DESIGNS.--Generally a sort of scroll carried throughout the margin of the field and forming medallions. A common design is a series of crosses with angular ends and adorned with floral figures; also the eight-pointed star between every four crosses arranged into a lattice. There are usually many four-and six-petaled roses.
SIZES.--Usually large, seven to nine by ten to fourteen.
REMARKS.--Antiques excellent. Among the best Persian carpets. They resemble somewhat the Saraband. Not very common in the United States.
SYNONYMS.--Serebend, Sarawan. The finest ones are sometimes called Mir Saraband and the coarsest ones are frequently called Selvile.
WHY SO NAMED.--A corruption of the word Sarawan, which is the name of a mountainous district south of Feraghan, where they are made.
KNOT.--Antiques are always tied with the Senna knot. Some of the modern ones are tied with the Ghiordes knot. Number vertically seven to fourteen; number horizontally eight to twelve; number to square inch fifty-six to one hundred eighty-eight.
WOOF.--Always cotton, sometimes dyed. All good Mir Sarabands have a blue woof thread.
NAP.--Usually even, short cut, silky wool.
SIDES.--Overcast, usually with a dark red wool.
ENDS.--One end usually has a narrow web and short fringe of loose warp threads, while the other is generally a narrow web which is frequently turned over and hemmed. Frequently several strands of colored wool run through the web, as in the Kurdish productions.
BORDER.--Usually from four to twelve border stripes, the principal one of which is from three to four inches wide with an ivory white background and a vine design running through it, at each turn of which is a leaf similar in shape to that in the Herati pattern. The vine design is nearly always present and characterizes the Saraband border from all others. The smaller border stripes are generally filled by various well-known designs, such as the reciprocal trefoil, the barber-pole stripe, the Greek meander, etc.
PREVAILING COLORS.--The field is generally of a dark blue or a rich red. In antiques it is often of a pink or rose shade. The main border stripe is frequently of old ivory or red, while the other border stripes vary, most of them as a rule being the same color as that which predominates in the field.