European hand-tufted carpets may be considered as upon a different footing from Asiatic. Indeed, the carpet dealer would hardly regard the two—at any rate in pre-war days, would hardly _have_ regarded them—as mutually competitive. The main localities for this branch of the industry are Maffersdorf, in Austria, Holland, Donegal, Carlisle, and Wilton. But, although in each of these places carpets of characteristic Eastern design and colouring are produced, their staple trade has always lain rather along the lines of specialities. They have catered rather for architects, decorators, individuals, or public bodies, who were inspired by some particular idea, and who could afford to pay for it, than for the ordinary consumer. To make standard carpets for stock, unless it were some crimson Yapraks, would be quite exceptional. The reason for this, and the relation of European and Asiatic hand-made carpets will be alluded to later. At any rate the fact remains, that the European hand-tufted carpet trade, though it has been responsible for some superb productions in a variety of styles—and in this connection due credit must be given to the enemy maker alluded to—yet it never attained a position of importance adequate to its undoubted merits. It is quite impossible to deal effectively in a limited space with so large a subject as that of Oriental carpets and rugs. Books have been written on the historical and artistic aspects alone. Some brief notes must suffice. It is interesting to recall that the inhabitants of Persia and Asia Minor, who were the earliest makers of carpets, were nomads. They wove their tents, decorated with tribal signs and symbols, and they wove the curtains or kelims for greater comfort and ornament. Rugs and carpets followed in natural sequence. The primary object of these was to cover the raised bank of earth at the end of the tent on which the chief sat. Other rugs and mats were placed round the tent for the use of the family or of visitors. Besides these, there were the prayer rugs for their special purpose, which were carefully stored when not required for use. When the dwelling-place developed from a tent to a house, a raised seat of honour covered by a rug took the place of the bank of earth; and divans on each side of the room, for which long rugs or runners were required, accommodated the family and callers. Weaving was, and still is, largely a family affair, in the East. The women and girls sit in front of the loom and work under the supervision of the matriarch. Obviously the degrees of skill employed will vary; and this leads to some of the irregularities in Eastern carpets, which, however, are regarded rather as beauties than as blemishes by the Western buyer.