THE BAKER HUNTING RUG (see illustration at page 338), owned by Mr. George F. Baker of New York City, is also one of the four famous mosque rugs of Ardebil. It was woven about the middle of the 16th century; it is about fourteen by six feet and contains upwards of five hundred knots to the square inch. It is a harmonious blending of red, blue, green, pink, brown, old rose, cream, white, and silver, the predominating color of the field being a dark red. It has three central medallions, one large one and a smaller one just above and below it, with a quarter segment of a cusped circle in each corner of the field to match. Intermediate spaces are filled with flowering branches, fish and animals, the latter being worked with silver thread in the ghileem stitch. There is one wide border stripe with a narrow one on either side. The former has a back of cream and carries alternately round and oblong medallions which contain verses from the Koran in silver.
[Illustration: THE BAKER HUNTING RUG BY COURTESY OF MR. GEORGE F. BAKER (See page 337)]
ABRASHES. The name applied to an irregularity in weaving in which the color of the groundwork in a rug is suddenly changed, giving it the appearance of having changed weavers' hands at that part. This is a Kurdish characteristic.
AFGHANISTAN (Ăf-găn' ĭs-tăn). Bounded on the north by Turkestan, on the south by Beluchistan, on the west by Persia, and on the east by India. It covers about 215,444 square miles and has a population of nearly five millions. It is generally mountainous and the climate is severe, being hot and dry in the summer and cold and stormy in the winter. The government is an hereditary absolute monarchy of an Oriental despotic type.
AINE. A Persian word meaning an oasis or fountain. It is sometimes used by retailers, but is not a specific trade name.
AK HISSAR (Ä-khis-sär'), Akhissar, Aksar, Axar. A city of Western Anatolia, near Smyrna, with a population of 12,000. The meaning of the name is "White Fortress." For description of the so-called Akhissar rug, see Turkish classification.
ANATOLIA (Ăn-ä-tō' liä). Another name for Asia Minor.
ANGORA (Ăn-gō' rä). Name of a province and a city, the latter being the capital of the former with a population of 28,000. The province is noted for the so-called Angora goats.