ing pink-legged horses and green and blue dogs as they worked and talked, but always making a faithful representation of the costumes, customs and manners of the period. Bizarre as the coloring of their work was, those high-born dames. all unconsciously, as they worked and chatted, were making history! This remarkable piece of early embroidery was preserved for centuries in the Cathedral of Bayeux. It contains an astonishing number of figures on the scroll, which measures two hundred and twenty-seven feet in length.

It is said that when this tapestry was exhibited in Paris in 1803, Napoleon, who was contemplating invading England, was singularly impressed by that portion representing the appearance of a meteor which presaged Harold's defeat. A meteor having just made its appearance in the south of France, might, he fancied, foretell a like conquest to the invader, and France once more might wield the sceptre in England.

The earliest production of the tapestry art made since the Bayeux tapestry, are the tapestry maps which were made in the sixteenth century, the date being 1579-1588. These curious relics of feminine patience are now preserved in the Lecture Theatre of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society Museum in the grounds of St. Mary's Abbey,

York, and are said to be well worth an antiquary's journey from London.

But the story of tapestries, though akin, is different from the story of the rug, the latter becoming the symbol of home life and connected with religious observances from the earliest times. Such an authority as Sir George Birdwood, in speaking of the civilizations of the world, says: "I deliberately indicate Egypt first, and Chaldea, or archaic Babylonia, with Syria second."

Although tapestries and ecclesiastical embroideries employed the fingers of the ladies and maidens of castle and convent long before the war was waged in Palestine for the recovery of the holy sepulchre, the oriental rug was not known in Europe-certainly not in England -until the period of the Crusades, when sometimes a mailed knight with a cross on his breast returned from his wanderings in the land of Saladin with a gorgeous rug to lay before the altar of some cathedral or, perhaps, as a gift to the "faire ladye" of his love and devoir. Perhaps the offering might have been filched from some mosque or temple, or it may have been an heirloom for generations, or maybe it had been transferred from Moslem to Christian hands in the great tidal wave of exchange and barter that brought at the time much that was alien to both eastern and western

shores alike. Be that as it may, the rug of the Orient had found its way to the more progressive but less artistic West, and, as the centuries passed, it gave the impulse to a new industry in Europe, which had its initial movement in France.

At first, only churches, castles, mansions, palaces and chateaux possessed these floor coverings, but gradually the rush-strewn floors fell into desuetude and floor coverings of European make began to be made.

Under the direction of Colbert, minister of Louis XIV, the manufactories of the Gobelins, and those at Beauvais and Aubusson were established, where an effort was made to weave carpets and rugs after oriental designs, and, in a certain. sense, by oriental methods. At Mortlake in Surrey, England, James I established looms in the seventeenth century, but civil war is always destructive to the arts and crafts of peace, so the Mortlake looms stood idle while royalist and roundhead fought out their terrible battles. Then when France was deluged with the blood of Frenchmen and La Guillotine had martyred the good, unfortunate Louis XVI, frightened French dyers and weavers who were skilled in eastern rug art hurried across the channel and found a refuge in England, where they gave a new impetus to carpet weaving.

So we find that more than three centuries ago Turkish carpet looms were set up in France, yet in spite of this the long brown fingers of the eastern weavers were still making rugs and carpets which fetch the highest prices in the western markets.

It seems strange how all these

products of many different tribes, who are unlike in faith, customs and speech could have at last reached a common goal, but the methods by which the seaside marts are reached and the wares of various localities are distributed until their final destination is attained is as ancient as it is interesting. King Ahasuerus held the first "exhibition," a learned archæologist has remarked, and the festival of "Shushan" which lasted one hundred and forty-four days, mentioned in the Book of Esther, was the forerunner of all the fairs that have followed that first great collection of handicraft. Many centuries later, in 1268, the Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo ordered the great fair in Venice where all of the guilds brought their wares, gold, silver, glass,-every handicraft known by them, them, to be examined and praised by the "Dogaressa."

The idea of King Ahasuerus was one that easily found favor in the East, and from that day to this "fairs" have been an established custom; once a week in populous districts, annually in the larger and more remote cities. In this way, for example, the traders journey to Baluk-Hissar in Asia Minor, where a great fair is held. Then three months later, they all hurry to Yaprakli which is packed with merchandise and humanity through the month of August and is tenantless for all the rest of the year. At Mousoul, the traffic centre of Mesopotamia, another great fair is held, and there gatherings of artificers and merchant traders from remote quarters effect an interchange of the products of the various localities, and by this means, rugs brought on camels across the sun-scorched

desert finally reach European collectors.

As the manufacture of textiles was one of the earliest of the handicrafts, Sir George's dictum strengthens the supposition that Egypt was the first home of the oriental rug, Babylonia coming next and one understands how Job might naturally say-"my days are swifter than the weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope," for no doubt he had many times looked upon the weavers at their looms, either upon the hillside or within their humble dwellings.

With Orientals, their rugs took the place of general furnishings. Upon their rugs the family slept, entertained its guests, sat guests, sat and prayed, each one having its special and individual purpose and use.

Although the oriental rug is universally used in Europe and America, very few people, comparatively, know very much about it, though

SO

certain types have become familiar that they are easily recognized, as for instance the Bokhara.

