CARPET

( Tapis , Fr.; Teppich , Germ.) A thick woollen fabric of variegated colours, for covering the floors of the better sort of apartments. This luxurious manufacture took its origin in Persia and Turkey, whence the most beautiful patterns were wont to come into Europe; but they have been for some time surpa ed by the workmanship of France, Great Britain, and Belgium. To form a just conception of the elegant and ingenious proce es by which carpets are made, we should visit the royal establishment of the Gobelins at Paris, where we would see the celebrated carpet manufactory of the Savonnerie, which has been transported thither. A detailed set of engravings of this art is given by Roland de la Platière in the first and second volumes of the Encyclopédie Méthodique, to which I must refer my readers, as a due exposition of its machines and operations would far exceed the scope of the present volume. The warp, says M. Roland, being the foundation of the fabric, ought to be of fine wool, equally but firmly spun, and consist of three yarns twisted into one thread. The yarns that are to form the velvety surface of the carpet, ought also to be of the best quality, but soft and downy in their texture, so that the dye may penetrate every filament. Hemp, or linen yarns, are likewise employed in this manufacture, as a woof, to bind the warp firmly together after each shoot of the velvety threads. Thus we see that good carpeting consists e entially of two distinct webs woven at the same time, and firmly decu ated together by the woof threads. Hence the form of the pattern is the same upon the two sides of the cloth, only the colours are reversed, so that what was green upon one side becomes red or black upon the other, and vice versâ . The smaller the figures the more frequent the decu ations of the two planes, and the firmer and more durable the fabric. The carpet manufacture, as now generally practised, may be distributed into two systems—that of double fabrics, and that cut in imitation of velvet. Of late years the Jacquard loom has been much used in weaving carpets, the nature of which will be found fully explained under that title. For the sake of illustration, if we suppose the double carpets to be composed of only two colours, the principle of weaving will be easily understood; for it is only nece ary to raise the warp of each web alternately for the pa age of the shuttle, the upper web being entirely above when the under web is being woven, or decu ated, and vice versâ . In a Bru els carpet the worsted yarn raised to form the pile, and make the figure, is not cut; in the Will on the pile is cut to give it a velvety aspect and softne . In the imperial Bru els carpet the figure is raised above the ground, and its pile is cut, but the ground is uncut; and in the royal Will on, the pile is both raised higher than in the common Will on, and it is cut, whereby it has a rich cushion-like appearance. The cloth of all these superior carpets consists of woollen and linen, or hemp; the latter being put upon a beam, and brought, of course, through heddles and a reed; but as its only purpose is to bind together the worsted fabric, it should not be visible upon the upper face of the carpet. The worsted yarn is wound upon small bobbins or pirns, with a weight affixed to each, for giving proper tension to the threads. Their number varies, for one web, from 1300 to 1800, according as the carpet is to be 27 or 36 inches wide; and, they are placed, in frames, behind the loom, filled with differently coloured yarn, to correspond with the figure. This worsted warp is then drawn through the harne , heddles, and reed, to be a ociated with the linen yarn in the compound fabric. In Kidder minster carpeting, both warp and weft appear upon the face of the cloth, whereas, in the Bru els style, only the warp is seen, its binding weft being fine hempen or linen threads. The three-ply imperial carpet, called the Scotch, is coming very much into vogue, and is reckoned by many to be little inferior in texture, look, and wear to the Bru els. Kilmarnock has acquired merited distinction by this ingenious industry. In this fabric, as well as in the two-ply Kidder minster, the weft predominates, and displays the design; but, in the French carpets, the worsted warp of the web shows the figure. Plain Venetian carpets, as used for stairs and pa ages, are woven in simple looms, provided merely with the common heddles and reed. The warp should be a substance of worsted yarn, so heavy as to cover in the weft completely from the view. Figured Venetian carpets are woven in the two-ply Kidder minster looms, and are provided with a mechanism to raise the pattern upon the worsted warp. The weft is an alternate shoot of worsted and linen yarn, and must be concealed. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0264a.png:Carpet loom The following figure and description will explain the construction of the three-ply imperial Scotch and two-ply Kidder minster carpet loom, which is merely a modification of the Jacquard métier . The Bru els carpet-loom, on the contrary, is a draw-boy loom on the damask plan, and requires the weaver to have an a istant. Fig. 270. A A A , is the frame of the loom, consisting of four upright posts, with caps and cro rails to bind them together. The posts are about six feet high. C C , the cloth-beam, is a wooden cylinder, six inches or thereby in diameter, of sufficient length to traverse the loom, with iron gudgeons in the two ends, which work in bushes in the side frame. On one end of this beam is a ratchet wheel, with a tooth to keep it from turning round backwards by the tension of the web. D , the lay, with its reed, its under and upper shell, its two lateral rulers or swords, and rocking-tree above. There are grooves in the upper and under shell, into which the reed is fitted. E , the heddles, or harne , with a double neck attached to each of the tower or card mechanisms F F , of the Jacquard loom. The heddles are connected and work with the treddles B B , by means of cords, as shown in the figure. G G are wooden boxes for the cards. H , the yarn, or warp beam. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0264b.png:Draw-loom In draw-looms of every kind, there is no sinking of any portion of the warp, as in plain cloth-weaving; but the plane of the warp is placed low, and the threads under which the shuttle is to pa are raised, while all the rest remains stationary. The harne part of this carpet loom is moved by an a istant boy or girl, who thus allows the weft to be properly decu ated, while the weaver attends to working the front mounting or heddles. Fig. 271. , A represents the frame of a carpet draw-loom; B is a box or frame of pulleys, over which the cords of the harne pa , and are then made fast to a piece of wood, seen at E , which the weavers call a table. From the tail of the harne the simples descend, and to the end of each is attached a small handle G , called a bob. These handles being disposed in pairs, and their regularity preserved by means of a perforated board C , it is merely nece ary to pull every handle in succe ion; the weaver, at the same time, working his treddles with his feet, as in any other loom. The treddles are four in number, the fabric being that of plain or alternate cloth, and two treddles allotted for each web. The harne part of the carpet draw-loom is furnished with mails , or metallic eyes, to save friction; two threads being drawn through each eye. The design or pattern of a carpet is drawn upon cro -rule paper, exactly in the same way as every other kind of fancy-loom work, and is transferred from the paper to the mounting by the rules for damask weaving. Suppose that a double web is so mounted that every alternate thread of the one may be raised, so as to form a sufficient shed-way for the shuttle, without depre ing the other in the least. Then suppose another web placed above the former, at such a distance that it will exactly touch the convexity of those threads of the former, which are raised. Then, if the threads of the latter web are sunk while the others are raised, the two would be entirely incorporated. But if this be only partially done, that is, at particular places, only those parts immediately operated upon will be affected by the action of the apparatus. If the carpet is a two-coloured pattern, as black and red, and if upon the upper surface, as extended in the loom, red flowers are to be represented upon a black ground, then all those species of design paper which are coloured may be supposed to represent the red, and those which are vacant the black. Then counting the spaces upon the paper, omit those which are vacant, and cord those which are coloured, and the effect will be produced. But as the two webs are to be raised alternately, whatever is corded for the first handle must be pa ed by for the second, and vice versâ ; so that the one will form the flower, and the other the ground. The board by which the simples are regulated appears at F . D shows the weights.