Rugs: Oriental and Occidental, Antique & Modern Part 11

One fine rug in a museum in Austria has the following inscription: "Allah! No G.o.d exists besides Him, the Living, the Eternal. Nothing causes Him to slumber or to sleep. To Him belongs everything in heaven and on earth. Who can intercede with Him without His permission? He knows what is before and what is behind, and only so much of His wisdom can be grasped as He permits. His throne fills heaven and earth, and the support of both to Him is easy. He is the High One, the Exalted!"

A rug of Persian weave owned by Baron Nathaniel Rothschild has, worked in the oval cartouches, an inscription translated by Professor F. Bayer as follows:

1. "Honored mayst thou be in the world, Among the clever and wise.

2. May no sorrow be allotted thee by an unfavoring Heaven, And may no care torment thy heart.

3. May earth be all to thee that thou wouldst have it, and destiny prove thy friend.

May high Heaven be thy protector.

4. May thy rising star enlighten the world, And the falling stars of thine enemies be extinguished.

5. May every act of thine prosper, And may every year and every day be to thee Spring-time."

In the Industrial Museum at Berlin there is a rug with this inscription: "There is no Deity but G.o.d, and Mahomet is His Prophet."

On a Persian silk rug is a line from the Koran: "All perisheth but His face."

Another rug has: "G.o.d is greatest! He is great!"

Often a marking in a corner of a rug is simply the name of the maker, and the date.

The Holy Carpet of the Mosque at Ardebil, now in the South Kensington Museum, at London, has the following interesting inscription woven in black characters in the light cream cartouche at the top of the carpet.

Translated it reads:

"I have no refuge in the world other than thy threshold.

My head has no protection other than this porchway.

The work of the slave of this Holy Place, Maksoud of Kashan In the year 946."

(The year 946 of the Hegira corresponds to A. D. 1568.)

ORIENTAL SYMBOLS

All Oriental rugs have designs, and every design is symbolical. To the connoisseur, as well as to the owners of rugs, it is vastly interesting to understand the meaning attached to these symbols by the Orientals.

Every one is familiar with the tree design in some of its various forms, and with the stiff little birds and the many odd and strange-looking animals which frequently are seen on an Eastern fabric of the loom. Yet each unique figure has a meaning, and it is a fascinating, as well as an apparently endless task, to find the hidden significance of these symbols. If one goes no further, he should at least become familiar with the designs on his own rugs, and know, if possible, what they typify.

The rug itself symbolizes Eternity and s.p.a.ce, and the filling or plan is the symbol of the world--beautiful, but fleeting and limited.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ANTIQUE PERSIAN RUG

_This rug dates from about 1500 A. D., and is of wool, with animal and floral forms._

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH LOANED BY DR. BODE, OF BERLIN.]

CHINESE SYMBOLS

BAT _Happiness._

BUDDHIST SCEPTRE _Success in literary labors._

CHI-LIN (a kind of doe) _n.o.bleness; gentleness._

CLOUD-BAND _The Deity._

c.o.c.k AND HEN ON AN ARTIFICIAL ROCK-WORK _Pleasures of country life._

CRANE _Immortality._

CROW _Evil._

DEER _Official emolument._

DRAGON _The imperial emblem, signifying increase and imperial grandeur._

DRAGON WITH FIVE CLAWS ON EACH OF ITS FOUR FEET _Exclusive emblem of the Emperor._

DRAGON AND PHOENIX _Newly wedded pair._

DUCK _Conjugal affection._

GOOSE _Domestic felicity._

GOURD _Happiness._

LION _Victory._

MAGPIE _Good luck._

OLD MAN LEANING ON A STAFF _Long life._

OWL _Dread._

PEACH _Old age._

PHOENIX _The Emblem of the Empress._

STORK _Long life._

TORTOISE _Long life._

TREE OF LIFE WITH SEVEN BRANCHES ON A SHORT STEM_Seven days of Creation._

YOUNG STAGS _Long life._

EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS