Color solutions in Chinese rugs

The colors employed by the Chinese differ from those used by Persian rug weavers, in that the Chinese palette is the smaller.

Where the Persians would introduce a dozen tones, the Chinese content themselves with four or five. We find in rugs of one class two shades of yellow, two shades of blue and cream color. In another two shades of blue, cream color and apricot red. In another two shades of yellow, two shades of cream and apricot. In another two shades of blue, cream, brown and two shades of yellow.

A Persian rug classing with these would have yellow, two shades of blue, cream, several shades of green, fire-color, turquoise-blue and many shades of red. In Chinese rugs, however important, one fails to find many colors.

The rugs of Chinese-Turkestan and of the Samarcand district lean toward Indian and Persian methods of introducing colors, but strictly Chinese rugs only show four or five tones.