Excerpt from Antique Rugs From the Near East

The interest thus awakened in Oriental rugs and the growing delight in colorful interior decoration, soon brought the attention of the antique trade to truly old specimens. These appeared in different places in the Orient itself, particularly in Turkey and several adjacent countries, and also in Italy, Spain and Portugal. Even earlier, silk carpets were eagerly purchased by several wealthy collectors who laid especial emphasis upon the magnificent and artistic furnishing of their houses. Other rugs, whid1 had usually been discarded by churches and palaces because of their more or less damaged condition; could be secured very dieaply in Spain, southern Germany and especially in Italy. These were gladly purchased by various museums and by artists who used them in furnishing their studios.

Thus scholars gradually became interested in Oriental rugs and began to study them, though only incidentally and with hesitation. It became evident that the very numerous specimens which dealers brought to Europe from the East were almost all modern. But on the other hand, old paintings frequently bore reproductions of rugs which were identical with a few in the antique trade. Then the philologists began to study the inscriptions whid1 appeared in many rugs. Such material, as well as existent information from historical sources, were used for the determination of age. The comparison of the decoration of rugs with that of ardiitecture, metal work, pottery, textiles and other manifestations of Oriental art, gave further indi cations. On the other hand, modern rugs made in the different regions of the Near East and Central Asia were used to determine the origin of the antique specimens. This method was especially popular among the large _rug dealers who did buying and manufacturing in those regions. Several exhibitions and subsequent publications particularly furthered the understanding and interest in Oriental rugs-above all, the great Vienna Rug Exhibition of 1891, followed by the important publication devoted to this exhibition and by a supplementary volume in 1907. In 1908 Martin's history of Oriental carpets appeared and finally in 1911 came the publication on the Mohammadan exhibition in Munich.

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