2'7" x 12'5" Pakistani Joshagan Runner | Wool | Black and Rose

A long, narrow runner measuring 2'7" x 12'5", hand-knotted in Pakistan with a wool pile clipped to 3/8". The ground reads as black from a standing height, carrying an all-over lattice of floral heads in rose, pale blue, ivory and green. At twelve and a half feet it is built for a corridor or a long entrance hall, and the drawing is small enough in scale that the pattern repeats many times down its length. Condition is listed as new and perfect.

Design

The field is set out as a Joshagan lattice: diamond compartments formed by curling leaf stems, each compartment holding a squared rosette or a many-petalled flower head seen from above. Larger star-shaped rosettes punctuate the line at intervals, slightly wider than the rest and worked with more ivory, so the eye picks up a rhythm down the runner rather than a single centre. The main border is a burgundy-ground band of palmettes and paired leaves, framed on both sides by narrow ivory guard stripes carrying a running vine of small blossoms. The close photographs show the outlining drawn one knot wide, which is what keeps the compartments legible against so dark a ground.

Colour

Black is the ground throughout, and the main border shifts to a deep burgundy that only separates from the field in good light. Against that the pattern is mostly rose pink and a chalky pale blue, with ivory used for the leaf outlines and for the guard stripes, and a dusty green filling the smaller leaves. Touches of pale yellow sit at the centre of some flower heads. Because the pinks and blues are all held at a similar softness, the overall effect is muted rather than loud, and the contrast comes from the dark ground rather than from the colours fighting one another.

Making

Hand-knotted in Pakistan with a wool pile at 3/8", on a cotton foundation with the warps left as plain ivory fringe at both ends. The back photograph, taken against a ruler, shows a fine even knotting with the border pattern fully readable from the reverse, and the selvedges wrapped tight in dark wool. The density is what makes the small-scale lattice possible at this width. More hand-knotted pieces of this kind are gathered in our full collection.