[Illustration: MADEN PRAYER RUG Size 4'5" × 3'3" PROPERTY OF DR. E. B. GUILE, UTICA, N. Y.]
WHY SO NAMED.--After the city of Mujur in the Kir Shehr district of the Province of Konieh, from which they come.
BORDERS.--Usually three border stripes, one wide one, with a narrow one on either side. The main stripe usually carries floral forms arranged in square or diamond shaped medallions. The reciprocal saw teeth design is frequently employed.
ENDS.--Usually a wide red web with or without short knotted warp ends.
SIDES.--Finished with a three or four corded selvage.
PREVAILING COLORS.--Red, green, blue, cream, and yellow.
DESIGNS.--This class of rug nearly always comes in the prayer form. There is generally a cross panel above the prayer niche and the field is, as a rule, filled with designs.
SIZES.--From two and a half to five feet wide by four to seven long.
PRICES.--Rather high on account of their scarcity. From $2.00 to $10.00 a square foot.
REMARKS.--This class of rugs is so rare that it is not mentioned by any of the American or English authors.
OWNER'S DESCRIPTION.--This rug comes from the town of Maden, in the Kir Shehr district of Konieh province. Mudjar, a better known rug producing town, is within twenty miles. It has the remarkable wool and dye qualities that make the production of Kir Shehr. This rug is so very bright that the assertion that it is fifty to seventy-five years old might be disputed, but the unequal color erosion, the remarkable bald shine of the back, and the well marked thinning of the pile where the knees of the devotee rested while at his devotion, evidence its antiquity. The panel of lavender above the prayer arch is notable, as is the pigeon blood ruby of the field. While this rug has evidently done duty for many years, it was probably folded away after use at prayer, and given little exposure to sunlight.
WHY SO NAMED.--A corruption of the word Laodicea, the name of a most primitive old town of 500 population in the midst of a mound of ruins near Konieh, where they are made.
KNOT.--Ghiordes. Number vertically eight to twelve; number horizontally eight to fourteen; number to square inch sixty-four to one hundred sixty-eight.
[Illustration: LADIK PRAYER RUG Size 5'10" × 3'11" PROPERTY OF COLONEL GEORGE G. BRIGGS, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.]