354-356 JAMES, G. P. R., The History of Charlemagne, 391 JAPAN, arts of, 147-149 Sensational Sales of " Happer Japanese Prints," 98, .48 Japanese Art industries, advance of JAPAN in warfare as affecting, 147 Artists, notable, 148 Lacquer, secret of, 147 Satsuma and Cloisonne ware, unique art of, 147- 148 JARRY, NICOLAS, calligraphic work of, 296 Description of, 296 JASON, abandonment of MEDEA by, 22 Adventure of the SYMPLEGADES, 11-12, 13 Birth, concealment of, 6 Birthplace of, 6 Choice of leaders to form ship's crew, 9 Death of, 22 Death of father, 21 Education of, 6 Failure of, 22 Interpretation of story of, 3-22 JUNO'S encounter with, 6 Guidance sought by, 8 MEDEA and, as types of the combination of In- dustry and Art, 24 Meeting of KING AEETES and, 13, 14 NAPOLEON compared with, 23 Parentage of, 5 Part played by MEDEA in assisting, 14-19 PELIAS' injustice to, 6 Recognition of, 6 Reforms effected by, 10, 11 Return with MEDEA to his father's kingdom, 21 Similarity between AGNI and, 330 Visit to blind KING OF THRACE, 10 JONES Collection. See Collections, National 417 27 Oriental Carpets JONES, INIGO, reference to, 123 Journal of Elizabeth, Lady Holland, The, 33 (quotation), 389 KEENE'S Handbook for Visitors to Agra and its neighbour- hood, 400 Kelmscott Press, early works issued by WILLIAM MORRIS through, 189 KENYON, F. G., ARISTOTLE on the Athenian Con- stitution, translated by, 168 (quotation), 397 KIDDERMINSTER or Scotch Carpet. See Carpets KINGSFORD, MISS FLORENCE, work of, 297 KIPLING, RUDYARD, Out of India, 398, 400 Quotation from, 321 The Novels, Tales and Poems of, 397 KIRBY, THOMAS E., Illustrated Catalogue of the Art and Literary Property collected by the late HENRY G. MAROUAND, edited by, 396 KJERULF HALFDAN, Songs of, 359 Knotting of carpets. See Carpets KUM, MOSSUE OF. See MOSSUES LABORDE, Choix de Chansons, 104, 105, 106 Work of, references to, 103, 104, 105 Labour, cheapness of, construction of Pyramids as affected by, 33 Lace, establishment of manufactory at BEAUVAIS, 89 La Collection Kelekain (GUIFFRE), 399 Lacquer, Japanese, secret of, 147 LANGLES, L., Notice Chronologique de la Perse, 218, 220, 240-241 (quotation) Voyages du Chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de TOrient, edited by, 390, 39S La Reliure du XIX' Siicle (BERALDI), 393 Francaise Artistique (MARIUS-MICHEL), 393 Commercielle et Industrielle (MARIUS- MICHEL), 393 V Art dans la Decoration Exterieure des Livres, les Cou- •uertures illustrees, les Cartonnages d'Editeurs, la Reliure d' Art (UZANNE), 393 de la Reliure en France au derniers Siecles (FOURNIER), 393 du Dix-Huitieme Siecle (GONCOURT), 393 Last of England, The (BROWN), 128-129 (quotations) LATIF, SYAD MUHAMMAD, KHAN BAHADUR, Agra, Historical and Descriptive, 321, 322-327, 333-334, 35 2 "353, 354, 4°° Chronology of, entry from, 326 LATIMER, C, Monograph on Carpet Making in the Punjab, 258, 399 La Toison d'O'r (LETTENHOVE), 3 (quotation), 3S9 La Villa, il Musco e la Galleria Borghese (RUSCONI), 391 LEATHES, STANLEY, CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORT, THE, Vols. V., IX., and X., edited by, 392, 399 Le Chateau de Chantilly {La Revue de I 'Art Ancien et Moderne), 393 Fontainebleau (TARSOT et CHARLOT), 392 Lectures on Sculpture (FLAXMAN), 397 Le Dix-Huitieme Siecle, 392 Le Dix-Newuieme Siecle, 393 LEE, SIDNEY, A Life of William Shakespeare, 397 DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY edited by, 401 LEE, WILLIAM, invention of industrial automatic machines, 31 1 Legends, Mythological, inspirations derived from, by GUSTAVE MOREAU, 363 Le Grand Siicle (BOURGEOIS), 86, 87 (quotations), 89, 90, 392 LEIGHTON, LORD, pictures by, 133 Le JeuneHommeet la Mart (GUSTAVE MOREAU), 363 LeMusee National de Versailles (NOLHAC et PERATfi), 392 LEO XIII., POPE, LEONINE LIBRARY created by, 67 Les Beaux Arts et les Arts Decor atifs a V Exposition Uni- verselle de igoo, Frontispiece to division " Allegory," taken from engraved plate included in, 363 Les Bordures de la Tapisserie, Les Actes des Apotres, d'aprls les Cartons de Raphael (GERSPACH), 391 Les Dessinateurs d 'Illustrations au Dix-Huitieme Siecle (PORTALIS), 393 Les Graveurs du Dix-Huitieme Siecle (PORTALIS and BERALDI), 393 Les Musics d'Europe, Madrid (GEFFROY), 393 LETHABY, W. R., Greek Buildings, 390 Westminster Abbey and the King's Craftsmen, 394 LIBRARIES, GROLIER, references to, 107, 108 VATICAN, foundation of, 67 Intentions of POPE NICHOLAS V. in founding, 67 World renown of treasures contained in, 67 Life, Human, construction of Pyramids as affected by indifference to, 33 Construction of TAJ MAHAL as affected by indifference to, 342, 344 In making RED SEA CANAL, indifference to, 33 National, fact and romance in relation to, 24 Life and Death of Jason, The (MORRIS), 389 Life and Labour (SMILES), S6 (quotation), 392 Life and Letters of Erasmus (FROUDE), 394 Life and Work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The (ROSSETTI), ■42, 395 Life of Jacquard (GRANDSARD), quotations from, 305-316 James McNeill Whistler, The (PENNELL), 394 Napoleon I., The (ROSE), 396 William Morris, The (MACKAIL), references to, 141, 142, 143, 395, 396 William Shakespeare, A (LEE), 397 Literary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century (edited by W. R. NICOLL and T. J. WISE), 395 Literary Man's Bible, The (COURTNEY), 210, 398 Literature, Genius as affecting advance in, 30 Representative names in English, 112, 113 SHAKESPEARE'S influence upon, 163 Livres illustris du XVIII Siecle, illus. facing 108, 364 Li-vres illustrh du XVIII" Siecle (RAHIR), list of, 109 LONDON,NATIONAL GALLERY. See GALLERIES LONGMAN'S Gazetteer of the World (edited by G. CHISHOLM), 401 Loom, Hindoo weaver's, description of, 178 JACQUARD, distinction between machine for producing design and colouring and, 178, 278 Invention of, 269, 270 Looms, comparison between Chinese silk and English finger-rug, 179 Earliest representation of, 284 Finger-rug, description of, 1 80-1 81 Introduction into ENGLAND of, 179, 283 Hand, introduction of, 284 Old hand, references to, 274, 275, 276, 277, 284 Power, introduction of, 179 Reputed inventor of, 3 10-3 11 Lost Carpet of TAJ MAHAL. See MUMTAZ MAHAL Carpet LOUIS II. of BAVARIA, position as Art-patron, 144 LOUIS XIV. of FRANCE, extravagance of, 95 Length of reign, 125 Letter addressed by CHARDIN to, 386 LOUVRE GALLERIES. See GALLERIES MUSEUM. See Guide Books, and MUSEUMS LYONS, historical claims of, 317 418 Index LYTTON, SIR EDWARD BULWER, Athens, its Rise and Fall, 395 MACGILLIVRAY, PITTENDRIGH, The Sculptures of the Parthenon, 137, 395 MACHIAVELLI, saying of, 242 Machinery, substitution of hand-power by, 287-288 Machines, invention by WILLIAM LEE of industrial automatic, 311 