With the exception of a few rare old pieces which may be found in the palaces of rulers and certain noblemen, the Orient has been pretty well stripped of its antiques. Mr. Charles Quill Jones, who has made three trips through the Orient in search of old rugs, reports that region nearly bare of gems. During his last sojourn in those parts he has succeeded in collecting a considerable number of valuable pieces, but his success may be attributed to the poverty and disruption of households occasioned by the losses of the recent revolution in Persia. As especially rare he writes of having secured five pieces which were made during the reign of Shah Abbas in the 16th century. In England, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Poland, and especially Bavaria, there are many fine old pieces, those of London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest being particularly noteworthy. The Rothschild collection in Paris contains many matchless pieces and the Ardebil Mosque carpet, which is in the South Kensington Museum, London, is without doubt the most famous piece of weaving in the world. According to the inscription upon it, it was woven by Maksoud, the slave of the Holy Place of Kashan, in 1536. It measures thirty-four feet by seventeen feet six inches and contains 32,000,000 knots. No doubt there are more good genuine antiques in Europe and America than in the entire Orient. They are to be found, as a rule, in museums and in private collections. A number of really old and very valuable pieces may be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts in New York City. The Yerkes collection of Oriental rugs, which has recently been disposed of at public sale by the American Art Galleries, contained nothing but Polish fabrics and Persian carpets of royal origin, made at some early date prior to the seventeenth century. Some of the most prominent collectors of the United States are Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan of New York City, who has one of the most valuable collections in the world; Mr. H. C. Frick of Pittsburg, Pa., Miss A. L. Pease of Hartford, Conn., Mr. C. F. Williams of Morristown, Pa., the Hon. W. A. Clark and Mr. Benjamin Altman of New York City, Mr. Theodore M. Davis of Newport, R. I., Mr. Frank Loftus, Mr. F. A. Turner and Mr. L. A. Shortell of Boston; Mr. J. F. Ballard of St. Louis and Mr. P. A. B. Widener of Elkins Park, Pa. The late Ex-Governor Ames of Massachusetts was an enthusiastic collector and possessed many fine pieces.