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Title: The Mentor: Chinese Rugs, Vol. 4, Num. 2, Serial No. 102, March 1, 1916
Author: Mumford, John K.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Mentor: Chinese Rugs, Vol. 4, Num. 2, Serial No. 102, March 1, 1916" ***
THE MENTOR 1916.03.01, No. 102,
Chinese Rugs
LEARN ONE THING
EVERY DAY
MARCH 1 1916 SERIAL NO. 102
THE
MENTOR
[Illustration: A RUG OF MIXED DESIGNS
The Center Is a Faded Magenta Red.
The Border Ground Is Pale Yellow]
CHINESE RUGS
By JOHN K. MUMFORD
Author and Expert on Oriental Rugs
DEPARTMENT OF VOLUME 4
FINE ARTS NUMBER 2
FIFTEEN CENTS A COPY
A Thing of Beauty
No word in the language is more abused than “beauty.” A pretty thing is
a thing of _beauty_; a pretty picture is a picture of _beauty_; and so
following. Lacking a proper descriptive term for anything attractive,
we, too often, employ the word “beauty.” What term have we then with
which to pay just tribute to true beauty?
* * * * *
The real, final test of beauty is that it _wears well_--not in a
material way, but in the qualities that are truly beautiful. The rose
is fragile material and its life is brief, but rose beauty is lasting
and rose fragrance clings sweetly to the memory--so that the rose has
become a synonym of beauty. The message of true beauty is enduring and,
oft repeated, grows in charm. “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
* * * * *
A distinguishing attribute of true beauty is _authority_. A thing of
beauty bears on its very forefront the stamp of authority. It does
not plead for recognition--it commands it. The snow-capped summit at
sundown, the Madonna face on a master’s canvas, the poet’s “lofty
rhyme,” the fragrant flower, the harmonious symphony, the “frozen
music” of architecture--the countless varied forms of beauty in nature,
art and life ask no favor nor do they play to the fancy of the moment.
Created in intelligence, sincerity and truth, and inspired by lofty
devotion, they compel a lasting homage.
[Illustration: PLATE I
LOANED BY MR. CARLL TUCKER
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG]
CHINESE RUGS
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG
Monograph Number One in The Mentor Reading Course
Length, nine feet nine inches.
Width, five feet five inches.
Forty-two hand-tied knots to the square inch.
This attractive rug is representative of a very admirable class of
Chinese floor fabrics, and illustrates in the clearest manner some
interesting and important features in the rug weaving art of China.
The knottage, as will be learned from the specification above, is
not great. A Mohammedan sedjadeh with only 42 knots to the square
inch would be held of small merit, unless it came from one of two or
three districts in Asia Minor--Bergamo for example, or else had some
individual element of value, such as great age, phenomenal color, or
uncommon design. In China, however, as has been pointed out in the
accompanying text, high textures are not accounted of large importance.
This rug is not of great antiquity, nor yet is it of very recent
manufacture. It might with safety be attributed to the Kien Lung
time, or some reign immediately thereafter. The best artistic tenets
of Persia--so far as they appertain to rug weaving--have been
conscientiously followed. The Mohammedan influence is not difficult
to trace, and yet at no time can a foreign or vagrant note be
discovered. The rug is thoroughly Chinese, not only in spirit but in
every detail. It will bear careful study in the light of what has
been said regarding the absorbent and adaptive quality of Chinese art
in all ages. The border area is relatively narrow, wherein marked
deference is paid to the oldest and best Chinese standards, and for
all a distinctly floral character prevails, the utmost simplicity is
maintained. It is a notably consistent rug. There is perfect harmony
between border and center, and the most perfect manifestation of the
Chinese artistic sense, perhaps, lies in the fact that, to the end of
preserving simplicity and balance, the weaver has carefully refrained
from “cluttering up” the border section with “guard stripes” requiring
additional patterns, which in a rug of this character would have been
superfluous and therefore disturbing.
Throughout the field of the rug, despite a decidedly ornate touch,
there is still a careful avoidance of excess. Only two elements
appear--the emblematic butterfly and floral devices, which not only
are combined to form the fine medallion, but which, with the utmost
refinement of handling, suffice for all the secondary and tertiary
constituents of the design.
Referring again to the fidelity with which the Persian theory has been
followed, observe that the design works out from a mathematically
precise central point, and is built in all directions with perfect
equality. Every figure has its exact counterpart on the opposite side;
side or end, the balance is preserved even to the corner patterns.
Given such impeccable skill in the adjustment of the design, there
remains only one test point; namely, the distribution of color. Observe
in this regard with what nicety the dainty touches of light and dark
blue are balanced against one another, from the central medallion
outward; and also how the little note of irregularity which is held
of such vital importance by the superstitious Persian, even in his
greatest masterpieces, is struck here by employing blue in some of the
smaller field devices, butterflies and flowers alike, and omitting it
from the corresponding figures at the opposite side.
Herein lies the human charm in the old weaving of Asia, the touch which
makes us know the ancient weaver and his thought, across the space of
lifetimes.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 2, SERIAL No. 102
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: PLATE II
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG]
CHINESE RUGS
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG
Monograph Number Two in The Mentor Reading Course
Length, eight feet ten inches.
Width, five feet seven inches.
Thirty hand-tied knots to the square inch.
The student should compare this rug, in all its details, with that
reproduced in Plate I, the property of Mr. Carll Tucker. The two
fabrics belong practically to the same school, and are not widely
separated in period. They have many points in common. Those in which
they do not agree are the more important. For many reasons I am
inclined to accord the honors to the other rug on the score of age.