JACQUARD, adaptability of, 301 Adaptation of perforated card system to, 270, 286-287 Application of steam-power to, 277 Patent taken out for, 277, 285-286 Pianola, Angelus, and OrchestreLle piano- players compared with, 303-304 Printing compared with, 304 References to, 2S8-289 Universal adoption of, 312 Working of, 271-274, 289-294 Printing, earliest inventors of, 284, 285 Improvements by WILLIAM NICHOLSON in, 285, 286 MACK.AIL, J. W., The Life of William Morris, 141, 142, 143, 395, 396 MACKAY-SMITH, REV. ALEXANDER, The Romance of a Mad King, 395 MACKOWSKY, HANS, Mkhelagniolo, 391 MADRID, PRADO GALLERY, pictures in, m MAGGINI, GIOVANNI PAOLO, advance towards perfected CREMONA in violins of, 75 MAHAFFY, PROFESSOR J. P., Greek Life and Thought, 226 (quotation), 242-244, 398 MAINZ Psalters (1457 and 1459), references to, 36, 284 MAKSOUD of KASHAN, inscription recording achieve- ment of, 210 Patience displayed by, 131 Work of, 203-209 Compared to CHOPIN'S musical composi- tions, 57 Masterpiece of J. M. MOREAU, 105 References to, 69, 84, 167, 228, 232, 244, 297. 371 MALCOLM, COLONEL SIR JOHN, Carpets, Persian usage of, 203-204 The History of Persia, 196, 217 (quotation), 365, 39°, 398 Writings of, references to, 202, 203, 225 (quota- tions), 233 MANCHESTER Jubilee Exhibition (1887). See Exhibi- tions MANN, J. S., Social England, edited by, 400 MANNING, J. A., Maximes de Napoleon translated by, 393 . . Manuel Hhtorique et Bibliographique de V Amateur de Reliures (GRUEL), 393 Manuscripts, hand-printed and illuminated (table of), 2S2- 283 Illuminated, by WILLIAM BLAKE, 296 Prices realized by, 161 Maoris, NEW ZEALAND, arts of, 149-153 Earliest methods of architectural construction re- called by wharris of, 149-150 Fine physique of, 150 Native weaving, curious forms used in, 150 Ostracism as a reason to account for race of, 1^1 Race deterioration of, 151, 152 Resemblance of ornamental work of wall at WARKA to native woven garments of, 40 Tattooing, art of, 149, 150 Uses made of greenstone by, 1 50 MARBLE ARCH improvements, rejection of original design, 115 Marble Arch Improvement : its Conception and Realisation (SPEAIGHT), 393 MARIUS-MICHEL, La Reliure Francaise Artistique, 393 La Reliure Francaise Commercielle et Industrielle, 393 Market, opening of REAT, 337 MARQUAND, HENRY G., Carpets as influenced by, '385. Collection, comparison between MUMTAZ MAHAL Carpet and carpet in, 345 High prices realized by sale of, 160, 164, 253-254 Reference to, 213 Illustrated Catalogue of the Art and Literary Property collected by (edited by T. E. KIRBY), 211, 396 MARRIAGE, ELLEN, The Unknown Masterpiece (BALZAC), translated by, 400 MARTIN, F. R., A History of Oriental Carpets Before 1800, 183, 281, 397, 400 Mogul Carpet, assigned date of, 281, 282 Mats, TEKKE or BOKHARA, 375 MAUGE, J., Comment Discerner les Styles du Vlll> au XIX e Siecles, graves par, 393 Mausoleum of the MEDICI, 72 Maximes de Napoleon (LIANCOURT), 393 (HUMPHREYS), quotation from, 116 Mazarin Bible, references to, 36, 161, 188, 284 MAZARIN, CARDINAL, COLBERT recommended to LOUIS XIV. by, 363 Medailles et Pierres Gravies [Catalogue, Bibliotheque Nationale), 392. See also Catalogues MEDEA, abandoned by JASON, 22 and JASON, illus. facing 3, 363 As types of the combination of Industry and Art, 24 Reproduction of picture by GUSTAVE MOREAU, 363 Art industries revived by, 21 Assistance rendered to JASON by, 14-19 Depicted by GUSTAVE MOREAU, 23 Return with JASON to his father's kingdom, 21 Mede'e et Jason (GUSTAVE MOREAU), engraving by JEAN PATRICOT, 363 Impression pulled by PAUL MOGLIA, 363 Mediaeval Architecture (FERGUSSON), 187 MEDICI, Mausoleum of the, 72 MICHAELIS, PROFESSOR, A Century of Archaeological Discoveries (translated by KAHNWEILER), 27 (quotation), 37, 166, 185-186 (quotation), 3S9, 397 Writings of, references to, 51, 168 Mkhelagniolo (MACKOWSKY), 391 MILAN CATHEDRAL, 72, 73 MILLAIS, SIR J. E., pictures by, 133 MILLET, JEAN FRANCOIS, prices obtained for pictures by, 148-149 MINERVA and ARACHNE. See Fables Miniatures — Gouaches, Estampes en Couleurs Francaises et Anglaises [Catalogue, Bibliotheque Nationale), 392. See also Catalogues MITCHELL, WILLIAM (and S. HUMPHRIES), Edinburgh Parthenon, The, 395 The Edinburgh Parthenon, Edition de Luxe of, 137, 395 MITCHELL, WILLIAM, The National Monument to be completed for the Scottish National Gallery, on the model of the Parthenon, 136-137, 395 MOGLIA, PAUL, Le Jcune Homme et la Mort (G. MOREAU), impressions pulled by, 363 Mede'e et Jason, impression pulled by, 363 Mogul Carpet, DR. MARTIN'S, 281, 282 MOLIERE'S CEuvres, 1773 Edition, 103, 392 4I9 27 a Oriental Carpets Monograph on Carpet Making in the Punjab (LATIMER), 399 Monograph on Carpet U caving in Bengal, A (MUKERJI), 399 Monograph on Oriental Carpets (CLARKE), 252 Monograph on the Carpet Weaving Industry of Southern India (HARRIS), 182, 260-261 (quotation), 263- 264, 373. 38o, 399 Montreal Gazette (Nov. 7, 1S85), 163 Ephemerides, 396 Monument du Costume (J. M. MOREAU), 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103 MOREAU, GUSTAVE, birth of, 363 Death of, 363 Exhibition of works at galleries of French Amateur Art Society, 363 Incarnation of French Pre-Raphaelites, 363 Inspiration derived from mythological legends by, 363 Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, 363 Medea and Jason, 363 MEDEA depicted by, 23 Paintings of, 83 Reproductions in GOBELINS Tapestry of paint- ings by, 363 MOREAU, J. M. (Le Jeune), book illustrations by, value of, 103 Monument du Costume, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103 Work of, as designer and engraver, 98, 99, 100, ioi, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 MORGAND, DAMASCENE, Catalogue of, 106 Quotations from, 100, 101, IC2 MORLAND, GEORGE, work of, compared to that of French artists, 127 Morning Post, Development of Painting, The (CLAUSEN), 393 Egyptian Excavation, 390 Path to Paris, The (RUTTER), 392 Qtiilter Collection, The, 394 Quotations from, 85, 130 MORRIS, WILLIAM, art interests of, 141-144 Art of WAGNER compared with, 143, 144 Carpet Circular of, 297-298 Conjoint work of SIR E. BURNE-JONES and, 142, 143 Early works issued through Kelmscott Press, 189 Furniture produced by, 142 Improvements in dyeing effected by, 142 Kelmscott Press of, 142 Life and Death of Jason, The, 389 Quotation from, 159 Revival of Tapestry-weaving by SIR E. BURNE- JONES and, 142, 143 Work of, 296 Mosaics, origin of woven fabrics found in, 185 MOSQUE of SHAH ABBAS THE GREAT, 368, illus. back cover MOSQUES, ARDEBIL, 204, 205, 207, 209, 210, 244 Humanity typified in architectural form of, 342, 343 ISPAHAN, building and cost of, 48, 368, 369 Ideal symbol of Persian Art, 368 KUM, 208 MECCA, 255, 256 Mr. Robert Browning's latest Words on Music [Musical Times), 395 MT. TARAWERA, eruption of, 151, 152 MUKERJI, N. G., A Monograph on Carpet Weaving in Bengal, 399 Carpet Weaving in Bengal, 259 (quotation) MUMFORD, JOHN KIMBERLEY, Oriental Rugs (First and Third Editions), 167-168 (quotation), 374, 375, 397 MUMTAZ MAHAL, account of, 323-325 Carpet, carpet in MARQUAND Collection com- pared with, 345 ARDEBIL Carpet compared with, 345 Date assigned to, 348 Influence of SHAH ABBAS upon, 348 Knotting of, 345 Likeness of MUMTAZ MAHAL woven into, 344, 346 " Lost Carpet of Taj Mahal," references to, 343. 344, 345 Needles used in, 174 Prototype at CRACOW CATHEDRAL, 34^ 35°, MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS, 347-352 References to, 105, 174, 326, 330, 354, 356, 357. 359 Uses of, in TAJ MAHAL, 352 Death of, 325, 368 Glory and Romance suggested by name of, 386 References to, 359, 368 MURILLO, work of, 112 MURRAY, JOHN, Publisher of engraving of SHAH ABBAS and BYRON'S Don Juan, 365 MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS {PARIS) Carpet. See MUMTAZ MAHAL Carpet MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS {PARIS), example of Prayer Rug in, 383 MUSEES ROYAUX DES ARTS DECORATIFS DE BRUXELLES, 191, 398 MUSEUMS, BOMBAY, reference to, 330 BRITISH, 112 Acquisition of ELGIN Marbles by, 166-167 A Guide to the Exhibition in the King's Library, 390, 400 Library Catalogue of, 269, 304 LOUVRE, Popular Guide to the, 392 MUSEES ROYAUX DES ARTS DECORATIFS DE BRUXELLES, 191, 398 SOUTH KENSINGTON, 347 Acquisition of ARDEBIL Carpet by, 166 VICTORIA AND ALBERT, alliance of re- presentative names in British and Ancient Art in, 113 Architectural features of, 113 Carpets in National Collection at, 201 Colour reproductions of " Illuminations from a Manuscript copy of the * Akbar-Namah,' " 249 Coloured reproduction of GIRDLERS' COMPANY Carpet, 247 Persian carpets, 249, 250 Examples of Indian (Mogul) Carpets, 249- 250 Made in YERROWDA JAIL, 250- 25,, 261 Inadequate accommodation for display of ARDEBIL Carpet, 127 " Niches of fame " in, 113 Opening of, 1 12 Reproduction of portrait of JACQUARD in woven silk, 317 Museums and Ruins of Rome, The (AMELUNG and HOLTZINGER), 391 Music, GERMANY the home of, 145 Value of tone to artists, 58 Musical Times, Mr. Robert Browning's latest Words on Music, 395 Nicolo Paganini and his Guarnerius (HERON- ALLEN), 392 MUSJID-l-SHAH or Royal Mosque of ISPAHAN, illus. front cover, 368 42O Index MUTHER, RICHARD, History of Modern Painting, The, 148, 395 Mythology, Trojan War in relation to, 6 Myths of Greece and Rome, The (GUERBER), 3S9 NANTEUIL, ROBERT, work of, 364 NAPOLEON, career of, 225 Death of, 314 JACQUARD'S career as affected by influence of. 3". 3'3, 3*4, 3'5 meetings with, 30S-310, 314 JASON compared with, 23 NATIONAL GALLERY. See GALLERIES National Loan Exhibition. See Exhibitions National Monument, The, to be completed for the Scottish National Gallery, on the model of the Parthenon (MITCHELL), 136-137, 395 Nations, Eastern, tenacity in adhering to old customs, 39 Rise and fall affected by predominance of particular individuals, 30 Nature, the Carpet an ideal Hieroglyph of, 386 NAVILLE, EDOUARD, The Funeral Papyrus of Iouiya (DAVIS), with introduction by, 34, 390 Needlework, connection between arts of Weaving, Plait- ing, and, 174 Inclusion with Carpets of Tapestry and, 174 NEUGEBAUER, RUDOLPH (and J. ORENDI)ffW- buch der Qrientalischer Teppichkunde (introduction by R. GRAUL), 399 NEVILL, RALP H, French Prints of the Eighteenth Century, 393 Netv Dictionary of the French and English Languages, A (CLIFTON and GRIMAUX), 401 Newspapers, first printed by steam power, 286 Improvements in Printing Machines by WILLIAM NICHOLSON as affecting, 285, 286 NEW ZEALAND, Greenstone of, uses made by Maoris, 150 NICHOLAS V., POPE, VATICAN LIBRARTfonnded by, 67 NICHOLSON, WILLIAM, 289 Effect upon Newspapers of improvements in Printing Machines made by, 285, 286 Patent taken out for Printing Machine by, 285 NICOLL, W. ROBERTSON (and T. J. WISE), Literary- Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century, edited by, 395 Nicolo Paganini and his Guarnerius (HERON-ALLEN), 392 Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle, The (translated by CANON J. E. C. WELLDON), 395 NORGATE, MISS KATE, A Short History of the English People (GREEN), edited by, 400 Norman invasion, influences of, 173 4 Notice Chronologique de la Perse (LANGLES), 220, 240- 241 (quotation) Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile (GUIGUARD), 393 Novels, Tales and Poems of. The (KIPLING), 397 Novum Organum (BACON), 117, 389, 394 Oceana (FROUDE), 396 O'CONOR, DAVID, Styles of Ornament (SPELTZ), translated by, 390, 398 Odyssey of HOMER, The, drawings illustrating, 168 POPE'S translation of, 172-173 (quotations) References to, 174, 397 (Euvres, 1773 Edition (MOLIERE), 103 One Hundred Carpet Designs (ANDREWS), 247, 399 OOGE, MARTIN D', The Acropolis of Athens, 52, 390 ORENDI, JULIUS (and R. NEUGEBAUER), Handbuch der Orientalise her Teppichkunde (introduction by GRAUL), 399 Oriental Carpet (Plate V), illus. facing 60, 372 (Plate VII), illus. facing 88, 373 Oriental Carpet [continued] (Plate VIII), illus. facing 120, 374 (Plate IX), illus. facing 132, 374 Oriental Carpets — also referred to as the Vienna Carpet Book— (English Edition edited by PURDON CLARKE), Introductory Article by SIR GEORGE BIRDWOOD to, 43 (quotation) References to, 167, 182, 208, 211, 252, 348, 373, 396, 398 Oriental Carpets (STRZYGOWSKI), 1S3, i84(quotation), zo 9. 385. 397 Oriental Enamelled Glass (SCHMORANZ), 254, 399 Oriental Inscription Rug (Plate XXIV), illus. facing 304, 384 King Rug (Plate I), Frontispiece, 370 Knot both Warp and Weft, 386 Prayer Rug (Plate XXII), illus. facing 256, 382 Rug (Plate XVII), illus. facing, 220, 37S (Plate XVIII), illus. facing 22S, 379 (Plate XIX), illus. facing 236, 38 I (Plate XX), illus. facing 244, 381 (Plate XXI), illus. facing 252, 382 Oriental Rug Book, The (RIPLEY), 399 Oriental Rugs. See also Rugs Oriental Rugs (MARQUAND Sale), 160, 253, 396 (MUMFORD), 167 (quotation), 374, 379, 397 Oriental Runner (Plate XII), illus. facing 176, 376 (Plate XIII), illus. facing 184, 376 (Plate XIV), illus. facing 196, 377 (Plate XVI), illus. facing 212, 378 Original Bodleian Copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare, The (Athenaeum), 162, 396 Original Design for the National Gallery, London (Art Journal), 125, 394 Origins of English History (ELTON), 120, 121 (quotations), Ostracism, Existence of Maori race accounted for by hypotheses of banishment or, 151 Utilization by democratic States, 10 Out of India (KIPLING), 398, 400 Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, The (August 1856), 390 Oxford Students' History of India, The (SMITH), 3 1 (quotation), 389 PAGANINI. See GENOA, Nicolo Paganini, and Violins Painters, British, references to, 126-135 Painting, frequent use of, in decoration of Persian houses, 46 Photography and reproduction in monotone and colour as influencing, 135, 136 Travelling facilities as influencing, 135, 136 Palace Carpet, history and principal features of, 211-215 PALACES, ALHAMBRA, description and date of, 111 BUCKINGHAM, improvements of, 128 Indian, secret chambers and dungeons in, 332- 333, 34°, 352 yAHANGIR, description of, 333-334 PIT 77, ideal home for Art treasures, 71, 72 VERSAILLES, amount expended upon grounds and palaces, 94 Architects entrusted with extensions, 93, 94 Artists employed in laying out grounds, 94, Extensions of, 93 Fetes given by LOUIS XIV., 93 GOBELINS Tapestry made for, 94 Large number of work-people employed in and about, 94 Used as seat of government, 93, 94 World-renowned magnificence of, 94 Palaeography (QUARITCH), 2S0, 396, 399 Pall Mall Gazette, 396 PANAMA CANAL. See CANALS 42 1 Oriental Carpets Pari: and Environs (BAEDEKER), 392 PARIS Exhibition. See Exhibitions PARKINSON, WILLIAM, Tie City of Genoa, illus- trated by, 391 PARLIAMENT, HOUSES OF, architects of, 124 PARTHENON, EDINBURGH, establishment of School of Architecture and Sculpture in connection with, .38 PARTHENON, The, humanity typified in architectural form of, 342-343 Scheme for reproduction at EDINBURGH, 136- 139 Pati to Paris, Tie (RUTTER), 392 PATRICOT, JEAN, Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, engraved by, 363 Medee et Jason, engraved by, 363 PELIAS, injustice to JASON, 6 Murder of, 21 PENELOPE surprised by the Suitors, illus. facing 173, 365 Penelope surprised by tie Suitors (FLAXMAN), 168 PENNELL, E. R. and J., Tie Life of James McNeill Whistler, 394 People of India, Tie (RISLEY), 233 (quotation), 397 PEPYS, SAMUEL, Tie Diary of, excerpt from, 226, 398 PERATE, ANDRE (et P. DE NOLHAC), Le Muse'e National de Versailles, 392 Percy Anecdotes, Tie (R. and S. PERCY), 61, 62 (quota- tions), 63, 178 (quotation), 391 PERCY, REUBEN and SHOLTO, Percy Anecdotes, 61, 62 (quotations), 63, 178 (quotation), 391 Permanent Collection of Paintings in tie Art Gallery [Cata- logue of Birmingiam Museum and Art Gallery), 394 PERSIA, architectural arts of, 42 (quotation) Arts of, 42-51 CHARDIN'S description of, 218-220 Conquest of, by ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 242-244 Dyeing, advance of PERSIA in art, as compared with EUROPE, 47, 237 Horses, estimation in which held in, 196, 223- 224, 244 INDIA and, Carpet-weaving instinct of, 368 Conjectured connection between, 240-241 Letter-writing in, points of etiquette with regard to, 44 Life and manners of, CHARDIN'S opinion on, 44-49 Manufactures of, 47, 236 One of the two Great Carpet Nations, 386 Religion of, 219, 254-257 Persia and tie Persian Question (CURZON), 217, 222, 227, 396 Persian Architecture, advantage of use of stone in, as com- pared with wood, 42 Art, climatic conditions as affecting, 46, 47 Mosque of ISPAHAN ideal symbol of, 368 Position of Carpets with regard to, 368 Carpets, various uses of, 45, 203-204, 229, 233- 234. 2 39 Carpet-weavers, descent of, 368 Houses, infrequent use of sculpture in decoration of, 46 Use of painting in decoration of, 46 Kings, extensive use of Carpets in tents of, 45 Golden weights used for tents of, 46 Richness and importance of tents used by, 45. 46 Porcelain, reason for beauty of enamelled, 47 Persian Carpets of tie Period of Shai Abbas tie Great, 237 Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccai (BURTON), 399 PERUGINO, works of, 71 PHILLIPS, CLAUDE, lie Picture Gallery ofdarlesl., 1*5. 394 Piilosopiy of Furniture (POE), 265-266 PHRYXUS, JASON'S accusation of KING AEETES with regard to murder of, 14 Reception by KING AEETES, 8 Piy steal and Metapiysical Works of Lord Bacon, Tie, 389 Picture Gallery of Charles I., The (PHILLIPS), 125, 394 Pictures, earliest example printed from wood-block, 188 PINDER, D. A., Visitors' 1 Illustrated Guide to Bombay, 400 PINTURICCHIO, frescoes by, 67 PIROLI, TOMMASO, Penelope surprised by tie Suitors (FLAXMAN), engraved by, 168 PITTI PALACE, 7 1, 72. See also FLORENCE, and PALACES Plaiting, early origin claimed for, 169, 171, 184, 278 Textile fabrics probable outcome of, 184 Weaving and Needlework, connection between arts of, 174 POE, EDGAR ALLAN, centenary of, 265 Death of, 265 Piilosopiy of Furniture, 265-266 (quotations) Works of, Tie, 399 Poems by SHAH JAHAN in praise of TAJ MAHAL, 353 . Poetry, allegorical, deficiencies of, 4 Uses of, 3, 4 Policy of tie Government in Ciina, The {Times), 394 Politics of Aristotle, The, 389 POLLARD, ALFRED, Hesperides and Noble Numbers, The (HERRICK), edited by, 401 Poena Directory and Guide, 354, 355» 4°° POPE, ALEXANDER, HOMER'S Iliad translated by, 389 Odyssey translated by, 397 Popular Guide to the Louvre Museum (TRAWINSKI and GALBRUN), 392 Porcelain, art of, countries famous for, 146 Chinese, exhibition of, 146, 395 Refinement of, 146 Enamelled, reason for beauty of Persian, 47 WEDGWOOD, artistic spirit of FLAXMAN as affecting, 365 PORTALIS, BARON ROGER, book-collecting know- ledge of COHEN and, 364 Les Dessinateurs d' Illustrations au Dix-Huitieme Sieclc, 393 Les Graveurs du Dix-Huitieme Steele, 393 POTTER, MARY KNIGHT, Art of tie Vatican, The, 39 1 Pottery, Art, use in textile fabrics of ancient Greek designs from, 58 PRADO GALLERY, ill. See also MADRID, and GALLERIES PRIESTMAN, HOWARD, Principles of Woollen Spin- ning, 175 (quotation), 397 Principles of Worsted Spinning, 175, 179 (quotation), 397 Writings of, 177 Principal Navigations Voyages Traffiques and Discoveries of the Englisi Nation Made by Sea or Over-land, Tie (HAKLUYT), 396 Principles of Woollen Spinning (PRIESTMAN), 175 (quotation), 397 Principles of Worsted Spinning (PRIESTMAN), 175, 179 (quotation), 397 Printers, notable German, 269, 271 Printing, Block, invention by Chinese, 283 and Carpet-weaving (comparative table of), 282, 286 Book, analogy between JACQUARD Weaving and, 286-295 422 Index Printing [continued] Book, comparative table of JACQUARD Weaving and, 289-295 From Movable Types and by Hand-press (table of), 284-286 Wood-blocks by Hand-rubbing and by Hand- press (table of), 283-284 GERMANY home of modern, 145 JACQUARD Weaving and, comparison between, 269-272, 277, zj% Machines, earliest inventors of, 284-2S5 Improvements by WILLIAM NICHOL- SON, 286 Movable Types, first documents printed from 36, 2S4 Invention of printing from, 269, 284 Origin of, 284 Newspaper, first use of steam-power in, 285, 2S6 Perfection of earliest, 36, 188 Pictures from Wood-blocks, earliest date assigned, 188, 2S3 Presses, modern machine