7'9" x 9'10" Tibetan Transitional Rug | Wool | Red and Olive

A hand-knotted rug from Tibet measuring 7'9" x 9'10", knotted in fine wool with a flat, slightly lustrous pile. The field is a deep rustic red carrying an all-over lattice of thin ochre vines and pale flowerheads, and it is framed by a wide border in soft greyed taupe. At a distance the drawing reads almost as embroidery on a plain ground, because the motifs are outlined in gold and filled with cream rather than shaded. It falls in the 6x9 to 8x10 size band and is rectangular.

Design

The field is set out on a diagonal trellis of fine stems that cross at eight-petalled rosettes, with the larger ones at the centre of each diamond and smaller five-petalled blossoms at the joins. Fanned lotus heads sit along the lower field and repeat up the sides, and between them are tulip buds, small kite-shaped diamonds with a single eye, curling tendrils and narrow leaves that taper to a hook. A crowned palmette, drawn in outline only, appears along the central axis. The border runs a chain of eight-sided cartouches holding a four-petal rosette, alternating with upright flower clusters flanked by paired crescent forms. A narrow ivory band of chevrons separates border from field, and a plain red edge closes the whole thing off. The transitional drawing keeps classical flower types but spaces them openly, with a good deal of bare ground left showing.

Colour

The ground is a rustic red that leans toward raspberry in the open areas and darkens almost to oxblood where the pile lies away from the light. Over it the vines are drawn in a warm gold ochre, the flowerheads in cream and undyed ivory, and the leaves in a muted olive green that keeps the pale work from looking stark. The border is a greyed taupe with a green cast, holding the same cream, ochre and olive palette at lower contrast, so the eye stops at the red edge rather than at the border. Cream chevrons on the inner guard give a clean line between the two.

Making

Hand-knotted in Tibet in fine wool, with the pile cut at an even medium height and the back showing a regular, well-packed knot. The spec table records the rug as new and in perfect condition, and the photographs show full pile edge to edge, straight sides and clean selvedges. More hand-knotted work is listed across the full collection.