carpets

The principal types are Axminster, Brussels and Wilton, and brief particulars of each are given below. A more detailed description is given under each name. Axminster is a cut fabric made any width and with any number of colours. It is not produced on a jacquard, therefore the pile does not show on the back. The design is developed by a series of tufts which are bound into the fabric, every tuft is on the surface and only the foundation cloth is seen at the back. There are two principal varieties of these carpets, the Chenille Axminster and the Machine tufted Axminster. The Chenille type is made by two distinct operations, that of manufacturing the chenille weft and that of weaving the carpet with this weft. The " fur or chenille is first woven on an ordinary loom (see chenille) and when cut into the strips is used as weft with a linen, jute or folded cotton warp. The chenille is made preferably with the leno way of shedding in order to bind the wool yarn more firmly. All the figuring weft is on the surface and not embedded in the fabric. The chenille weft is often inserted by hand, but several mechanical methods for doing the work are now in use. From three to six tufts per inch are usual. The chenille Axminster Carpet is also known as the Patent Axminster carpet. The machine-tufted type or Royal Axminster is also formed from pile tufts previously prepared and afterwards woven in the ground warp and bound into the fabric with a binding weft. The tufts may be inserted by hand and the pile is all on the surface of the fabric. This pile is a warp product, whereas for the chenille variety it is weft. Axminster carpets are a product of skill and patience and any number of colours can be used. There are several varieties of machine-made axminster carpets. Wilton is a cut pile fabric woven 27-in. wide from not more than six colours, the yarns are fine counts and design produced by jacquards. Brussels is made almost in the same way as a Wilton, but the pile is not cut and this shows as loops on the face. The yarn is much coarser than for Wiltons. Kidderminster - A carpet made from two or more plain cloths woven together. Each cloth is brought on the face for figuring as required. Turkish - These are hand made. The pile is put into the ground warp by hand as tufts and knotted round them according to pattern. There are two picks of ground weft between each row of pile. Tapestry - Carpets woven from printed warps. The pile is cut or left uncut as required for the design. Persian - Carpets similar to Turkish, being hand made. See also Axminster, Brussels, Kidderminster, Persian Tapestry, Turkish, Wilton Carpets, Body Brussels, Brusselette, Ingrain.

Ковры

Felt carpets were originally an Eastern production, being manufactured from primitive times in Asia. The art of felting wool was also known to the Romans. The wool was opened and the staple separated, then blended into compact, adhesive layers of a uniform thickness and density, they were afterwards hardened and fulled into pieces of definite length for use as a surround for the pile carpets. These felted carpets were coloured and ornamented by block-printing or inlaid designs.

Power loom woven carpets with uncut looped pile. They are lighter and cheaper than Brussels carpets because there is only one figuring warp and that is printed in colours before weaving. Tapestry carpets can be woven with tappets. Strong, coarse yarns are usual, from 2/10's to 2/16's or 2/20's.

Pile or knotted carpets made at Herat, of small size. Designs are old ones and of Tartar suggestions. Made of wool or goat's hair. There is a strong odour with these carpets, due to the imperfect washing of the raw material. The pile is long and loose and is tied in Senna knot.

Uncut pile fabrics, in which the worsted yarn used forms part of the fabric itself as well as the figure, and is woven through the cloth from back to face. These carpets are known as three-frame, four-frame, five-frame, etc., carpets. Each frame has a capacity of 256 bobbins of one colour, so in a five-frame fabric there are five colours, and in each dent of the reed there are five pile threads and two ground threads. The five-frame Brussels thus means five colours are used for figuring. Round wires are used (up to nine per inch) to form the pile, and these are withdrawn from the side of the cloth. A low imitation is made from coarse linen and jute yarns, and called Brusselette.

Native Indian-made carpets with brilliant coloured patterns of pure Hindu design. They are made with native wool of rough character. These are the only knotted wool carpets made in India of pure Hindu design.

Carpets and rugs woven on vertical looms by the Morris Company, dating from 1853, at Merton Abbey. The rugs are of the thick-tufted Hammersmith type in designs based on Eastern models. The company also made Wilton, Axminster, Brussels and Kidderminster carpets. The late William Morris had as colleagues such artists as Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones and Philip Webb.

A superior class of carpet made on the chenille principle. They are made to any width and length, with borders and cross borders, and woven in one piece. Four or five warps are used of hemp, cotton, and other fibres. The chenille weft is made with all the pile tufts projecting in one direction; about 7 picks per inch are inserted, with two ground picks of ordinary yarn between each two. The chenille is put in by hand, and then combed forward to get all the pile straight. This chenille has its tufts made from wool or silk noil on a super quality cotton base. The woven carpets are sheared to level the pile (see carpets)

See Kidderminster. Kidderminster, ingrain and Scotch carpets are the same fabric. They were originally made in Kidderminster, but now the chief centre is Scotland. So-called Scotch carpets are made from jute yarns in jacquard designs. About 40 ends and 30 picks per inch, of 10-lb. warp and 30-lb. weft yarns.

Hand woven on native looms. These consist of two posts fixed to form a vertical frame with a roller at the top and another at the bottom, the warp being stretched between. The pile is knotted on to the warp threads, the projecting ends of pile being trimmed to uniform length when the complete carpet is knotted. One or more picks of weft are inserted after each row of knotted tufts. The design is formed by using different colours of tuft yarn. Turkish hand-woven carpets are expensive, but the pile is very securely knotted and the carpets are very durable.

Hand-made carpets of Asia Minor, with the knots tied in Ghiordes. The ground, as well as the pile, is of wool, and reds, blues and browns are mostly the colours used. They resemble the Oushak rugs in construction and appearance.