Mr. John Kimberly Mumford has rendered a great service by his "chart," which shows the various oriental weaves and their classification as to locality. Under Caucasian, Mr. Mumford places Daghestan, Trans-Caucasian and Mosul. Under Turkish he places the Konieh with its five sub-classes: Konieh proper, Kir-Shehr, KabaKaraman, Yuruks, Anatolian; and the Smyrna, which include Ghiordes, Kulah, Demirdjik, Oushak, Bergamo and and Ladik, Ak-Hissar and Miles or Carien. To the Persian nomenclature belong the three classes of Azerbijan; first Tabriz, second Herez, third Kara Dagh; also the six weaves coming under the general head Eastern Kurdistan: Schn Sehna, Kurdistan proper, Kermanshan, "Sarakhs" or Bijar, Koultuk, and Sonj-Bulak. The third

group under the Persian is the Feraghan, to which belong the Sultanabad and Saraband (variously spelled), the Hamadan and the Kirmanich. The Shiraz, Mecca and Herat are included under the latter. Under Turkoman come the well known Bokhara or Tekke Yomud, the Afghan, Baluchistan, Smarkand, Yarkand and Kasghar.

The most striking and easily remembered Persian designs are the small palm leaf of the Saraband (or Seraband) rug, the large palm leaf of the Herat, the Tree of Life of the Kirman, the inscriptions and floral designs of the Sarak, the long floral design in the border of the Khorassan and in the Kierkish rugs. The Anatolians are very soft and of varied designs and are used as pillows by the natives. The Bergamo is distinguished by its soft, silky pile, its floral or large geometrical design. The small sizes only of this class are antique, as the modern Bergamo is always made larger. The writer of this article has lately seen one genuine antique in the collection of the Paul West Company in Boston. This rare textile poem is a brilliant yet soft mass of rich colors that harmonize as perfectly as a field of parti-colored flowers, and reminds one of Walter Crane's beautiful suggestion that these designs were meant to represent the walled-in garden that has always been so dear to the oriental heart. The idea is carried out all over the East, and in the story of the Garden of Eden it is recurrent. "The Angel of the Flaming Sword" might typify the outside world-the stranger at the doorall over the land of curious symbolism, dreams of prophecy and revela tion. It is the idea of seclusion, the hint of mystery, that the

weavers and designers-unconscious poets and historians-wrought intothese products of brain and hand and loom.

The term Smyrna is rarely applied to rugs of oriental weave, because so-called "Smyrna" rugs are manufactured in large quantities in America. The Smyrnas, under the Persian grouping of Mr. Mumford, are so grouped because the city of Symrna in Turkey is the market for the angora goat's hair rugs made in the interior from simple old designs handed down from past generations. The Yuruks are made by the Nomad tribes, who possess large flocks of goats in the mountains of Anatolia.

The Ouchak rugs are called after the name of the chief city of Asiatic Turkey. These are woven by Moslem women and girls, and an antique of this class may be known by one thing: if green is seen in the coloring, the purchaser in spite of all the eloquence of the seller, may be sure it is a modern, for the Mohammedan law forbids the faithful to use green!

Of the Caucasian rugs, the Daghestans are most easily distinguished, because the figures are diamonds, octagons, hexagons and small hooks, and many of these are marked by the weavers. This district is under unholy Russian domination and many of the rugs may be known by that emblem so entirely the visible and only sign of Russian Christianity-the cross.

The rug weavers of Asiatic Turkey-these are classed Turkoman, -are conscientious workers. They are very careful that their dyes are "fast", and steep the wool in alum and water. The Bokhara, Miss Holt tells us, is the most popular

eastern rug in America. Certainly it is one of the most readily recognized when once known. The octagonal figure is usually of white or ivory, laid on a soft red or old rose field; orange, blue and green are also often seen.

When rugs were first made they were intended for some specific purpose. For instance the Mamazlik or prayer rug was that upon which the faithful follower of Mahomet must kneel while repeating his devotions, with his head in the corner pointing towards Mecca. The Hammamlik or bath rug was an essential accessory of his ablutions, while the Odjaklik or hearth-rug, which was spread before the fireplace when a guest arrived, gave token in its beautiful design and texture of the dignity in which hospitality was held.

But it is with the ancient rug weaver and his work, not the modern with which this article deals. Though the methods are almost the same that were used thousands of years ago, western influences have recently tended towards degenerating this old industry that holds so

much romance and poetry in its history.

That the eastern rulers are conscious of the threatened danger is evidenced by the edict of the Shah, issued January 1, 1900, and printed in French and Persian.

"We, Mazeffer ed Den, King of Kings, Absolute Sovereign of the Empire of Persia, Whereas, upon different occasions, our glorious Father Nasser ed Din Shah, whose memory is illustrious and revered, desiring to maintain the fine quality of Persian carpets, of Persian carpets, the fame of which is universal, forbade the importation of aniline dyes; which certain persons use to give a meretricious coloring to carpets; and

Whereas, It has come to Our knowledge that these prohibitions, as well as some others, are frequently disobeyed by Persian subjects as well as strangers, and since it is necessary to reinstate them, and at the same time give power to punish whosoever shall violate them hereafter, for all these. reasons We utter the present law. Article 1: It is forbidden to bring into the kingdom aniline d