Yellow in Chinese rugs

Imperial   yellow   commands    with Mandarin yellow  the   interest of all who    endeavor   to   demonstrate    the subtle  differences  that   make   for  distinction and   importance   in  the   textiles   of   China.

There  is not an orange tint in the imperial yellow found in rugs, but there is enough red in the dye to prevent any verging toward lemon color, which of late years has dis­tinguished modern products.

Mandarin yellow favors orange color and yet differs en­tirely from fire-color in which there is almost as much orange color as red.

No green is apparent in Chinese rugs that antedate the Kien-lung period, and only in rugs made after 1875 is there to be found the glaringly bad greenish yellow that at once testifies to the age of wools dyed with modern coal tar products.

We look in vain for greens in Chinese rugs.

When they appear at rare in­tervals they are of late date, and are seldom found in rugs woven east of Turkestan.