This piece (Plate II) is in some ways superior in point of color. In
treatment, in concept, in artistry, it is not the equal of the rug in
Plate I, and yet to look at, it would by most people be considered more
beautiful. This is probably due almost wholly to coloring. Something
has been said in the accompanying text regarding the yellowish cast
given to Chinese reds, and the manner in which the peach and apricot
shades are produced by dyeing loose red over fast yellow. The rug in
Plate I is an illustration of that trick in dyeing.
This piece (Plate II) is the very rare exception. Its ground color is
pure and cool. In certain lights it is almost a shell pink. The years
do not reveal in it any trace of fundamental yellow. This rug lacks
the exquisite simplicity and refinement of the first. It is richer,
in design as well as in color, stronger in key, but nevertheless
splendidly consistent. In addition to the warmer color of the center,
there is a freer use of both light and dark blues, which however are
managed with the greatest skill. There is more vagrancy in design, due
to a manifest effort at elaboration. The added border stripe bearing
the wave or fret pattern is a necessary contribution made in order
to balance the stronger center. The same may be said of the small
round medallions in the main border, bearing very ancient symbols of
longevity.
After long study of these two rugs, I have come to the conclusion that
the design shown in Plate I is a rug design, made for that purpose and
no other, and the one here shown, beautiful as it is, was borrowed from
the porcelain, perhaps from several vases. There are certain Persian
rugs of the 17th and 18th centuries, and many Perso-Indian rugs of a
still earlier period, which have something in common with this minute
floral type of Chinese design. Which artist, the Mohammedan or the
Chinese, was the borrower and which the lender would be difficult to
say at this distance.
But all this aside, it is still worthy of note and should never be
forgotten in the study of Chinese rugs, that whatever and wherever they
borrow they are still Chinese. In this rug (Plate II) there is one
concession to the Persian habit, which might better have been omitted
for the sake of decorative purity; namely, the conversion of the narrow
inner “water” stripes into corner ornaments. Not that the shapes thus
obtained are Persian in their character. They are not. On the contrary,
they suggest the conventional corner dragons in the oldest Ming rugs,
of which a superb example is found in Plate VI. But the manner in
which they are brought out is more that of the heavy Chinese teak wood
carving, which plays so large a part in the interior decoration of
China down to the present day. They add an element of strength to the
design; but they distinctly “do not belong,” and constitute therefore
an inharmonious factor when considered in the light of cold analysis.
None the less, with its superb coloring, the rug is far more beautiful
than most that come out of China in these days of rug decadence.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 2, SERIAL No. 102
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: PLATE III
LOANED BY MR. CHARLES B. ALEXANDER
ROUND CHINESE RUG]
CHINESE RUGS
ROUND CHINESE RUG
Monograph Number Three in The Mentor Reading Course
Diameter, nine feet nine inches.
Eighty hand-tied knots to the square inch.
In point of actual age, this very unusual rug is perhaps the youngest
of all the six pieces selected for color reproduction with this
number of The Mentor. The general observations that have been made
regarding the distinguishing characters of the various periods will
be forcibly illustrated by comparing this rug with Plate VI, which
represents one of the earliest fabrics. The difference between them,
from the standpoint of simplicity in design, is decidedly marked, and
constitutes an entire lesson on the course of Chinese art. Reserving
comment on Plate VI for its proper place, it is interesting to note
some of the features of the round rug. Its elaboration must be
emphasized first of all. No effort of which the maker was capable has
been spared in the purpose to make this a carpet of note. Its shape
alone is sufficient proof of this. The circular rugs, whether Chinese
or Persian, are extremely rare. The only other one of great importance
is an early Ming piece owned by a gentleman living in New York City.
In Plate III, pursuing the comparison suggested above, there should
be noted the great complexity of design. In the attempt to create a
masterpiece, the weaver has borrowed from all the Chinese decorative
schools and periods. He has multiplied borders and employed a world of
material for their ornamentation. Dismissing the outer band of blue,
which serves as a sort of protection for the rest, examine the main
stripe. The various spaces herein, set off in a sort of cartouches
after the fashion of Persian borders but nevertheless with a Chinese
drawing, are filled with elements of divers sorts. Twelve of them
bear the repeating patterns used as ground covering in much older
rugs, including the fret or key pattern and the lozenge-shaped diaper,
which is commonly supposed to be Indian in its origin and of a very
early day. The alternating sections have cloud bands, flowers, and
nature symbols such as were copied into the Persian weavings after
the invasion of Hulaku Khan, and appear in many of the high-school
carpets of Persia of the 15th and 16th centuries. Two, at least, of
these alternating sections bear plants in pots, a later decorative
form, and purely Chinese. Inside this there is a wave or “Greek” border
stripe; not flat, as in the older rugs, but shaded, or in a sort of
perspective. This and the stripe which lies inside, between it and
the field, with the white spots, on a ground of blue, are believed
generally to be indisputably of late origin.
Passing to the center field, the same ambitious profusion is manifest.
The ground design is of most composite character; flower stems, potted
growths, suggesting the “Hundred Antiques” pattern, and, by way of good
measure, certain of the Buddhistic emblems of Happy Augury, notably the
“Entrails” or Endless Knot. All these are laid, in various exquisite
colorings, upon a field of the softest gold yellow. Passing to the
central medallion, yet a new element confronts us in the Foo dogs, of
which several are employed, somewhat crowded, and confused by reason
of their coloring, which, nevertheless, is good and, so far as balance
is concerned, well distributed. These are inclosed by a broad band or
wreath of more or less conventionalized flowers. The solidity of this
center is for the purpose of offsetting the rather too heavy border
section. In this the true workman appears.
