borne by a rug does not necessarily
indicate the district in which it was woven. For example the Dhurrie rug
is woven in several districts of the northern provinces.

[Illustration: AFGHANISTAN RUG

SIZE, 9.5 x 7.6

_This rug has a remarkably soft yet firm texture. The rough beauty and
the fine coloring are very attractive. The field is a rich shade of red
verging toward the hue of a blood orange, and again gleaming with far
deeper shades. The large octagons are defined by a very narrow dark
brown line. Two sides of these octagons are in a deep, sapphire blue,
while the remaining two sides are of an orange cast. The octagon
sections are all ornamented, the small red diamonds at the edges being
separated by dark green lines. The lattice-work design in the squares of
the border of the rug are decorated with green and ivory, the latter in
the hook design. The centres of all the octagons are of the orange
shade, and one only is crossed through the centre, the markings being
knots of green. Large diamond forms, barred with sapphire blue and rich
green, are between the octagons on the field. Occasionally a small
geometrical figure in either blue or green, with pale yellow or ivory,
is seen, and a wide red webbing with heavy dark brown lines across it
extends at some length beyond the border. The rug was woven in that
northern region of Afghanistan known as Afghan-Turkestan._

OWNED BY MR. GEORGE HUBBARD HOLT, CHICAGO.]

AFGHANISTAN RUGS

Afghanistan rugs are generally large and nearly square. They are coarser
than the Turkoman rugs, but resemble them in color and design. The
Afghans, however, are more striking, the octagon designs being larger
and bolder. At Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, and in other
cities rugs are found which are made by the nomad tribes on the
frontier. The same tribes weave also the cotton and silk rugs said to be
woven at Bhawulpore, India. The Great Rug in the Palace of Chehel Sitoon
(forty pillars) at Ispahan, Persia, is said to be the largest ever
woven, and to measure about sixty feet long by thirty feet wide. This
rug was made in the sixteenth century, and is of Herat design and
manufacture. Owing to political disturbances, weavers from Herat have
settled in the province of Khorassan, Persia, since 1838, and prefer to
call that their home.

Some rugs have a strong odor, which is especially noticeable in those of
Afghanistan. The reason for the presence of the odor is that the
a