work compared with ancient, 376 References to, 283, 284 Processes used in, 272 Prints, u Happer Japanese," sensational sales of, 98, 148 PRIOR, EDWARD S., The Cathedral Builders in Eng- land, 122 (quotation), 123, 394 Private Palaces of London, The (CHANCELLOR), 40, 1 14, 390 PROTHERO, G. W., THE CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORY, vols. V., IX., and X. (ACTON), edited by, 392, 399 Pyramids, architectural form of, humanity typified in, 342-34-3 Construction, comparison between methods used in TAJ MAHAL and, 34 Detailed perfection in, 33 Indifference to human life in, 33 Mechanical skill shown in, 32 GHIZEH, date of erection, 32 &UAR1TCH, BERNARD, 159, 161 Palaeography, 280, 396, 399 Quotation from, 282 ^uilter Collection, The [Morning Post), 394 RAHIR, EDOUARD, Catalogue of, 104 (quotation), 105 Litres Illustre's du XVIII* Siecle, 109 References to, 100, 364 Railways, Great Indian Peninsular, architectural beauty of VICTORIA TERMINUS STATION, 334-335 RAPHAEL, death of, 68 Frescoes by, 56, 68 Pictures by, 68, 69, 70, 72 Reincarnation of APELLES in, 210 Tapestries, finest known specimens in VATICAN, 69 Reference to, 68. See also Tapestries Work of, 55, 56, 61, 68, 69, 71 READE, CHARLES, Cloister and the Hearth, The, 277- 278, 399 REAT MARKET, opening of, 337 Record Price for the Maaarin Bible {Pall Mall Gazette), 396 RED SEA CANAL. See CANALS Reference works, 401 Reformatories, Boys 1 , industries carried on in YER- ROJVDA JAIL, 354, 356 Reforms, Animosity incurred by JASON in effecting, 1 1 REMBRANDT, etchings of, 112 Pre-eminence, in imagination and mystery, 1 1 1 Work of, 61, in, 112 Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill, The (MRS. CORNWALLIS-WEST), 57, 391 RENI, GUIDO, pictures by, 70 Revue de I' Art Ancien et Moderne, La, 393 REYNOLDS-BALL, EUSTACE, Rome, 391 RHODES, CECIL JOHN, 138 RICHELIEU, CARDINAL, French Art and, S6 RICHTER, DR. HANS, 58 Riding and Hunting (HAYES), 206, 398 RIEGL, DR. ALOIS, Analysis of Oriental Carpets, 182, 208-214, 236 Ein Orientalischer Teppich 110m Jahre 1 202 n. Chr. und die dltesten Orientalischen Teppiche, 281, 400 RIPLEY, MARY CHURCHILL, Oriental Rug Book, The, 399 Rising Sun, emblem of THE BRITISH EMPIRE, 386 RISLEY, SIR HERBERT, The People of India, 233, 397 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, 118, 119 ROBINSON, VINCENT J., Eastern Carpets, descriptive notices by, 167, 397 Indian Carpets, 252 (quotation), 280 WARANGOL Carpet, property of, 259 RODIN, AUGUSTE, sculptures by, 134 ROGER-MILES, L., Comment Discerner les Styles du VIII' au XIX' Siicles (graves par J. MAUGE), 393 Romance, 321-360 Works relating to, 400-401 Romance of a Mad King (MACKAY-SMITH), 395 ROMANO, GIULIO, work of, 69 Rome (BERTAUX) (1904-5), 67, 391 (E. REYNOLDS-BALL), 391 (FIELD), 391 ROME, BORGHESE GALLERY, pictures in, 70 VILLA, fittings and decorations of, 69 BORGIA apartments, decorations of, 67 Buildings of ancient, wonderful preservation of, 65 CHURCH OF ST. PETER, art treasures in, 65, 66 COLOSSEUM, compared with Hall at KAR- NAC, 63 DORIA GALLERY, pictures in, 112 GREECE and, comparison between artistic ten- dencies of, 62 LEONINE LIBRARY, created by POPE LEO XIII., 67 PANTHEON, wonderful preservation of, 64 Persecution of Christians by NERO, 62 Picture Galleries, 69-71 ROSPIGLIOSI GALLERY, 70 VATICAN, educational value of lavish decora- tions, 68 L/Bi?^i?r,intentions of POPE NICHOLAS V. in founding, 67 World renown of treasures contained in, . 6 7 Magnificence of interior decorations, 66 Rome in the Nineteenth Century (EATON), 391 ROPES, JOHN CODMAN, First Napoleon, The [English Historical Review), 225, 397 ROSE, JOHN HOLLAND, Life of Napoleon I., The, 396 ROSPIGLIOSI GALLERY, ROME, 70 ROSSE, J. WILLOUGHBY, BLAIR'S Chronological Tables revised by, 401 ROSSETTI, DANTE GABRIEL, association of, with regard to revival of Tapestry-weaving, 142 Collected Works of The (edited by W. M. ROSSETTI), 400 The Burden of Nineveh, 40, 390 Troy Town, 342 ROSSETTI, HELEN M. M., The Life and Work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 395 Royal Academy f rom Reynolds to Millah, The (Studio), 397 423 Oriental Carpets Royal Academy of Arts Exhibition. See Exhibitions Amateur Art Society Exhibition. See Exhibitions Carpet, history and principal features of, 211 Royal Phraseological English-French, French-English Diction- ary, The (TARVER), 401 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, rendered into English by E. FITZGERALD, 396 RUBENS, PETERPAUL, MEDICI pictures mLOUVRE by, 112 Rugs, Finger, method of forming pile, 1S1, 182 Survival of industry, 180 Oriental and JACQUARD, method of taking warp and weft measurements, 370 Oriental, commercial side in manufacture of, 82 Increasing production of, 152 Manufacture of " Antique " in, 82 Translation of inscription on, 384 Persian Prayer, description as to method of using, 256-257 Materials used for, 255 Origin of, 254 Sum realized in MARQUAND Sale for old, 160,253-254 Various types of, 253-254 Prayer, example in MUS&E DES ARTS DECO- RATIFS at PARIS, 383 Rugs, Oriental and Occidental, Antique and Modern (HOLT), 399 Runners, definition of term, 251 JACQUARD, special notes referring to illustration of, 385 Oriental and JACQUARD, method of taking warp and weft measurements, 370 Oriental, increasing production of, 152 Special notes referring to illustration of, 385 Uses and special reasons which led to production of, 251-252 RUSCONI, JAHN, Art, La Villa, il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, 391 RUTTER, FRANK, The Path to Paris, 392 SAINTSBURY, GEORGE, The Poems oj John Donne, introduction by, 401 The Unknown Masterpiece (BALZAC), preface by, 401 Sardanapalus, BYRON'S tragedy of, 41, 42 SARDANAPALUS, Central Palace, date assigned to, 41 SARRE, DR. FRIEDRICH, Ancient Oriental Carpets, 398, 401 SAVONNERIE Carpet. See Carpets SAXONY Pile Carpet. See Carpets Scapegoat, The (HOLMAN HUNT), purchase of, 130 SCHMORANZ, GUSTAV, Oriental Enamelled Glass, 2 54» 399 Schools, Art, advance in prices obtained for examples of BARBIZON, 148-149 Comparison between work of Old Masters and that of Pre-Raphaelite, Impressionist, and Art Nouveau, 135 Architecture and Sculpture, suggested establish- ment of, 138 Science, Genius as affecting advance in, 30 SCOTT-MONCRIEFF, DAVID, W.S., EDINBURGH PARTHENON, suggestion with regard to com- pletion of, 139 Sculptors, British, references to, 126, 133 Sculpture, Architecture and, suggestion for establishment of School of, in connection with completion of EDINBURGH PARTHENON, 138 Arts of Photography and Reproduction in mono- tone and colour as influencing, 135, 136 Increased travelling facilities, influence upon, 135, 156 Sculpture [continued) In ornamentation of Persian