Of the coloring, the wool, and the technical skill displayed, only the
highest praise is to be spoken. There are few Chinese rugs that surpass
this in textile quality.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 2, SERIAL No. 102
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: PLATE IV
OLD CHINESE RUG]
CHINESE RUGS
OLD CHINESE RUG
Monograph Number Four in The Mentor Reading Course
Length, eight feet four inches.
Width, five feet seven inches.
Thirty hand-tied knots to the square inch.
This is what is known as the “grains of rice” pattern. While the
reason for this name is obvious, the design is really derived from the
“cash”--the familiar Chinese coin with a square hole in the center.
In old rugs, where the color has faded, it is difficult to trace the
resemblance, but this derivation is vouched for on good authority. The
“cash” is a symbol of good luck. It is customary not to fancy this
pattern; but the fact remains that it always sells, like the equally
repeating “fish pattern” rugs of Persia. It is almost certain that the
reason for this is the simplicity and cheerfulness of rugs of this
type. The yellow used in them is usually not of the most attractive
shade, verging as it does toward the “lemon” and “pale mustard”
quality. Altogether, however, it provides a most agreeable background,
usually for some figure rather more ornately drawn but usually neat and
clean-cut in its effect, as in this instance.
This rug was made somewhat later than Plates I and II, and probably
after the time of the Emperor Kien Lung. During that reign more or less
elaborate use seems to have been made of foliate floral arrangements,
drawn like those seen here in the broader border stripe. From using
these patterns in small areas, such as borders or in individual bits
upon a plain field, was developed the fashion of covering the entire
central area with them, almost always in the same colors,--yellow and
blush red. The reds were inclined to fade, and as the rugs grew older
they attained wonderful delicacy of tone. Where the “grains of rice”
pattern is employed there is, in most cases, a certain quantity of red
or pink interpolated in some part of the rug, for the obvious purpose
of showing up the somewhat cold, thin yellow, which otherwise would be
too weak to be attractive. It is noticed here in the main border, the
ground of the inner border with fret pattern, and in the scrolls which
inclose the five floral medallions.
For some reason, probably racial, there appears in these “rice pattern”
rugs far more often than in any type the “barring” of color--that is to
say, a change in the ground color, usually to a lighter shade--so as
to form a bar or transverse stripe across the field. This is a common
practice among the Kurds in western Persia, who believe that it makes
for good luck. Further illustration of this irregularity occurs widely
throughout Chinese weavings in the seemingly “hit-or-miss” distribution
of many colors, principally the blues in the border patterns. This
peculiarity is very well shown in the present example, but is confined
to the border section. In the medallions of the field every element
seems to have been worked out with the greatest regularity and
exactitude.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 2, SERIAL No. 102
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: PLATE V
OLD CHINESE TEMPLE RUG]
CHINESE RUGS
OLD CHINESE TEMPLE RUG
Monograph Number Five in The Mentor Reading Course
Length, ten feet.
Width, eight feet.
Forty-two hand-tied knots to the square inch.
Rugs of this type, which seldom make their way to America, have been
attributed to Mongolia. There are reasons for believing that this piece
came direct from a temple in the borders of Tibet. It resembles in
many ways the now famous rug in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for
which the late J. P. Morgan paid $25,000. Although smaller than the
Museum temple carpet, the one here reproduced is superior to it in
textile quality and probably in age. Both have the imperial five-clawed
dragons of the Ming, contesting over the “jewel” which is one of the
Buddhist symbols. Both rugs also have across their lower end the
sacred mountains and the sea, depicted in their ancient traditional
form. There the resemblance may be said to end. It is in the symbols
distributed throughout the field that this rug excels the other from
the documentary standpoint. In addition to the cloud and cotyledon
figures, with which both rugs are ornamented, this piece contains all
the principal symbols of Happy Augury,--the Flaming Wheel, the Sacred
Lotus, the Fishes, the Canopy, the Jewel, the State Tent, the Endless
Knot, and the Conch Shell. Here appears also, in soft shades of brown,
the bat, recognized as a symbol of longevity.
In the top of the rug and extending from one side to the other, is a
continuous festoon, made up of conventionalized buds and flowers of
the lotus. This appears invariably in rugs woven for the draping of
temple pillars, or for religious hangings, and it is never found save
in fabrics made for some devotional purpose. It will be noted that
this part of the rug, a space about eighteen inches wide, is very much
worn. The most likely explanation of this condition is that the rug was
used on an altar and that a rail or other barrier prevented the nearer
approach of the devotees.
This extraordinary carpet presents the most convincing illustration
of what has been said in the text regarding the methods used to
secure blush-red shades,--peach, apricot, and the like. In China it
is customary to quilt the backs of nearly all small- and medium-sized
rugs that are used on floors, benches or _kongs_ (built-in brick
heating devices). Oftentimes the cotton cloth used to cover the bats
of quilting cotton is brought up over the end of the rug and sewed
fast. This piece was brought to America in some haste, and the quilting
was not removed until after it arrived here. When it was taken off,
the original color was revealed. It may be seen in the color plate, a
brilliant stripe across the lower end of the rug.
