Persian floral vocabulary travelled along the trade routes between central Iran and northern India for centuries, and the Sino-Persian and Varsari workshops that produced this red and beige composition descend in a direct line from that exchange. The cartoon belongs to a hybrid tradition where the formal Persian arabesque was loosened into a broader composition, with the borders simplified and the field opened out for a contemporary room.

Three weavers shared the upright loom for around six months. Hand-spun wool was dyed in small lots over copper, with the red drawn from madder root and the beige left close to the natural fleece colour with a light walnut wash. Roughly 1.4 million Persian-asymmetric knots were tied by feel against a cotton warp, beaten down by hand, and finished with a uniform hand-shear.

The composition

A red field carrying floral arabesques in soft beige, ivory, and walnut brown. The floral repeats are open rather than dense, the border restrained, the central medallion held in soft ochre. Vegetable dye gives the red a slight irregularity in saturation across the field that flat dye cannot match. Over the first decade the red will warm by half a stop and the beige passages will deepen into a closer cream.

What you are buying

New Sino-Persian and Varsari tradition hand-knotted wool carpets at this density and dye process retail through European dealers at three lakh and above. The piece is offered direct from the Indian workshop. The carpet appreciates with use rather than depreciating, an attribute no other domestic object on the floor can claim.

The piece in a room

8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) anchors a primary living room or sits cleanly under a six-seat dining table. The red and beige palette reads against cream plaster walls, against deep walnut joinery, and against pale oak floors. It pairs with leather upholstery in cognac or tobacco, with brass lighting, and with mid-century walnut. The composition prefers warm whites to cool greys.

Conservation

Suction vacuum every week. Rotate end to end each spring and autumn. Blot spills with a clean white cotton cloth from the edge inward. Avoid bleach. A wool conservator should hand-wash the rug every five years to restore lanolin and remove embedded grit.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 244 x 305 cm (8' x 10')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3 weavers, ~6 months
• Pile: 10 mm hand-spun wool
• Dye: vegetable (madder, walnut)
• Colour: red and beige
• Origin: India

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