Chapter IV: Hand-Made Carpets

THE characteristic feature of a carpet, as distinguished from other floor coverings, is the combination of a surface composed almost always of wool with a woven foundation, which may be of various materials.

The main classification of carpets is between those which are made by hand and those which are made by machine; and of both these classes there are many sub-divisions.

Hand-made carpets are the oldest type of the fabric, and, coming from the East, are the historical parents of all modern carpets. This kind of carpet is made to-day in the United Kingdom, on the Continent, and in the East in almost exactly the same manner in which it has been made by the Orientals for several hundred years. The principle is extremely simple. The warp threads, or chain, are wound on two horizontal beams, between which they are stretched vertically. The beams are carried by upright posts on which they can revolve, the space between the posts determining the width of the rug or carpet. The weavers sit side by side in front, the carpet as it is woven being gradually wound on to the lower beam, and the warp correspondingly unwound from the upper beam. The yarn for the pile is cut up into tufts about 2 in. in length, and is knotted round two warp threads, tuft by tuft, according to the paper design, which is attached in front of the weaver. As each row, or part of a row is finished, two weft threads are put in, one in the shed formed between the front and back halves of the chain, and a second in an alternate shed, which is formed by the weaver pulling forward the back half of the chain temporarily in front of the front half. The second weft is put in straight, the first one loose, zig-zag, or vandyked, so as to fill up the back of the carpet, and to avoid the tendency towards lateral contraction. The weft is beaten down into its place by a heavy fork or beater. This interlocking of warp and weft with the tuft forms the weave of the carpet, and has been imitated more or less in all mechanically woven carpet fabrics.

There are two different kinds of knot employed, the Ghiordes or Turkish, and the Senne or Persian. In carpets made with the former, the tuft of yarn is knotted round a pair of warp threads in such a manner that the two ends of yarn come between the two warp threads round which the tuft is looped, and consequently two pile ends alternate with every two warp threads. In Persian carpets the tuft is knotted in such a way that one end of the tuft obtrudes between each warp thread. This method of weaving renders possible a closer texture than the Turkish knot; while carpets of suitable design and finer pitch are often woven with a running thread looped round the finger of the weaver, and then cut, instead of by individual tufts. This latter system gives more waste but quicker weaving. With both Turkish and Persian knots the tuft ends do not stand up at right angles to the plane of the fabric, but lie over obliquely towards the starting end of the carpet. This natural slant of the pile, which results in presenting to the eye and the foot of the user of the carpet partly the ends and partly the sides of tufts, is a very characteristic feature of hand-made carpets, and one which cannot be completely imitated by any class of machine-made fabrics.

Another kind of hand weaving is the tapestry method, wherein the weft colours, wound upon wooden needles, are threaded round and between the warp ends, leaving a flat or slightly ribbed surface, not unlike that of an ingrain carpet. The absence of a tufted pile does not make this a luxurious carpet; but it enables a fine pitch to be employed, and the richest and most delicate effects of design and colour to be obtained. Carpets of this type have long been made at Les Gobelins, Paris, Aubusson, and Beauvais, in France, and Tournai, in Belgium. The work is slow and highly skilled, and the product is naturally very expensive.

There is no better kind of carpet than the carpet made by hand; though this is far from implying that all hand-tufted carpets are superior to all machine-made ones. But there is no method of combining the pile with the foundation so good as the knot; and it cannot be completely imitated by the cleverest power-loom invented. The hand-tufted carpet possesses an individuality, even in its faults, which no product of a machine can attain, and which, after all, is an attribute to a work of art. More of the soul of the worker has passed into it than the clashing metal of a power loom will permit to filter into its product.

Hand-made carpets have a further advantage in their adaptability to requirements. A single carpet, for instance, can be made to any specified shape, size, design, colour, and quality. It is possible to produce in one piece carpets of oval, circular, or L-shaped form, or to conform to irregular curves and angles.

Qualities are numerous, but may be said to vary mainly between about 9 and 400 tufts to the square inch. The average European hand-made carpet will not run to more than from 16 to 30.

As regards materials, the tuft yarn will vary from a heavy woollen for coarse pitches to a fine worsted for the closer, while silk is occasionally employed, producing a carpet of greater lustre, but less resiliency.

The Eastern weavers are fond of using woollen of suitable counts for both warp and weft, though a cotton warp is quite common. Flax or linen, however, is more commonly employed by the European maker; and the combination of strength and softness in this material seem to make it almost ideal for the purpose.

European hand-tufted carpets may be considered as upon a different footing from Asiatic. Indeed, the carpet dealer would hardly regard the two—at any rate in pre-war days, would hardly _have_ regarded them—as mutually competitive. The main localities for this branch of the industry are Maffersdorf, in Austria, Holland, Donegal, Carlisle, and Wilton. But, although in each of these places carpets of characteristic Eastern design and colouring are produced, their staple trade has always lain rather along the lines of specialities. They have catered rather for architects, decorators, individuals, or public bodies, who were inspired by some particular idea, and who could afford to pay for it, than for the ordinary consumer. To make standard carpets for stock, unless it were some crimson Yapraks, would be quite exceptional. The reason for this, and the relation of European and Asiatic hand-made carpets will be alluded to later.

At any rate the fact remains, that the European hand-tufted carpet trade, though it has been responsible for some superb productions in a variety of styles—and in this connection due credit must be given to the enemy maker alluded to—yet it never attained a position of importance adequate to its undoubted merits.