People are often misled by the absence of border from certain Chinese
rugs, into the belief that they are not intact. This is of course
an error, and it is worthy of note that the Sacred rugs, containing
in their designs a high measure of religious symbolism, are almost
invariably without borders.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 2, SERIAL No. 102
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: PLATE VI
VERY EARLY CHINESE RUG]
CHINESE RUGS
VERY EARLY CHINESE RUG
Monograph Number Six in The Mentor Reading Course
Length, nine feet nine inches.
Width, six feet six inches.
Sixteen hand-tied knots to the square inch, double yarns.
It should be, and probably will be, unnecessary to write any words of
praise for the wonderful old carpet so well reproduced in this plate.
It has all the marks of great and genuine antiquity. It represents the
Chinese rug-weaving art at its best, so far as clear concept, perfect
simplicity, and balance go, and the marvelous color which distinguishes
the highest expression. When this piece came to America, together
with the temple carpet shown in Plate V, it was in a sorry state of
disrepair, although but little of the original web was missing. The
work of reparation occupied a very considerable period of time, but
resulted in bringing back to life and utility one of the most perfect
examples of early weaving that have ever been imported.
If praise of the rug is unnecessary, analysis of it is next to
impossible, for the good reason that there is nothing much to analyze.
In color there are only two shades of tan, one gold, the other brown,
and the one shade of very peculiar, misty blue. These, together with
the wide band of dark brown around the sides and ends, all softened by
age, complete the narrowest color schedule it could well be possible to
employ in a rug. The range of design is still more limited. There is
nothing but the fret in the central medallion and the single border,
and the small medallions and corners, which, while not pretending to
actual depiction, even conventionally, are nevertheless doubtless
derived from the simple dragon forms so widely used at the remote
period when this rug was made. In all this there is nothing complex,
nothing pretentious, and yet the whole has a decorative atmosphere, and
a completeness, which could not have been more impressive and which a
free use of divers patterns could only have impaired.
From the standpoint of composition, particular attention should be paid
to this blue. The color printing process has fortunately reproduced it
with astonishing fidelity. It is not alone unique among the multitude
of wonderful blues in which the old Chinese dyers excelled, but it
would be difficult for the most skilful of present day colorists to
have selected or devised a shade which would have taken its place in
complementing to the shades of gold brown which dominate the entire
fabric. In the light of such an accomplishment, it is difficult to
believe that the scientific theory of color was worked out by a
Frenchman, at so very late a day.
Some importance, finally, attaches to the brown band formed around the
outside of the rug. Wide observation of old Chinese rugs reveals the
fact that brown, used for this purpose, is an almost unfailing mark of
very early origin. As time went on, blue began to supersede it, and
through recent centuries the blue band has been well nigh universal;
though in some few localities, apparently, brown has been adhered to
for this purpose, down to a comparatively late day.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 2, SERIAL No. 102
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
CHINESE RUGS
By JOHN KIMBERLY MUMFORD
_Author and Expert on Rugs_
_COLOR PLATES_
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUG
ROUND CHINESE RUG
_COLOR PLATES_
OLD CHINESE RUG
OLD CHINESE TEMPLE RUG
VERY EARLY CHINESE RUG
[Illustration: A VERY CONSISTENT DESIGN
Center and border have a single motive. The fret and spot stripes
furnish the accent]
THE MENTOR · DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS
MARCH 1, 1916
Entered at the Post-office at New York, N. Y., as second-class
matter. Copyright, 1916, by The Mentor Association, Inc.
There are many reasons for believing that the weaving of rugs was not
indigenous to China, but was borrowed, perhaps a very long time ago,
from Persia, or, possibly even earlier, from the Turkomans, to whom
has generally been attributed the invention of the piled or upstanding
knot. Recent investigations lead one to disbelieve in this, and to
consider even these ancient Turkomans as more or less modern. But
they nevertheless confirm the belief that rug weaving was an acquired
art with the Chinese. This conviction is further sustained by the
relatively small part rugs or rug weaving have had in the Chinese
artistic tradition, the absence of reference to them in literature,
and the fewness of fine Chinese rugs as compared with the multitude of
wonderful pieces that have emanated from Persia, Turkestan, India, and
Turkey.
In China rugs do not appear to have been so much a part of the daily,
intimate life of the people as they are and always have been in the
Moslem countries, nor have they received so much of reverent attention.
True, much of Chinese religious symbolism has been woven into the rugs,
but chiefly in the few special pieces made for the ornamentation or
furnishing of the temples. The Mohammedan’s rug is closely related to
his daily devotions. In China the rug has no such place, but is in
the main a utility; and for this reason, perhaps, efforts to produce
masterpieces have been far fewer in China, and there appears to have
been no record or tradition of individual weavers of renown. In only a
few instances is there found in Chinese rugs the studious and wonderful
elaboration displayed, for example, in the sixteenth-century Persian
rugs, the fine fabrics of old Damascus, or the superlative weavings of
the Perso-Indian artists.
[Illustration: A VERY AMBITIOUS DESIGN
The garden idea is apparent. The deer, stork, tree, and cotyledon (seed
leaf) forms are of the “Shou” order suggestive of long life. The round
fret forms at the corners likewise symbolize this]
The art of China, as expressed in porcelain and in painting, took hold
upon the fancy of the West long ago: witness the Delft ware, which of
course owes its inspiration to Chinese sources. Europe had a passable
notion of Chinese artistic tenets at a rather early period. So,
relatively, had America. It is interesting to note that of the Chinese
rugs, now so amazingly popular in this country, practically nothing was
known until fifteen or twenty years ago, save to an exceedingly small
number of people. The period of their predominance in popular favor has
been brief; but already the supply of old pieces with real merit is
exhausted, particularly in the larger sizes.
