Hand-knotted carpets are read like written music. Each row of knots is a measure, each colour change a tempo shift. The weaver works from a graph called a talim, calling out colours and counts for hours at a stretch.

On a vertical loom in India, 2 weavers carried the cartoon line by line over approximately 4 months. Density runs at approximately 120 knots per square inch, with thousands of Persian-asymmetric knots across the field. The fibre is New Zealand wool, hand-spun on drop spindles to preserve a controlled variation in twist.

The composition

The palette is built around blue held against ivory and a deeper accent that anchors the field. The Gabbeh drawing carries a slight syncopation in the repeats that keeps the composition from settling into pattern fatigue. Sunlight on the dye lot will deepen the saturated passages and warm the ivories into bone over the first ten years. The variation between dye batches is small but visible at close range, which is the signature of vegetable-dyed work and the reason it commands the price it does.

What you are buying

At £2,699 the rug is an entry point to collecting hand-finished wool work. The fibre, the knot count, and the loom discipline match pieces sold at multiples of this price by Western dealers. Hand-knotted carpets do not depreciate. The pile compresses into a soft sheen, the dye deepens, and the rug is worth more in twenty years than it is today.

The piece in a room

At the size as listed, the rug holds its place as the focal element of a considered room. Pair with quiet upholstery and warm wood so the blue field reads as the work the rest of the composition is arranged around.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn each spring and autumn so light and traffic age the fibre evenly. Vacuum weekly with suction only and the beater bar disengaged. Blot spills with clean cotton, never rub. A trained wool conservator should hand-wash the rug every five to seven years. With this care the rug runs eighty years and outlives its first owner.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted New Zealand wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: size as listed
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Knot density: ~120 KPSI
• Hands: 2 weavers, approximately 4 months
• Pile: 9-11 mm, hand-spun
• Dye: vegetable
• Origin: India

Free UK delivery. 14-day returns. Authentic hand-knotted craftsmanship. Arrives crated for safe long-haul transit.