houses, rare use of, 46 of MICHAEL ANGELO, 65 of THORWALDSEN, 146 Sculptures, ELEPHANTA, 329 ELGIN Marbles, acquisition of, 166-167 in Hindu Temples, 328-329 Sculptures of the Parthenon, The (MACGILLIVRAY), •37, 395 SEAFORD HOUSE Exhibition. See Exhibitions Sealed ivith Blood (Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette), 33, 3S9 Secret of French Cookery, The (St. James's Gazette), 392 Secrets of the Vatican, The (SLADEN), 59, 391 Sedan Cloth. See Cloths SEELEY, JOHN ROBERT, A Short History of Napoleon I., 225, 397 SEFI, SHEIKH, death of, 202 Tomb of, references to, 202, 205, 207, 20S SEMIRAMIS, works of antiquity associated with name of, 40 SERVAIS, prices realized by violoncello, 163 SHAH ABBAS Carpet, design and colouring of, 214-216 Device, illus. facing 12, 369, 370 Horseshoe and Cloud forms, frequent use of, 215 THE GREAT, illus. facing 159, 365 See ABBAS, SHAH, THE GREAT SHAH JAHAN. See JAHAN, SHAH SHAKESPEARE, literature as influenced by, 163 Plays of, reference to, 116, 117 Titus Andronicus, discovery of quarto edition, 168 Works of, prices realized by, 162 Shakespeare Folios. Enormous Prices from an American Millionaire (Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette), 396 Sheep Breeding, Carpet industries as affected by, 262 Purity of wool for use in Textile arts as affected by, 175, 176 SHEIKH SEFI. See SEFI, SHEIKH SHELDON, WILLIAM, Carpet-manufacture introduced into ENGLAND by, 228-229, 283 Finger-rug loom introduced into ENGLAND, 179,228 SHERATON, THOMAS, work of, 141 Short History of Engraving and Etching, A (HIND), 364, 393 Short History of Napoleon I., A (SEELEY), 225, 397 Short History of the English People, A (GREEN), 400 SIDNEY, SIR PHILIP, Arcadia, 346 Complete Poems of, edited by GROSART, 400 Silk manufactories, establishment in FRANCE, 87 SINGLETON, ESTHER, The Story of the White House, 229 (quotation), 398 Sixteenth Century Carpet, special features of, 213-214 SLADEN, DOUGLAS, Secrets of the Vatican, 59, 391 SMILES, SAMUEL, Life and Labour, 86, 392 SMITH, ADAM, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 155, 396 SMITH, SIR CECIL H., Guide to the VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSING- TON, with a preface by, 210 SMITH, VINCENT A., Oxford Student's History of India, The, 31, 3S9 Social England (edited by TRAILL and MANN), 229, 287 (quotation), 317, 366 (quotation) SODOMA, pictures by, 70 SOLIMAN II., Coronation of, 386 SOLOMON, SOLOMON J., pictures by, 134 Some advanced Carpet forms (comparative table of), 193- 197 Early Carpet forms (comparative table of), 190- 192 424 Index Some Notes on the History of Oriental Carpets (HARRIS), 260-261 SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM. See MUSEUMS SPAIN, ALHAMBRA, description of Palace, 1 1 1 Arts of, 111-112 Spanish Art, ornamentation and colouring of ALHAM- BRA characteristic of, ill SPEAIGHT, F. W., Marble Arch Improvement: its Conception and Realisation, 394 SPELTZ, ARCHIBALD, Styles of Ornament, 41, 187, 39°. 398 Sphere, The, The dearest Mezzotint on record, 392 SPIELMANN, M. H., The Wallace Collection in Hertford House, 83 (quotation), 392 SPIERS, R. PHENfi, A History of Architecture (FERGUSSON), edited by, 389, 398 (and W. J. ANDERSON), The Architecture of Greece and Rome, 390 Spinning and weaving, derivation of Egyptian arts of, !79 Spinning of the Wool (CHATTERTON), 261-262 STAINER, C, Dictionary of Violin-Makers, A, 164, 392, 396 STALKER, COLIN, Article on Violins by, 159 States, Democratic, utilization of ostracism by, 10 STEBBING, EDWARD, Holy Carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil, The, 167, 397 STEEL, FLORA ANNIE, India through the Ages, 323 (quotation), 400 STEEVENS, G. W., In India, 119, 327 (quotation), 355. 35 6 . 394, 4°° Writings of, 321 (quotation) STEP, EDWARD, Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, 397 STEP, MABEL E., Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, illustrated by, 398 STEPHENS, F. G., Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 395 St. James's Gazette, report of meeting of Library Congress at NEWCASTLE, 90 Sealed nvith Blood, 33, 389 Secret of French Cookery, The, 392 Sir William Bailey on Oxford and Cambridge, 392 Stone Age, science opposed to poets' dreams of, 31 Story of the White House, The (SINGLETON), 229 (quota- tion), 394, 398 St. Paul's Cathedral (GILBERTSON), 394 St. Peter in Rome (BARNES), 63, 66, 391 STRADIVARI, ANTONIO, CREMONA Violin as influenced by, 163 Violins and violoncellos of, fabulous prices commanded by, 77 Violins of A MAT I and, comparison between, 75, 76 GUARNERI and, differences between, 77, . . 78. Violins, prices realized by, 163, 164 Violoncellos, prices realized by, 163, 164 STRONG, MRS. S. ARTHUR, Museums and Ruins of Rome, The (AMELUNG and HOLT- ZINGER), revised by, 391 STRZYGOWSKI, PROFESSOR JOSEPH, Oriental Carpets, 183, 1S4 (quotation), 281, 385 (quota- tion), 397 Studio, The, Royal Academy fom Reynolds to Millais, The, 397 Sketch of JOHN FLAXMAN, 366 STURGIS, RUSSELL, A History of Architecture, 34 (quotation), 186, 390, 398 Styles of Ornament (SPELTZ), 41, 187, 390, 398 SUEZ CANAL. See CANALS SULLY, MAXIMILIAN DE BETHUNE, DUKE OF, 86, 87 Supplement a la $""> edition du Guide de I' Amateur de Livres a Figures du XVIII' Siicle (CROTTET), 393 Supplemental Nights to the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, The (BURTON), 390, 398 SWIFT, JONATHAN, Travels into several remote Nations of the World by LEMUEL GULLIVER, 398 Writings of, 196 SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES, The Hes- perides and Noble Numbers (HERRICK), preface by, 401 Under the Microscope, 136 (quotation), 394 Symbolism, Horseshoe and Cloud forms, 195, 196, 244 Rising Sun emblematical of BRITISH EMPIRE, 386 "Tree of Life " or Cypress, 201 Symbolism of the Oriental Carpet (HARRIS), 263, 380 Tailpiece, illus. facing 360, 367 TAJ Carpet. See MUMTAZ MAHAL Carpet TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, architectural form of, humanity typified in, 342-343 Beauty of, 321, 323, 327 Building of, inspired by Mosque of SHAH ABBAS at ISPAHAN, 368 Circumstances attending conception and building of, 322-327 Commencement, date of, 368, 369 Comparison between methods used in construction of Pyramids and, 34 Construction of, indifference to human life in, 325, 326 Cost of, 368, 369 Cypress trees in garden of, 200 Description of, by SIR W. W. HUNTER, 34 Dome, origin of, 342 Ideal symbol of Indian Art, 368 Inscription on various parts of, 325, 369 Period of construction and workmen employed in building, 325, 326 Photographs by BOURNE and SHEPHERD, 367 References to, 354, 359 Romance associated with building of, 321, 325 Time occupied in construction of, 369 View