SUDDEN POPULARITY
The vogue of the Chinese rug in this country is unquestionably due to
the artistic sense and discernment of the late Stanford White. In a
certain establishment in New York there had grown up an accumulation
of old Chinese pieces, some of them very rare and beautiful, which had
been “thrown in” with other art objects purchased. They begged for
attention at thirty or forty dollars each, until Mr. White placed one
or two of them in the hall of the late William C. Whitney’s house. From
that moment the demand for them, and consequently their market value,
advanced at a prodigious rate.
No matter what anybody may claim, it is doubtful if there has ever been
in Europe or America any definite or systematized knowledge of the
locality of origin or the period of Chinese rugs. Aside from the small
importance usually attached to them as art products by the Chinese
themselves, this dearth of specific knowledge has been due to the fact
that the rugs were not woven in Eastern China, but in the interior
provinces, and, even after a demand arose for them in the West, buyers
were well content to await arrivals in the Treaty Ports, rather than
court the perils of travel into the Chinese _hinterland_. It was
believed that as soon as the demand became known there would be great
influx of desirable fabrics to Peking. There was; but it lasted only
for a little space, and today in the Chinese capital a rug of any merit
whatsoever commands a price almost prohibitive. This has led to a great
volume of manufacture in Peking, both in new designs and in more or
less creditable copies of the old. But so violently has this commercial
production been promoted that the very multitude of modern Chinese rugs
has begun to work injury to the enterprise; although the texture of the
new rugs is finer than that in many of the old ones. In fact, Chinese
rug weaving as a whole does not show any impressively high measure of
technical accomplishment.
TEXTURE OF CHINESE RUGS
The texture of Chinese floor coverings is usually far coarser than the
Persian, or even the Turkish, notwithstanding that they are woven in
the Persian knot, which lends itself to amazing fineness of detail. In
addition to this coarseness a very heavy weft or cross-thread is used,
sometimes four heavy strands after each transverse row of knots. This
results in a very flat “lie” of the pile. The difference between this
and the fine, almost perpendicular pile found in the rugs of Ispahan
(so-called) of Tabriz and of Kashan, is striking; but it doubtless
expresses the general attitude of the Chinese toward the rug. They
evidently regarded it merely as a medium for the presentation of simple
patterns and broad masses of color, and the quickest method of securing
these was the best.
DESIGN AND TREATMENT
Chinese rug design and treatment are plainly impressionistic, as
contrasted with the infinite detail that marks the high-school weavings
of Persia.
[Illustration: COVERING FOR A CHAIR SEAT AND BACK
This fabric is in yellow and blue. The sacred mountain is the chief
feature of the design]
The Chinese weaver adapted the method to his requirements, and some
of the most beautiful effects in the Chinese fabrics are found in
absurdly coarse specimens. On the other hand, when he did undertake
finer accomplishments, he vindicated all the high artistic traditions
of his race. Perhaps the most impressive illustration of the racial
skill and deftness is the cut work with which, in the better rugs, many
of the patterns are outlined. This consists in the seemingly simple
device of cutting away half the knot along the lines of a pattern;
such, for example, as a flower or vine, a wave or a bird. The result
is to leave the pattern clearly defined and in actual relief, without
the interjection of another color. This cutting takes the place of the
color outline almost universally used in Persia. In this, as in almost
every phase of artistic accomplishment, the Chinese individuality and
conservatism are manifest.
When we consider Chinese history and note the multitude of race factors
that have gone into China-Arabs, Jews, Nestorians, Hindus, Armenians,
and Turks, the wonder is that the Chinese weaving art is not manifestly
and obtrusively composite; that is to say, that it does not show on
its surface these various elements. But, on the contrary, it has taken
the “busy” patterns of the races farther west, stripped them of their
masses of confusing detail, and imbued them with the dignity and
indefinable calm which seems to be the inevitable Chinese mark.
Anyone familiar with rugs can discern, in a certain school of Chinese
fabrics, the Persian characteristics as found in the rugs of Khorassan;
but always, and from whatever source derived, these patterns have been
touched with the purely Chinese character, laid in the Chinese color,
and so in the course of time have become thoroughly localized. China
converted the hard octagons of the Turkoman rugs into circular scrolls
or medallions, beautifying them meanwhile with some floral character
manifestly borrowed from the Persians--and yet by no means Persian.
There has been in all the world probably no more perfect example of
racial individuality in art.
