George Howell

Carpet Design

Contents:
Preface and acknowledgements 7
I INTRODUCTION 9
How to identify an oriental carpet by its design 10
Classification of oriental carpet designs I I
Fineness of weave I2
Design conditions I 2
Rug identification : the professional approach I 5
The nature of the rug 15
Materials used 16
Structure 16
The knot i6
The warps and wefts i8
The selvedge 22
The fringe 23
Size and shape 23
The colours 231
Dyestuffs 23
2 Materials 27
3 Washing 27
4 Age and condition 27
Values of oriental carpets 28
Carpet sizes and names 29
A note on knot counts 3o
Dates and signatures in carpets 31
New Chinese carpets : structural note 32
The historical origins of carpets and carpet designs 33
New oriental copies of Persian designs 37
Symbolism in oriental carpet design 38
Pronunciation of place names 40
II BORDER DESIGNS 41
III UNIVERSAL DESIGNS 51
1 The boteh 32
2 The Herati pattern 74
3 Tree designs i o6
4 Vase designs 118
5 Prayer-rug designs 126
6 Garden and panel designs 144
7 Picture designs; animal and bird designs 136
IV GEOMETRIC DESIGNS 173
1 Geometric all-over designs 174
2 Geometric repeating medallion designs 208
3 Geometric medallion-plain designs 238
4 Geometric medallion/all-over designs 250
V FLORAL DESIGNS 269
1 Floral medallion/all-over designs 270
2 Floral medallion-plain designs 3o8
3 Floral all-over designs 324
Select bibliography 342
Maps 343
Index of carpet origins illustrated 348
General Index 349

I lived in the Middle East and my Afghani carpet dealer recommended this book calling it "the Bible" for any collector. The color pictures and pattern by pattern breakdown help you get a feel for the beauty of this unique art form. My only complaint is that the carpets pictured are all museum quality and not on offer to your average collector! If you are just getting started or if you've been collecting rugs for a while, this book is an essential addition to your reference library. ( )