Floral carpet drawing in the Persian tradition is a discipline of its own. Each rosette and vinework swirl is set down by feel against a vertical loom. The composition below carries that drawing forward without falling into the busyness that lesser floral repeats produce.

Three weavers shared the loom for 5 months. Around 1.0 million hand-tied knots at roughly 180 per square inch, every one set against a vertical beam by feel. The pile is highland wool, prepared in small batches and lowered into copper vats for plant-based dye drawn from indigo, weld, oak gall, and walnut hull, each colour matured for two to three weeks before the wool is dyed. The foundation is cotton, hand-spun and tensioned across the warp before the first row of knots is tied. The fringe at either end is the warp itself, knotted off and trimmed by hand once the rug comes off the loom. The piece reads at 2'6" x 16' (76 x 488 cm) in red and black, finished in India.

The composition

Vinework in red and black runs corner to corner with the irregular grace plant dye produces. The pattern is denser at the centre and opens toward the borders, so the eye reads the rug as a single composition rather than as a tile that repeats. The rosettes are drawn at a scale that registers from across a room without losing their internal detail to anyone who walks closer.

What you are buying

Equivalent hand-knotted wool carpets sourced through Western dealers carry a multiple of this listing. What you are paying for is months of work by a small team of weavers, the cost of long-staple wool, and a piece of textile that gains rather than loses value across its working life. There is no other object you put on a floor with that property at any price.

The piece in a room

2'6" x 16' (76 x 488 cm) is the long-corridor and gallery scale. Few rugs in the catalogue hold their drawing across this length. The rug rewards a slow walk past it from one end to the other. The red register pairs with traditional wood floors and contemporary polished concrete alike. In a hallway with art on the walls the runner sets the pace at which the eye moves down the corridor.

Conservation

Keep the rug out of direct sunlight for prolonged hours per day to slow the natural lightening of plant dye. Vacuum with suction only. Rotate twice a year. A wool-trained conservator should hand-wash the piece every five years. Properly cared for, the rug runs three generations.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted highland wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 76 x 488 cm (2'6" x 16')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3 weavers, 5 months
• Pile: 10-12 mm
• Dye: vegetable and chrome blend, colour-fast
• Origin: India

Complimentary shipping in India. Cash on delivery accepted. Exchange within 7 days of delivery.