8'10" x 11'8" Indian Transitional Rug | Wool and Silk | Ivory and Beige

A Width: 8'10" x Length: 11'8" hand-knotted rug from India, knotted in wool and silk and worked almost entirely in one colour family. At a glance it reads as a plain ivory floor, and the pattern only resolves as the eye adjusts: a dense lattice of floral cartouches covering the whole field, drawn in silk that sits slightly proud of the wool ground and catches light where the wool does not.

The design

The field carries an all-over repeat of pointed ogee compartments, each one holding a small upright spray of blossoms and leaves, with the compartments linked corner to corner so the lattice runs uninterrupted from end to end. There is no medallion and no open ground. Three border bands frame it: a broad main band of scrolling vine with star rosettes and paired palmettes, set between narrow guard stripes of a running flower head. The close photographs show how the transitional drawing works here, classical floral vocabulary handled at low contrast so the pattern behaves more like texture than ornament, and the rectangular format keeps the repeat square to the borders on all four sides.

The colour

The ground is an ivory cream with a warm beige cast, closer to oatmeal in the wool and closer to white where the silk sits. The outlines of the cartouches and the stems in the border carry a faint blush or pale salmon warmth, which is the only real shift in the palette and is visible mainly in the raised detail. Because the whole rug sits within a couple of steps of one tone, the pattern is read through relief and sheen rather than through contrast, and the surface changes noticeably depending on which way the pile is facing the light.

The making

Hand-knotted in India, with a pile of wool and silk over a cotton foundation that finishes in plain ivory fringe at both ends. The wool makes up the ground and the silk is reserved for the pattern, and because the silk is clipped a touch higher the design stands out in low relief, as seen where the rug is rolled back on itself. The rug is new and in perfect condition, with full pile throughout and even, straight edges.