The hand-knotted carpet sits at the centre of every textile tradition that has ever taken weaving seriously. A vertical loom, a cotton warp, and one knot tied at a time by a weaver who knows the pattern by heart. Nothing in the apparatus has changed since the workshops at the Safavid court in the 1500s. What has changed is what we ask of the design. This piece works a contemporary field at classical density.

Tied on a vertical loom in India by 3 weavers over five to six months. The pile is hand-spun wool on a cotton foundation at about 120 knots per square inch. The 6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm) field carries about 933,120 individual knots, every one set by hand. The black ground is built across multiple dye batches and reads as tonal rather than flat.

The composition

Black carries the field as an interior ground rather than a printed surface. The pattern moves across the rug at a measured pace, with the densities slightly tighter where the eye expects to settle and looser at the perimeter. The wool pile holds the colour in a way that printed work never matches, with a small amount of optical movement that reads as life rather than noise. The piece is composed to be looked at, not just walked on.

The piece in a room

6' x 9' (6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm)) is the canonical living-room rug for a flat. It sits comfortably under a six-seater dining table, anchors a three-piece sofa arrangement, or holds the floor of a primary bedroom from the foot of the bed outward. The black ground holds against both light and dark walls and pairs with mid-tone wood floors.

Conservation

Rotate the carpet 180 degrees on a six-month cycle so direct light and footfall age the field uniformly. Use a suction-only vacuum at low power. Blot any spill at once with a dry cotton cloth. Have the rug hand-washed by a wool-trained conservator on a five-year cycle to flush out fine grit and refresh the dye depth. With reasonable care the piece is generational and gains rather than loses character with age.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm)
• Construction: hand-tied asymmetric knot
• Knot density: ~120 KPSI
• Total knot count: ~933,120
• Hands: 3 weavers, five to six months
• Pile: 8-10 mm
• Dye: vegetable, hand-spun yarn
• Origin: India

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