of, from corner of Quadrangle, illus. facing 342, 367 View of, from Entrance Gate, illus. facing 321, 367 View of TAJ and Garden from Fountain, illus. facing 353, 367 Weavers and materials for carpet brought from PERSIA by SHAH JAHAN, 343, 344 Workmen employed in construction of, 325, 369 TAMERLANE, foundation of Mogul dynasty, 202, 322 TANNERY, J., Dictionnaire Universel des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts revised by, 401 Tapestries, AUBUSSON, manufacture re-established, S9 BAYEUX, historical importance of, 173 BEAUVAIS factory, establishment of, 89 BEAUVAIS, State control of manufacture, 88 Feminine character of, 297 FLEMISH, superseded by GOBELINS, 87 GOBELINS and BEAUVAIS, durability of colours, 83 GOBELINS, artistic merits of, 117 Average value of, 88 Characteristics of, 88 Death of SHAH ABBAS coincident with decadence of, 224 Designed by JULES ROMAIN, 95 Division of national factory, SS Factory, foundation of, 88 Hand-looms employed in manufacture of, 88 Introduction into FRANCE, 88 Made for PALACE OF VERSAILLES, 94 4^5 Oriental Carpets Tapestries {continued) GOBELINS {continued) Manufacture of Carpets added to, 88 Reproductions from paintings of GUSTAVE MOREAU, 363 Slow production of, 88 State control of manufacture of, 88 Work directed by leading painters of the day, 87 MORRIS and BURNE-JONES, exhibitions of, 143 Needlework and, reason for inclusion with Carpets, 174 RAPHAEL, dates assigned to, 68 Importance of specimens in VATICAN, 69 References to, 68, 173 Silk, decline of manufactory at N?MES, SS Tapestry, Loom-weaving, difficulties and characteristics of, 35 Weaving, association of DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI in revival of, 142 Tapis dOrient (A. R.), (quotation) 209 Tariffs, prohibitive, SYMPLEGADES' loss of power to harm compared to Free Trade supplanting old system of, 13 TARSOT, LOUIS (et MAURICE CHARLOT), Le Chateau de Fontainebleau, 392 TARVER, J. CH., Royal Phraseological English-French, French-English Dictionary, The, 401 Tattooing. See also Indians, American Art of, by American Indians, 149 By Maoris, 149, 150 TECHENER Pere et Fils, Histoire de la Bibliophile, 393 TEMPLES, Hindu, sculptures in, 328-329 Indian, PARVATI HILL, 341 Textile Arts. See Arts, Textile Textiles, fugitive nature of, possibility of preservation as affected by, 279 THAMASP I., SHAH, death of, 203 References to, 204, 208 Succession to throne, date of, 203 THOMPSON, SIR EDWARD MAUNDE, Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography, 280, 396, 399 THORWALDSEN, work of, 146 THRACE, KING OF, visit of JASON to, 10 TIMBS, JOHN, The Percy Anecdotes (PERCY), preface by, 3 9I Times, The (Jan. 10, 1893), extracts from, 8S, 89 French and English Portraits in Paris, 392 Gobelins Tapestry, 392 Policy of the Government in China, The, 394 Times of India, The, Poena Directory and Guide, 400 TITIAN, pictures by, 70 Pre-eminence as colourist, 1 1 1 Work of, 61, 71 Tomb of Iouiya and Touiyou, The (DAVIS), 35, 390 Illustrations contained in, 35, 36, 367 Tomb of IOUIYA and TOUIYOU, date of discovery, 34, 167 Reference to, 149 Trade. See Free Trade TRAILL, H. D. (and MANN), Social England, edited by, 400 Travels into several remote Nations of the World by LEMUEL GULLIVER (SWIFT), 398 TRAWINSKI, F. (and CH. GALBRUN), Popular Guide to the Louvre Museum, 392 "Tree of Life," or Cypress, symbolism of, 201 Tribes and Castes of Bengal (RISLEY), 118, 1 19 Trojan War, mythological romance in relation to, 6 TROT, discovery of, 168 Siege and fall of, 168 Turks, religion of, 255 UFFIZI GALLERY, FLORENCE, 71. See also GALLERIES Under the Microscope (SWINBURNE), 136 (quotation), 394 Une Journee a Versailles, 392 Unique Copy of the First Edition of Shakespeare 's Earliest Tragedy, A {Athenaeum), 396 Unique First Quarto Edition of Titus Andronicus, The {Illustrated London Nevjs), 396 UNITED STATES, position attained among older nations bv , '53 WHITE HOUSE, visit of author to, 230-231 Unknown Masterpiece, The (BALZAC), 359-360 (quota- tion), 401 UZANNE, OCTAVE, L'Art dans la Decoration Exterieure des Livres, les Couvertures illustrees, les Carton- nages d'Editeurs, la Reliure d'Art, 393 VALLANCE, AYMER, The Art of William Morris, Hii 395 The Decorative Art of Sir Edivard Burne-Jones, 395 VAN DYCK., pictures in National Loan Exhibition, 156 VAPERAU, G., Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains, by, 401 VATICAN. See ROME LIBRARY. See ROME, and LIBRARIES VAUCANSON, JACQUES DE, model of, discovered by JACQUARD, 285, 309 Vedas, writing of, date assigned to, 330 VELASQUEZ, notoriety of, as affected by NATIONAL GALLERY'S purchase of Venus and Cupid, in Pictures in NATIONAL GALLERY, in Realism in painting of, Art as influenced by, ill Work of, references to, 61, III Velazquez (BREAL), 393 (WILLIAMSON), 393 Venetian Republic, The (HAZLITT), 73 (quotation), 391 VENICE, historical importance of, 73 Venus and Cupid (VELASQUEZ), purchase by NATIONAL GALLERY, in VERONESE, PAUL, birth of, 244 Work of, references to, 71, 243-244 VERSAILLES CHATEAU. See VERSAILLES, and CHATEAUX VERSAILLES, CHATEAU OF, original, 93 PALACE and grounds, of, amount expended upon, 94 Architects entrusted with extensions of, 93, 94 Fetes given by LOUIS XIV. at, 93 GOBELINS Tapestry made for, 94 Grounds of, artists employed in laying out, 94, 95 Use of, as seat of government, 93, 94 Various extensions of, 93, 94 Vast number of work-people employed in and about, 94 World-renowned magnificence of, 94 See also PALACES VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. See MUSEUMS Vienna Carpet Book. See Oriental Carpets VIENNA, Carpet Exhibition at. See Exhibitions Vignette from CHARDIN'S Voyage en Perse, 386 VINCENT, BENJAMIN, HAYDN'S Dictionary of Dates, 401 Violin bow-makers, notable, Si, 82 Industry, practical assistance to Art rendered by MESSRS. HILL in carrying on, 81 PAGANINFS favourite Guarnenus, description by E. HERON-MAXWELL, 74 Honour accorded by GENOA to, 74 42 26 Index Violins, AMATI, ARDEBIL Carpet compared to, Art of making, various countries in which practised, 80, 81, 82 Classification and dating of, difficulty as to, 79 Correspondence between Sixteenth Century Persian Carpets and, 75 CREMONA, influence of STRADIVARI upon, 163 Varnish for, 74, 76, 78, 80, 107 DA SALO first maker of, in present form, 75 English makers of, 80-81, 82 French makers of, 80 German makers of, 80 Italian, comparison between Persian Carpets and, 79 "King Joseph," notes on GUARNERI, 78 MAGGINI, advance towards perfected CRE- MONA in, 75 Manufacture of " Antique " in, 82 Manufacture of, artistic considerations as affected by commercial side in, 82 Origin of, belief of Persians as to, 75 Date assigned as, 75 Perfection attained within same period