The next stage in the development of carpet design was very interesting. A slight, but inevitable reaction set in against the dominance of close reproductions of Persian and other carpets of the Near East. Carpets in the characteristic decorative styles of other countries, and of other ages, were attempted. The Far East furnished the first departure from the Persian domination; and the rich stores of Chinese and Japanese ornament were drawn upon, with very satisfactory results. Then the carpet manufacturer and designer struck out more boldly, and invaded any land or period whose particular style of decoration could be converted to the artistic purposes of the industry. Louis XIV, Louis XVI, Rococo, Italian Renaissance, Empire, Adam, Georgian, Queen Anne, and other periods were laid under contribution; and it was no less a clear demand on the part of the dealer and the public (to whose share due credit must be given) than a point of honour with the manufacturer, that every design should be pure and true to its particular style. This involved knowledge and study, and tended to restore the designer and colourist to his proper position as a creative artist from that of a mere copyist, to which he had been in some danger of sinking. The Futurist, Cubist, Vorticist movement, whatever its effect has been in the world of Fine Art, has had but little influence upon carpet design and colour. But perhaps this is yet to come. There has been one more stage in the development of carpet design, which may be regarded as a part of, but slightly different from, the period-study stage. This may be called the Archaeological. The art of Greece and Rome, apart from the superb acanthus scroll, has left little that lent itself to carpet decoration; but older civilisations have been drawn upon; and the finely conventionalised ornament of Ancient Egypt, Chaldea, and Assyria, has been utilised in harmonious and dignified carpets. Nor is this tendency likely to be arrested, as long as fresh fields can be found that will repay exploration. All this is extremely healthy and stimulating for the industry. It involves study and effort and originality; and it makes for real progress. The consumer of carpets has been growing more discriminating, just as he has been growing more eclectic. His taste is varied: he may buy a Hamadan design or a Celtic; but he will want it pure in style, and well coloured. He is interested in a little archaeology; but he likes a sound design better than archaeology, and finds a good colouring more important still. What developments the future holds in store it is impossible to say. It may be that we shall have a reaction from this, eclecticism, this cosmopolitanism of taste, to a more insular vogue; that we shall even evolve a Twentieth Century British style in carpets as characteristic as the Egyptian or the Renaissance.