2'7" x 28' Indian Mahal Runner | Wool | Rust and Brown

A hand-knotted wool runner from India, worked in the Mahal manner, measuring Width: 2'7" x Length: 28'. Twenty-eight feet is a length you rarely see offered, long enough for a corridor that most rugs simply cannot reach, and the narrow 31 inch width keeps it tight to a hallway floor. At a glance it reads as a rust field under a brown border, with the pattern repeating steadily end to end at a 3/8" pile.

Design

The field carries an all-over repeat rather than a single centre: small stepped diamond medallions run up the middle line, each one outlined in dark green or charcoal with an ivory and salmon centre, joined by thin stems to flanking palmettes. Those palmettes alternate between a black-ground form with serrated ivory edging and an open green-outlined form holding a salmon heart. Between them sit eight-petalled rosettes in black and ivory, small toothed leaves and the occasional yellow blossom, all set against the plain ground so the drawing stays legible. The main border is a brown band of compartments holding upright leaf and flower forms, paired with a narrow ivory guard stripe on each side. The ends finish in plain ivory warp fringe, visible in the close photograph of the lower corner.

Colour

The ground is a rust that sits close to oxblood where the pile lies away from the light and lifts toward brick where it lies toward it. Around it runs a softer brown border, warm and slightly dusty, which keeps the field from looking abrupt at the edges. The motifs do the contrast work: olive and sage green outlines, pure ivory, a flat black that anchors the palmettes and rosettes, and smaller touches of salmon and mustard yellow scattered through the stems and leaves. Nothing in the palette is bright; the yellow is the most assertive note and it appears only in small quantities.

Making

Hand-knotted in India with a wool pile cut to 3/8", on a cotton foundation visible in the photograph of the reverse, where the knotting is even and the pattern reads clearly from the back. The Mahal name describes the drawing style, a village-scale all-over floral with bold, uncrowded motifs, rather than the place of weaving. The rug is new and in perfect condition, with full pile and intact ends.