[Illustration: A COMPOSITE DESIGN
Of a rather late period. In the border are found somewhat overloaded
Mohammedan characteristics]
CHINESE INFLUENCE ON RUG DESIGN
It should be said, however, that Chinese influence has been equally
effective outside its own pale. In the thirteenth century, Hulaku
Khan, leading his Mongol hordes in conquest, took Chinese artists and
workmen as far west as Bagdad. Traces of this transportation may be
found in a great many Persian and Turkish rugs, particularly the palace
pieces made for three hundred years after that time. The so-called
“cloud band” and the cotyledon symbol (representing the life idea) may
be seen in many fine Persian rugs. The dragon, which plays so large a
part in Chinese ornament, has also been imparted to other races. The
best illustration of this is the large Bagdad carpet from the Yerkes
Collection, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In eliminating the overactive quality in Persian design, China made
use of “background” in a way which the most advanced theorists in
artistic composition must approve. The field of plain color became
paramount; but it was rarely used, in the best early periods, as it is
in the West, as a hard, defined area with central medallion and corner
spaces. Where this was done the softest color was used throughout,
such as a golden brown, relieved by dull blues and perhaps a deeper
brown or a touch of gold yellow. In by far the most cases the pattern
is distributed over the field sparsely instead of densely as in so
many of the Persian rugs. Almost the only exceptions to this rule are
small, repetitious diaper patterns, usually in mild coloring. Generally
speaking, the patterns in Chinese rugs are large in proportion to
the fabric; but it will be noticed that each has a more distinctive
value. The natural effect of this would have been excessive strength in
general effect; but here again the Chinese art intuition rose to the
requirement. The difficulty was obviated by an entire change of color
scheme.
[Illustration: A RUG OF UNUSUAL QUALITY, TEXTURE AND COLOR
The strength of the patterns is well distributed]
COLOR IN CHINESE RUGS
While the Chinese of early times were master color makers, a very
narrow schedule of colors has always served for the rugs, until the
later decadent periods; in fact, this holds true in all Chinese
art. There is in the entire kingdom of Chinese rug weaving no such
jumble of unrelated colors as we find in the Persians. I have had
occasion heretofore to make clear the Persian theory of color, that
of neutralization by juxtaposition, in which a score of naturally
conflicting colors are thrown together with great freedom, with the
purpose that they shall neutralize one another. The Chinese had a
concept more nearly approaching our own. He dealt in simple colors
rather than in complex ones, and what neutralizations he accomplished
were done before the actual weaving or else effected by the fading
of the dyes after the rug was completed. In Chinese rugs art takes
precedence of workmanship, and as the art declines, in the moderns, the
texture seems to improve.
[Illustration: AN OLD RUG IN GRAY AND SOFT BROWN COLORS
Simple and effective. The lattice ground of the border has been used
very intelligently]
With this wide view of the Chinese habit and tendency before us, it
is well to consider the all important matter of color. The range of
coloring is noticeably narrow and correspondingly simple; though
at first glance it does not always seem to be so. To this fact is
doubtless due the restfulness which is the great charm of Chinese rugs.
There are, to be sure, designs which are to the Western eye hard and
discordant; but it will be found that most of these are in rugs of a
religious sort, where the patterns include the dragons, Foo dogs, and
other symbolic devices which seem to us grotesque and even repellent.
It will be observed, however, when one has acquired familiarity with
the Chinese rugs, that the adjustment of color values is most accurate,
always bearing in mind that the Chinese seem to have discounted in the
oldest and best periods of artistic production the mellowing influence
of time.
[Illustration: A COHERENT AND WELL BALANCED DESIGN
The colors are blue and white]
Most noticeable in Chinese rug coloring is the wonderful scope and
quality of the blues. The highest expression of Persian skill in dyeing
has always been found in blue; but even in this art--which, by the way,
the Persians have now in a great measure lost--they must yield place to
the Chinese. In the older rugs the Chinese blues show a range, a depth,
and a luminous quality which are not surpassed in the world, and even
the best modern pieces now being produced in Peking are in this respect
superior to their Persian contemporaries.
Second, certainly, to the blues in importance come the yellows. While
yellow has been used freely in Persian rugs, and more so in those of
Kurdistan and Asia Minor, the fact of its royal and semi-religious
value in China has caused it to be employed in some of the Chinese
fabrics with a frankness not equaled elsewhere. Twenty years ago,
before popular taste in America had attained its present appreciative
attitude toward all Chinese art, the prevalence of yellow in strong
values and large areas in the rugs was one of the chief causes of
American dislike for them. It is unpleasant to admit this now, when old
Chinese rugs in yellow, and some not so old, are sought with an avidity
that disregards the question of price.
IMPERIAL YELLOW
Since Chinese rugs have come into demand we have heard a great deal of
“imperial yellow.” Almost any yellow is “imperial” when a sale hangs
in the balance. But it should be unnecessary to say that true imperial
yellow is quite as rare in Chinese rugs as are imperial persons among
the 400,000,000 of Chinese population. Its actual frequency is about
equal to that of “inscriptions from the Koran in the modern rugs of
Persia.” To describe it would tax the skill of Lafcadio Hearn, who
would not have been so rash as to undertake it. Perhaps the most
descriptive thing one can say is that it outyellows all the gold that
ever shone.
[Illustration: INHARMONIOUS DESIGN
It is too strong for a small fabric. The sacred mountain and the Foo
dogs are combined badly with a border stripe derived from India or
Khorassan]
The green schedule is very limited and the employment of green even
more uncommon than in Moslem countries, where its religious importance
restricts its use. When green does occur in Chinese fabrics, it has
usually an admixture of yellow which converts it to olive, or else is
a frank attempt to reproduce the color of jade. The colorings of old
Chinese rugs, in the order of their frequency, are about as follows:
1. Blue and white, with the pattern in two or even three shades
of blue, on white background, or occasionally with a splash of
some salmon shade to give warmth and accent.
2. Reds and pinks, with design in two blues, yellow, tan, and
white.
3. Yellow and blue, yellow ground with design in two shades of
blue, with admixture of white and secondary elements in soft
shades of tan and brown.
4. Browns and fawns, with patterns in blues, white, red, or
yellow.
