The Persian rug language was set down by the Safavid royal workshops in the sixteenth century, with all the major elements, the medallion, the herati and shah-abbas grounds, the layered guard borders, codified in that period. Five hundred years later the workshop tradition is still working from the same vocabulary.

The piece was tufted by hand across six to seven weeks by Two weavers and a finisher. Loops of hand-spun wool were pulled through a stretched canvas and packed by hand to build the field, then the back was sealed in latex and finished with a cotton scrim. The final shearing pass relieves the pattern from the ground by exactly two millimetres, which is the depth that lets the geometry read at room scale rather than dissolving into surface noise.

The composition

The palette is built around rust and black, with the secondary tones held back so the principal colour does the work. The slight tonal shifts in the ground are the trace of small-batch dyeing, where each vat carries its own register and no two areas of the field read identically. Up close the irregularity is visible as life; from across the room it gathers into a single considered colour. The composition is read as a whole. The piece reads differently against morning light than against evening lamp; the saturation lifts in daylight and tightens after dusk.

The piece in a room

At 2'6" x 10' the rug holds a hallway, a kitchen run, or the long side of an island worktop. The eye travels with the geometry rather than against it, and the construction is sized to take continuous foot traffic. The piece sits flat against the floor; under-rug grip is recommended on stone or polished concrete to keep the runner from creeping.

Care

Vacuum once a week with the beater bar disengaged. Blot any spills immediately with a clean dry cloth, then a slightly damp one; do not rub. Initial shedding for four to six weeks is normal and does not affect the body of the pile underneath. Have the rug professionally dry-cleaned every two to three years to preserve the surface and clear the latex backing of accumulated dust.

Reference

• Medium: hand-tufted wool, latex bonded with cotton scrim
• Dimensions: 2'6" x 10' (76 x 305 cm)
• Construction: hand-tufted through stretched canvas, sheared finish
• Hands: 2 tufters and a finisher, six to seven weeks
• Pile: 12 mm, hand-spun wool
• Origin: India

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