"Because the eye can see in a moment encompass the whole surface of a rug it is assumed that it can be seen at a glance. But no worthy piece gives up its meaning so lightly. Its inner beauty is revealed only to a sympathetic and leisurely observation which knows how to read the pattern. The finer examples are often as elaborately composed as a symphony and as sensitively organized as a sonnet. The elements of the design are like notes in a melody or words in a poem: only as they are individually understood, interpreted and assembled is their meaning made plain. In order to see a rug, therefore, it is necessary to sense the quality of each component part, to feel the manifold relations of the parts to each other and to comprehend them all in a harmonious and significant unity. The great carpets are ready to declare their glory, and a wonderful glory it is, to those and only those who will make this effort of attention."

-A.U. Pope, 1926