by Persian Carpets and, 75, 79 STRADIVARI, ANTONIO, prices realized by, 163, 164 STRADIVARI and AMATI, comparison between, 75.76 and GUARNERI, compared with finest period of SHAH ABBAS, 79 Comparison between, 77, 78 Violoncellos and, fabulous prices commanded by STRADIVARI, 77 Violoncellos, SERVAIS, prices realized by, 163 STRADIVARI, ANTONIO, prices realized by, 163, 164 VIRTUE, MESSRS., The Decorative Art of Sir Ed-ward Burne-Jones (VALLANCE), published in Art Journal, 142, 395 The Life and Work oj Dante Gabriel Rossetti (ROSSETTI), published in Art Journal, 142, 395 William Morris and his Art (DAY), published in Art Journal, 141-142, 395 Visitors' Illustrated Guide to Bombay (PINDER), 400 Volcanic Eruptions at Rotorua, in the North Island [Canter- bury Times, N.Z.), 395 VON SCALA, A., Ancient Oriental Carpets (SARRE), with Preface by, 239, 348, 398, 401 Voyage du Chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de VOrient (CHARDIN), edited by LANGLES, 227, 241, 386, 390, 398 Quotations from, 213-214, 218-219 WAGNER, RICHARD, art of, compared with that of MORRIS and BURNE-JONES, 143, 144 Special feature of compositions, 57 WALLACE Collection, adequate arrangement of, 113 Pictures in, ill, 112 See also Collections, National Wallace Collection, The (SPIELMANN), 83 (quotation), 392 WALTERS, H. B., The Art of the Greeks, 58, 185 (quota- tion), 187, 390, 398 Chronological Scheme of Greek Art, 51, 58 WARD, A. W., THE CAMBRIDGE MODERN HIS- TORY, Vols. V., IX., and X. (ACTON), edited by, 392, 399 Ware, Japanese Satsuma and Cloisonne, unique art of, 147-148 WARKA, ornamental work in wall at, 40, 186 WARNER, G. TOWNSEND, Industry Transformed (from Social England), 287 (quotation) Warp and Weft measurements, method of taking, 370 Mysteries of, 386 WATT, JAMES, meeting of JACOUARD and, 312- 313 References to, 271, 272, 280, 289 WATTS, GEORGE FREDERICK, portraits by, 131 Wayside and Woodland Blossoms (STEP), 398 Wealth of Nations, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the (SMITH), 155, 396 Weaver, claim of woman as, 174 Weavers, Persian, introduction into INDIA, 343 Weaving, Carpet, comparison between art of Illumination and, 297 Decline of Persian, 348 Influence upon Industries and Arts, 27 Introduction into INDIA, 258, 261 Possibility as to precedence in remote ages of, 3 6 Practice carried on in ancient times in all great houses, 179 Practice carried on in houses of weavers previous to introduction of power-loom, 179 Process necessitated by mistake in, 131 Reasons for prominence of Persians in, 147 By Hand-loom and the old Finger-rug process, 283-284 Comparative table of Printing and, 282-286 Connection between arts of Plaiting, Needlework, and, 174 Early origin claimed for, 278 Early use of lotus flower in, reasons for, 165 Egyptian arts of Spinning and, derived from earlier civilizations, 179 Feminine mind symbolized by interweaving of warp and weft, 171-172 Finger-rug, method of distinguishing between Persian and Indian weaves and, 180 Old English process, probably derived from the Chinese, 283 Origin of name, 180 Style and appearance of, 181 Hand-loom and old Finger-rug process (table of), 283-284 Hand-loom, without and with harness (table of), 284-286 Indian, influx of cheap machine-made goods as affecting, 118, 119 Interweaving of Warp and Weft symbolical of woman's mind, 171-172 JACQUARD, analogy between Book Printing and, 286-295 Comparative table of Book Printing and, 289-295 Comparison between Printing and, 269-272, 277, 278 Comparison between printing from Movable Types and system of, 285 JASON employed by PELIAS to obtain materials for, 7 Loom, difficulties and characteristics of, 35 Machines, inventors of, 174 Maori, curious forms of, 150 Oriental, perfection of machine - weaving com- pared with irregularities of hand, 376 Revival of ancient art of Tapestry, by WILLIAM MORRIS and SIR E. BURNE-JONES, 142, 143 Silk, establishment of SPITALFIELDS, 180 Importance of LTONS as a centre of, 318 Simplicity of methods used in knotting or, 178 427 Oriental Carpets Weaving [continued) Woman attributed with invention of, 1 68, 169, 171, 174 Wool, process described, 175, 177, 178 WEBSTER, Collegiate Dictionary, 401 Weft and Warp, mysteries of, 386 WELLDON, CANON J. E. C, The Politics of Aris- totle, translated by, 389 The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle, translated by, 395 WESTERN INDIA Fine Arts Exhibition. See Exhibi- tions WESTMACOTT, SIR RICHARD, lecture delivered at ROYAL ACADEMY, 366 (quotation) WESTMINSTER ABBEY. See ABBEYS Westminster Abbey and the King's Craftsmen (LETHABY), 394 Westminster Gazette (March 24, 1900), An Unsuspected Treasure, 246, 399 WHEATLEY, HENRY B., The Diary of Samuel Pefys, edited by, 398 WHISTLER, J. A. McNEILL, portrait of the painter, 134 Life c/"(PENNELL), 394 WHITE HOUSE. See UNITED STATES and Story of the White House WILKINS, W., Australasia, 396 WILK.INS, W. J., Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, i°5> 397, 400 William Morris and his Art (DAY), 141-142, 395 WILLIAMSON, GEORGE C, Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (BRYAN), revised by, 401 Velazquez, 393 WILTON Carpet. See Carpets WINDSOR CASTLE, 124 WISE, THOMAS J. (and W. R. NICOLL), Literary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century, edited by, 395 Woman (DONALDSON), 53, 54 (quotation), 390 (SIDNEY, DONNE, and HERRICK), 346 Woman, claim of, as a weaver, 174 Mind of, symbolized by interweaving of warp and weft, 171-172 Offences of, with regard to treatment of Carpets, 169-172, 232 WOOD, REV. JAMES, Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources, 4?i Wool, Dyeing, historical interest of, 262 Importance of process with regard to Carpet industry, 262 Sheep Breeding as affecting purity of, 175, 176 Spinning, importance of process with regard to Carpet industry, 262 Use of, from earliest historic times, in construction of yarns or threads, 175 Weaving, process described, 175, 177, 178 Wool in the Carpet, The (CHATTERTON), 261-262 Works of BYRON, 390, 395 WREN, SIR CHRISTOPHER, design for ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, 123 Retirement and death of, 124 Writing, origin of, date assigned for, 75 YERBURGH, ROBERT ARMSTRONG, M.P., speech on Chinese Government, 120 YERK.ES, CHARLES T., Carpets as influenced by, 385 " Holy Carpet," bequest to NEW YORK CITY by, 160, 161, 396 YERKES Collection, 160, 161, 396 YERROWDA JAIL, Carpet-weaving in. See JAILS, and Carpets YOSEMITE VALLEY, natural curiosities of, 151 THE END Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh. STERLING S FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE NK2808 .H85 stack Humphries, Sydney/Oriental carpets, runn llllllllllllll 3 1962 00074 1748