Design For a Rug

PeriodCirca 1930

Place MadeFreehold, New Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumGouache over graphite on watercolor paper

Dimensions16.63 × 15 in. (42.2 × 38.1 cm)

SignedThe designer's signature "Conklin" appears in black ink just below the design's right corner. Additional inked notations "1/3 or 1/4 scale / 02175 from #02164 / A. & M. Karagheusian, Inc." written in black below central design.

ClassificationsA. & M. Karagheusian Rug Mill Collection

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, 1999

Object number1999.14.1

DescriptionA design for a rug, featuring a central single medallion, in shades of light and dark purple over light and medium rose pink. An eight-pointed shield with classical scroll motifs are spaced within the voids. At each corner of the design are small quarter-circles with medallion repeats. A color bar with the five colors used is placed below the main design at left.
Curatorial RemarksThe Karagheusian brothers Arshag and Miran began their rug manufacturing business in Freehold in 1904 when they purchased the defunct V. Henry Rothschild Shirt Factory on Jackson Street, converting the plant into a carpet-weaving facility. The mill operated until 1961, when operations were moved to Georgia and North Carolina. At its peak, A. & M. Karagheusian, Inc. was the second largest privately held carpet manufacturing business in the world and employed upwards of 1,700 men and women. The company was best known for its introduction of the "Gulistan" carpet line in 1928. Karagheusian's design department was located on the corner of Bowne and Manalapan Avenues in Freehold, in the old Brakeley Cannery factory complex. It was one of the last departments to be closed when the company moved south in the early 1960s. The Design Departmnet complex featured one of each type of loom, so patterns could be tried out without tying up working looms at the main factory on Jackson Street.NotesThe Karagheusian company procured carpet designs in several ways. Members of the Research and Design Department would go out on buying trips several times a year, visitng independent designers to view and purchase specific designs. In addition, full-time design staff members would develop designs in-house for the rug firm. After an initial design was approved, the design was converted to a grid format, each square representing a tuft of carpet. The grid color key was then converted to loom punch cards. These cards, which closely resembled early computer punch cards, were threaded together in sequence and attached to a loom.The cards controlled the colored spools of yarn, producing the finished carpet pattern.

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