WOOF.--Always cotton, occasionally dyed brown.
NAP.--The choicest, lustrous wool, closely woven and usually cut short.
ENDS.--Narrow web with loose warp threads at each end.
BORDERS.--From three to five border stripes, most frequently five, one wide with two narrow ones on each side.
PREVAILING COLORS.--Soft shades of pinks, greens, or blues on a field of old ivory.
DYES.--In many the dyes are good, but are toned down with acids, while in others anilines are used.
DESIGNS.--Delicate, artistic and intricate floral designs. Central medallion and corner panels frequent.
SIZES.--All sizes, from mats to carpets as large as thirty-five to fifty-five feet.
REMARKS.--There is as much difference between the modern and the antique Kermanshahs as there is between any two kinds of the Persian class. The former are made at Tabriz or Sultanabad under European supervision, are almost invariably doctored and can be had in abundance, while the latter were made by the mountaineers along the Turkish border, are of the best material, dyes and workmanship and are rarely seen in the market.
Like most of its class it consists of artistic and intricate floral designs with a central medallion and graceful border stripes. In many Kermanshahs, as in this piece, the pear motif is frequently employed. See illustration at page 118.
WHY SO NAMED.--After the city of Senna in the vicinity of which they are made.
KNOT.--Senna always. Not equalled in number of knots by any other rug. Number vertically ten to thirty; number horizontally ten to thirty-two; number to the square inch one hundred to nine hundred sixty. Some antiques have as high as one thousand to the square inch.
WOOF.--Cotton, sometimes wool, silk or linen.
NAP.--Finest silky wool, very closely cut.
SIDES.--Overcast with red cotton or silk.
ENDS.--Always a narrow web at each end, with a fringe of loose warp threads. Frequently one or two strands of colored yarn run through the web at one end.
[Illustration: SENNA RUG (HERATI DESIGN) OWNED BY H. B. CLAFLIN & CO.]
BORDER.--From two to seven border stripes, most frequently three, a wide one with a narrow one on either side, the former usually filled with rosettes which are connected by a wavy line. Sometimes it will carry the Herati design. The ground color of the main stripe is almost invariably bright red or yellow.