art, there is in it a source of perpetual pleasure from which the owner may be constantly refreshed." The Tugbra of Abd-ul-aziz. often erroneously described as being the name of Allah, so apt is the impatient student to use his fragment of information to force meaning into patterns. The Tughra appears on coins and embroideries, and wherever as Sultan's emblem it will add value and interest. The sign is thus explained: The Tughra appears very universally in Turkish decoration and is "The Tughra is said to have originated in this way. Sultan Murad I (1359-89) entered into a treaty with the Ragusans; but when the document was brought for his signature, he, being unable to write, wetted his open hand with ink and pressed it on the paper. The first, second, and third fingers were together, but the thumb and fourth finger were apart. Within the mark thus formed the scribes wrote the names of Murad and his father, the little Khan, and the "Victor ever." The Tughra as we now have it is the result of this; the three long upright lines represent Murad's three middle fingers, the rounded lines at the left side are his bent thumb, and the straight ones at the right his little finger. The Tughra contains the name of the ruling Sultan and his father, together with the word Khan' and 'El MuzaffarDaima' or victor ever'." CHAPTER XXIV VITALITY IN PRIMITIVE DESIGNS A VAST number of influences have swept from Asia, the mother country of the world, to the uttermost limits of the earth, which may be directly traced to ancient beliefs, and in modern design there seems to be a constant recurrence to type. The weaver's art is so susceptible to human thought that in it we find more absolute allegiance to sentiment than in the greater arts which require premeditation and preparation. Not that the modern weaver necessarily carries within himself any knowledge of the meaning of patterns he uses; but if left to himself, and told not to try to make anything new and startling, but to work an old-fashioned pattern, he will almost invariably revert to some inherited family tradition, and, with apologies for its simplicity, hand over something of inestimable value to the student of folk-lore. After another quarter of a century there will be no such opportunity afforded those who desire to make the present explain the past. Those of the older generation in the Orient who still cherish the habits and customs of their youth will have passed away. Commercialism will have done a more complete work; tents will have been folded, and railroads will have chased the nomads from their |