Mashad weaving in north-eastern Persia developed a distinct character through the nineteenth century, with workshops drawing on the floral vocabularies of the Khorasan school and the angular geometry of the Turkmen rugs of the steppes to the north. The pattern in this rug sits inside that hybrid lineage.

One weaver carried the rug from warp to bind-off across two months at a vertical loom. Around 259,200 knots in total, every one tied by feel against a vertical beam. The pile is long-staple New Zealand wool, spun in modest batches and dyed before it ever reached the loom. The dyes were drawn from madder root, indigo, walnut hull, and oak gall, prepared in copper vats and matured for two to three weeks before the yarn was lowered.

The composition

A gold ground deep enough to carry the pattern without yellowing the room. The pattern carries the floral cadence of the Khorasan school in a denser repeat than the western Persian schools allow, with the borders worked tight against the field rather than separated by a guard band. Wool of this grade settles into use rather than wearing out. The pile compresses, the colour matures, the surface picks up the small irregularities that distinguish a knotted rug from a printed copy.

What you are buying

Hand-knotted wool of this grade, in this composition, is sold by Western design dealers at three to four times this listing once the rug has been sourced, freighted, and presented in a showroom. The rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating, which is a property no other object on a floor carries at any price. The cost per year over a sixty-year working life puts the piece below the cost of a printed reproduction with a five-year horizon. The list price of around Rs 68,997 reflects a workshop equivalent on the open market; the listed price brings the rug down to the level of a serious entry into collecting hand-knotted wool.

The piece in a room

3' x 5' (91 x 152 cm) sits as an accent at the foot of a bed, beside a sofa, or under a console. Pairs with walnut, brass, ivory plaster, and the deep stained oak that holds the gold forward.

Conservation

Reverse the rug end-for-end each spring and autumn. Vacuum weekly on suction only, never with a rotating beater. Blot spills with a clean cotton cloth, working from the outside of the spill in. Conservator hand wash every five to seven years keeps the dye open and the foundation supple.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted New Zealand wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 91 x 152 cm (3' x 5')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Knot density: ~120 KPSI
• Total knot count: ~259,200
• Hands: one weaver, two months
• Pile: 10 mm long-staple wool
• Dye: vegetable (madder, indigo, walnut hull, oak gall)
• Origin: India

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