Rugsville Kashan Black Gold Wool Carpet 2'6" x 2'2

About 22 feet of continuous Kashan-tradition drawing is a rare commission. The Kashan style is one of the most demanding in the Persian tradition because it relies on dense floral curvilinear work that has to read at every interval along the length, with no breathing space in the field for the weaver to recover rhythm. A runner this long in this style is the kind of object that few workshops will undertake.

This 2'6" x 22' (76 x 671 cm) runner was hand-knotted in India by a single weaver across roughly seven months of continuous work. The loom was set with a long beam to take up the finished sections as the work progressed. The wool is hand-spun, the dyes are vegetable, and the foundation is cotton, double-wefted along the full length. The black and gold palette is built from iron-tannin black and a yellow dye taken from saffron stem and pomegranate skin.

The composition

A deep iron-tannin black ground holds an intricate curvilinear floral repeat in aged gold, soft rust, and ivory. The drawing density is high and the eye finds new incident every few feet along the length. The border is a tri-banded structure with a main band of arabesque palmettes that runs the full length without breaking rhythm. The black will mellow over the years and the gold will pull toward antique brass tones.

What you are buying

Twenty-two-foot Kashan-tradition runners in dense floral drawing trade in dealer rooms internationally in the $12,000 to $30,000 range when they appear. The combination of length, single-weaver provenance, hand-spun wool, and vegetable dye in a Kashan drawing is unusual at any price. The runner appreciates with use rather than depreciating, and at this price the value against comparable European dealer offerings is unusually open.

The piece in a room

2'6" x 22' (76 x 671 cm) suits the entry hall of a heritage building, the spine corridor of a 3,500-square-foot home, or the long gallery of a converted bungalow. The black and gold palette holds limewashed walls and gives terracotta and stone floors an architectural seriousness. Brass picture lights and walnut joinery sit comfortably above the field; the gold carries warm wood tones into the composition.

Conservation

Rotate the runner end-for-end once a year so foot traffic distributes evenly along the length. Vacuum weekly on suction only, with the beater bar fully disengaged. Blot any spill with clean cotton and avoid rubbing the pile. Hand wash by a wool-trained conservator every five years. Properly maintained, the runner is multi-generational property.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 76 x 671 cm (2'6" x 22')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 1 weaver, roughly 7 months
• Pile: hand-spun wool
• Dye: vegetable (iron-tannin black, pomegranate, saffron stem, madder)
• Origin: India

Free shipping anywhere in India. Cash on delivery. 7-day exchange.