It is quite impossible to deal effectively in a limited space with so large a subject as that of Oriental carpets and rugs. Books have been written on the historical and artistic aspects alone. Some brief notes must suffice. It is interesting to recall that the inhabitants of Persia and Asia Minor, who were the earliest makers of carpets, were nomads. They wove their tents, decorated with tribal signs and symbols, and they wove the curtains or kelims for greater comfort and ornament. Rugs and carpets followed in natural sequence. The primary object of these was to cover the raised bank of earth at the end of the tent on which the chief sat. Other rugs and mats were placed round the tent for the use of the family or of visitors. Besides these, there were the prayer rugs for their special purpose, which were carefully stored when not required for use.

When the dwelling-place developed from a tent to a house, a raised seat of honour covered by a rug took the place of the bank of earth; and divans on each side of the room, for which long rugs or runners were required, accommodated the family and callers.

Weaving was, and still is, largely a family affair, in the East. The women and girls sit in front of the loom and work under the supervision of the matriarch. Obviously the degrees of skill employed will vary; and this leads to some of the irregularities in Eastern carpets, which, however, are regarded rather as beauties than as blemishes by the Western buyer.

It is not to be implied, however, that all Oriental carpets are still the product of family or tribal industry. Western methods have penetrated even into the “unchanging East”: organisation of the industry has been set up; and carpet dealers and importers’ syndicates in New York, London, and Paris have their agents in the East, and even control their own factories, to which they send their orders. This may be thought to detract from the romance of the Oriental carpet, but it does not appear to have affected adversely the progress of the industry or the merit of its products; and there is no reason why it should, so long as the Western buyers are men of taste and experience, and do not seek to impose uncongenial ideas upon the Eastern worker, which might tend to the destruction of individuality and local feeling.

It is a common fallacy, that the yarns of Oriental carpets are dyed solely with vegetable dyes, and that those dyes are intrinsically superior to aniline and alizarine dyes, such as are employed for yarns for machine-made fabrics. The latter have been used for many years now by European carpet manufacturers, not because they are cheaper than vegetable dyes, but because they are easier to use, more accurate for matching purposes, and faster to light. There are, of course, good and bad synthetic dyes, but the best are immeasurably superior to dyes made from plants, barks, and berries. This fact has long been recognised by those who control the production of Oriental carpets, for the yarns for which aniline and alizarine dyes are now extensively employed.

The subject of dyeing naturally leads on to that of doctoring or “faking,” which is commonly adopted with a large proportion of Eastern carpets. The object is twofold: to soften the original brightness of the colours, or to give an appearance of age; and to obtain a gloss which the wool does not naturally possess. This is generally done by the collectors or agents, and not by the people who weave the carpets. It is often known by the innocent name of _washing_, and consists in treating the surface with some chemical such as chlorine water, or glycerine, followed by ironing with a hot iron. It can hardly be supposed that this treatment does not detract to some extent from the life of the carpet; but this consideration appears to be outweighed by that of the more attractive appearance.

It has been stated that it is not an uncommon practice to expose a carpet to use in the bazaar or street with the object of enhancing its commercial value by giving it an artificial appearance of age. It is to be hoped, however, that this very insanitary method of faking is rare; but those who wilfully give preference to a carpet because it is dirty and faded, and apparently old, do not deserve too much sympathy.

There are varieties of Asiatic carpets far too numerous to be mentioned here. They differ widely in origin, design, colour, and quality, each town or district having its characteristic pattern and ornament, which is followed with more or less persistence. The finest carpets, both in pattern and quality, are the Persian, the worst are some of the Indian, which are coarse in texture and devoid of artistic merit. In between are the standard Turkeys, which are in great and steady demand all over Europe.

Reference has been made to the very different position occupied by Asiatic and European, or at any rate British hand-tufted carpets. Practically identical in manufacture, they are in different categories commercially. The Eastern carpet trade is a large one, healthy, well organised, and profitable. The British hand-tufted industry is artificial, and maintains a precarious existence.

It may not be considered quite outside the scope of this chapter to examine the reason for this position. The question is in reality purely an economic one. British hand-tufted carpets cannot be manufactured on a basis of cost that enables them to compete in price with the imported Eastern carpet. The question of design and colour may be ignored for the moment; quality for quality, the domestic product cannot meet its Oriental competitor on equal terms in the market, despite the fact that it comes straight from the manufacturer, while the other has probably had to bear collectors’ and wholesale dealers’ profits.

The reason lies, of course, in the different standard of living. The cost of the raw materials is not substantially different in Great Britain and in Asia Minor. But the British carpet has got to pay for steam-heating, gas and water, and electric light, and a more liberal standard of diet, than suffices the frugal Armenian or Kurd. The women and girls who weave Eastern carpets are not protected by factory inspectors and welfare superintendents.

And the difference in cost of production due to these very different conditions is very considerable; while in view of the increase of wages during the war, and the steadily advancing standard of comfort among British artisans, it seems likely to be even more in the future.

Under these circumstances, it is justifiable to ask whether it is fair and wise to allow this competition to continue. During the war the import of Oriental carpets has been prohibited, and it cannot be claimed that the results have been disastrous. The stock of Oriental carpets existing in the country when the prohibition was initiated has changed hands at steadily increasing prices. In other words, the people who wanted the carpets keenly enough have got them, and have had to pay handsomely for them. Why should not this prohibition, or alternatively a high import duty, be maintained? No one would suffer except the Turk, about whose financial welfare we need not perturb ourselves, and possibly the semi-European middleman and agent. The _bona fide_ dealer in Oriental carpets, located in Great Britain, would be able to convert his capital and his technical knowledge towards the building up of a big British hand-tufted industry; and in a few years we should see in private houses, hotels, and clubs, instead of the Asiatic product, for which our money has been sent out of the country, real British hand-made carpets, which would have been manufactured under ideal conditions, and for good wages. And there is no reason in the world why such carpets should not equal or surpass in quality and artistic merit the finest productions of the East.