5. Dark blues, with design in white, or far less frequently
in gold tan, relieved by small bits of light blue and white,
sometimes one note of rust red for luck. (This seems to be
common in all parts of Asia.)
6. Light blues, with pattern in white and the softer shades of
yellow, pink, and fawn or brown, and small display of dark blue.
7. Green grounds, usually olive, with pattern in dark and light
blue, yellow, and some red.
There are some other eccentric colorings, but these are the chief.
The blue and white pieces are scarce now for the reason that they
contribute to the “cool effects,” the attainment of which has of late
been one of the chief aims of the highest practitioners in the art
of decoration. The reds and certain “mustardy” shades of yellow have
perhaps been least liked and linger longest on the shelf. Blue or
yellow has proved a more attractive color arrangement. The dark blue
and light blue grounds have always been very rare, and a green rug is
an episode.
[Illustration: A TEMPLE FABRIC
When fastened around a pillar the dragon is complete and appears twined
spirally]
Red appears in Chinese silks in clear tones. In the rugs it almost
always has a yellowish cast. There are many shades of salmon pink
and red, but very few pieces with pink of a cool character, such as
the “shell” shades, rose pink, or the famous Du Barry. All these
appear in Persian and Kurdish rugs, and to one knowing how infinitely
skilful Chinese dyers have been it is at first hard to understand why
the schedules of this common and popular color included chiefly the
yellowish tints, from pale apricot to a deep red which nevertheless
verged toward orange. The reason for it is still difficult to discern:
the method of obtaining these shades, in a softness which increases
with age, is now clear.
If a Persian dyer wished to secure any particular shade of color, he
would mix his dyes to that end, and the color, when applied, would
remain. The oldtime Chinese dyer was more ingenious. He dyed the
wool first in a fast yellow. When this was dry and thoroughly set
it was dipped into a rather strong red, more or less fugitive. Upon
long exposure to the air the red faded and the yellow came through;
enough of the red remaining to leave the degree of warmth desired.
The delicacy of these colors increases with age. In some old pieces,
obviously of the Ming period, the wool which was originally red has
come down to pale gold, with only the faintest blush over it, and in
the faded color there is a quality which no accurate one-color dying
can give. The Chinese dyer evidently counted upon the softening effect
of the years, a foresight which could be found nowhere save among a
race of collectors.
FEATURES OF CHINESE RUG PATTERNS
The simplicity which distinguishes Chinese coloring may be said equally
to distinguish the design. This is more true of the old fabrics than
of those of later origin. In fact, one of the distinguishing marks of
the old rugs is the use of very simple patterns and usually a narrow
border, consisting of some form of the fret or wave pattern which in
architecture is known as “Greek,” but which appears with the swastika
(卐), of which it is a clear development, in the primitive art of all
races, and which in China has been employed most freely from the
earliest times.
[Illustration: A RUG CONSISTENT IN ITS STRICTLY FLORAL CHARACTER
Well balanced, and modelled after the Kien Lung designs, but probably
made later. The color effect is sprightly]
Just when or at what stage of Chinese religious culture the dragon
came into Chinese art we probably do not know; but it is found in
the earliest rugs we have trace of. In these, however, it shares the
prevailing simplicity, is strictly conventional in character, usually
laid in blue and worked into the shape of a circular medallion, or
sometimes, in conjunction with the fret, into corner devices. These,
however, seem to have been appropriated from the Persian along with the
central medallion.
[Illustration: MAT OF A VERY EARLY PERIOD
The purest of designs in gold and brown]
As time and the art progressed there crept into the design a greater
opulence, a higher degree of elaboration. Something of the floral
richness of Persia was absorbed, and it abides to this day; but
everything adopted was transformed, in color and treatment, to fit into
the Chinese decorative scheme. Instead of a profuse mass of floral
material, one flower was taken as a motive and presented in repeating
fashion, duly emphasized, and with no multiplicity of other floral
factors to detract from it. In almost every case the flower had an
ethical or religious meaning which became the keynote of the rug.
In this connection it may be said that there is no art in the world
in which so great a part of the prevailing figures has a generally
recognized symbolic meaning.
CHINESE SYMBOLISM
Very comprehensive is this symbolism. It includes not alone a multitude
of things from the floral and animal kingdoms, but even certain
utensils had a meaning; social, ethical, or moral, if not religious.
The bat, the bird, the butterfly, the dragon, the kylin, the Foo dog,
the leopard, the elephant, the horse, the phœnix, the stork,--the list
is altogether too long to permit of any thorough tabulation. The old
symbols of primitive religion, found in Turanian rugs and dating back
to the very morning of mankind, do not seem to appear in the Chinese
weavings; but it is manifest that somewhere, at some time, the Chinese
symbols and their attendant meanings were derived directly from some
imaginative form of nature worship (witness the cotyledon or seed
germ, which was adopted by Persia from China and appears so often in
the high-school Persian rugs of Sefavian times). The meanings, once
established, have been maintained in popular understanding. Every
intelligent Chinaman today knows them as his remote ancestors did. It
is a part of the great fund of popular information that bird, bat,
deer, and butterfly convey wishes for long life and good fortune.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE OLDEST AND FINEST EXAMPLES OF CHINESE RUGS
The dragons at the center and the corners are in marvellous blue on a
background of pure gold. The “tiger” marks are in brown]
Chinese symbolism has developed some eccentric and even egregious
things; such, for example, as the dragon and the kylin. Each and every
of such impossible creatures had his sphere and his legend. Of the
dragons, there are several kinds,--one of the heavens, one of the
mountains, one of the sea. The emperor’s dragon has five claws. So has
that of the first- and second-class princes. The next two classes of
the royal family may display only a four-clawed one; while ordinary
mortals must be content with three. A four-clawed serpent bespeaks a
mandarin or a prince of the fifth rank.
