The Heriz tradition of north-west Iran is the source of some of the most architectural carpets ever woven, with their bold medallions reading at distance like Persian miniatures scaled to a room. The geometry is angular by nature because Heriz weavers worked from memory rather than from minutely drafted cartoons. This brown wool carpet draws from the long arc of Persian and Indo-Persian carpet design, reinterpreted on a vertical loom in India by hands that have inherited the technique through generations.

Production ran 8 months with 3 weavers working at the beam. Around 1,555,200 knots, each one tied by hand. The wool was washed twice before dyeing to strip residue lanolin, then re-treated after weaving so the pile recovers its softness. The weave structure carries a Persian asymmetric knot, which is finer and tighter than the Turkish symmetric and allows the carpet to hold detail at a higher density.

The composition

The palette is anchored in brown with subtle counter-tones that come forward at different times of day. There is no flat colour anywhere on the rug; every block is built from yarn that varies fibre by fibre, which is why hand-knotted wool ages with such grace. Under morning daylight the rug presents its cool register; under evening lamplight the warm undertones pull forward and the room re-reads.

What you are buying

An entry point to collecting hand-knotted wool work from the Indian looms. Comparable density and dye discipline at Western dealer counters opens at significantly higher prices once import, retail markup, and provenance documentation are layered in. The rug will outlast the room it is bought for.

The piece in a room

size as listed () sits well beneath a sofa-and-two-chair grouping or a queen bed with the lower two-thirds of the frame on the wool. The piece organises a room without taking it over. The brown reads warm under incandescent light and cools slightly under daylight, so the rug presents two faces across the day.

Conservation

Quarter-turn the rug each season to even out the pattern of wear. Vacuum gently with the brush bar lifted. Spills blot up with cold water and a soft cloth. Plan a deep hand-wash every half-decade to preserve the dye saturation and the strength of the warp.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: size as listed
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Pile: hand-spun wool
• Dye: vegetable
• Origin: India

Shipping included to any Indian address. Cash on delivery available. 7-day exchange.