8'10" x 11' Turkish Floral Rug | Beige Pastels | Rectangular

A hand-knotted rug from Turkey measuring 8'10" x 11", with a medium pile and a rectangular format. Colour is almost entirely withheld: the whole rug sits in beige and ivory, and the pattern is read by texture and sheen rather than by contrast. Seen from a distance the field looks plain, and the drawing only resolves as the light moves across it.

Design

The floral pattern runs all over, with no medallion. Curling vines carry lattice-filled palmettes, small rosettes and fan-shaped leaves, arranged in repeating rows that mirror across the width. Three border bands frame the field: a wide main band of linked rosettes and serrated leaves, set between two narrow guards of running vine. The corners are resolved cleanly, with the border motifs turning rather than being cut. Flat-woven ends finish in plain cream fringe at both ends.

Colour

The ground is a warm oatmeal, closer to pale wheat where the tile light falls on it in the floor photographs. Over it the motifs are drawn in two registers: raised, high-lustre ivory that catches the light almost white, and a flatter silver-grey used for outlines and shading. In the close views the palmette cores shift between bone and a soft putty depending on the angle of the pile, and the border reads a shade deeper than the field.

Making

Hand-knotted in Turkey, with a medium pile and the matte ground set against lustrous raised motifs that give the surface its relief. The table records the rug at 10 to 20 years old and in excellent condition, and the photographs of the back and the folded corner show even, regular knotting with the pattern legible through to the reverse. At 8'10" x 11" it falls among the larger room sizes.