[Illustration: AN UNUSUAL SADDLE CLOTH
It has religious symbols in the center on a yellow background. The
border shows Hindu influence. The coloring is splendid]
The kylin, a fearsome four-footed beast, means long life and good
government. The phœnix, in addition to his indestructible life, was
reputed to live high in the air, and to descend to earth only as the
bearer of good news. The catalogue is endless, and perhaps to the
Occidental useless, unless it be for the information of the collector
or to divert the curious mind.
Many of the superstitions common in Turkey and Persia, seem to prevail
throughout China. For example, I have found a “cash” (perforated
Chinese coin) sewed fast to an old Chinese rug to bring good luck. It
should be noted that the “cash” is one of the Buddhistic “symbols of
happy augury.” Few people in any part of the world will fail to see
the fitness of this. The Mohammedans indulge this same practice, using
sometimes a gay bead or a scrap of cloth.
In weaving rugs the Chinese in earlier times had one custom of which
I have found no trace in western Asia; namely, that of weaving a rug
in two, three, or four sections, breaking an elaborate design without
respect for its continuity, and knitting the parts together by the warp
threads, evidently to produce just the required size. This is most
prevalent in large temple rugs.
A word should be said concerning the assigning of rugs to specific
periods. There are persons who will name a period for any Chinese rug.
I believe more of these are wrong than right. There are some rugs which
present coloring or design of distinct period character, and in general
it is probable that the earliest are the simplest. The poor old Ming
dynasty has had an awful burden to carry. Ability to tell when any and
every rug was made would imply an intimate and detailed familiarity
with the civil and artistic history of China for unnumbered years,
and the person who professes such knowledge should be ready to give
a reason for the faith that is in him. Not too much is known about
Chinese rugs. They offer an ideal field for the ambitious student, and
when he has mastered it thoroughly he will know much besides rugs.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
There is a scarcity of literature dealing with Chinese rugs. A
knowledge of Chinese rugs is based on a knowledge of rugs in the
general Asiatic sense, and on Chinese art in all its developments.
CHINESE ART _By Stephen W. Bushell_
London, 1910. Chap. V, “Textiles, Woven Silks, etc.”
CHINESE PICTORIAL ART _By Herbert A. Giles_
Shanghai, 1905.
CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN _By R. L. Hobson_
Two Volumes.
BULLETIN OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
February, 1909.
L’ART CHINOIS _By M. Paleologue_
Paris, 1888.
CHINESISCHE KUNST GESCHICHTE _By O. Münsterberg_
Esslingen, 1912.
THE TIFFANY STUDIOS COLLECTION OF
ANTIQUE CHINESE RUGS _By Mrs. M. C. Ripley_
New York, 1908.
ORIENTAL RUGS BEFORE 1800 _By F. Martin_
London, 1909.
ORIENTAL RUGS ANTIQUE AND MODERN _By W. A. Hawley_
New York, 1913.
THE FLIGHT OF THE DRAGON _By Binyon_
London, 1908.
EPOCHS OF CHINESE ART _By Ernest F. Fenellosa_
New York, 1913.
THE OPEN LETTER
[Illustration: A RUG OF EARLY DESIGN
It is of heavy quality, dignified, and harmonious, in brown and gray
colors. The device in the center is a symbol standing for long life]
It is a curious fact that, while China is the oldest nation that we
know, and the history of her civilization stretches back to the early
morning of time, there are many interesting Chinese things with which
we have only in recent years become familiar. The Chinese rug is a case
in point. How long the Chinese have been making fine rugs no one can
tell. It is safe, however, to say that, like their other arts, Chinese
rugmaking is of very great antiquity.
* * * * *
And yet, as Mr. Mumford points out, the Chinese rug has come into
vogue in the west only within the past fifteen or twenty years. It
is true the vogue was anticipated by a few collectors in England and
America, but they can be numbered on the fingers of one hand. Mr. H.
O. Havemeyer, some twenty-five years ago, took a fancy to Chinese rugs
and made quite a collection of them. They had no special market value
then, for they were not sought after. Mr. Havemeyer collected them
because he was attracted to them as unusual products of the loom, and
then because, he found them to be an interesting and profitable subject
of study. His collection is no doubt in the possession of his family
today, and if a present day value were set upon those rugs they would
probably show an appreciation over their original prices of fully a
thousand per cent, if not more.
* * * * *
Mr. Mumford calls attention to the fact that the Chinese rug was made
popular in this country by the late Mr. Stanford White. Mr. White was
a very strong and original figure in art. He did not look to others
for suggestions. He led the way and others followed. So when he
picked out a number of old Chinese rugs that he found in a New York
shop and placed them in Mr. William C. Whitney’s house, connoisseurs
and collectors took notice and very soon the Chinese rug became the
vogue. All that were to be had in America were soon bought up and the
prices rose sensationally. Some time ago a New York collector bought a
Chinese rug for $30. This was in the days before the vogue. Two years
later he found a mate to this rug in the same shop, ordered it without
hesitation--and it was delivered to him with a bill for $3,600. This
shows the increase of value that can be effected by a quick growth in
demand. And today few genuine old Chinese rugs can be had at any price.
[Illustration: W. D. Moffat
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