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

A hand-knotted room-size rug measuring 8'11" x 11'11", knotted in India in wool and silk. The whole rug sits in one family of pale tones, so from standing height it reads as a plain sand-coloured floor. Close up, an all-over floral lattice appears, drawn in silk that catches the light while the wool ground stays matte. Among large rugs in the 8x10 to 10x14 range, this is one that works as a background rather than a centrepiece.

Design

There is no medallion. The field carries a repeating system of vine scrolls linking rosettes, palmettes and small serrated leaves, set out on a loose diamond grid that runs the full length without interruption. The pattern is transitional in the proper sense: the drawing is classical Persian-influenced floral work, but the colour has been taken out of it, which is a contemporary decision. Three borders frame the field, a wide main band of alternating palmettes and flowering stems between two narrow guard stripes of running vine, visible clearly in the corner and edge photographs. Because the silk pile sits slightly proud of the wool, the motifs also read as texture, a shallow carved relief across the surface.

Colour

The ground is a warm sand beige, closer to oatmeal than to cream, and the drawing over it is done in undyed-looking ivory and pale silver-grey. Where the silk catches the light the flowerheads flash near-white; turn the rug and the same motifs go quiet and grey-green. The outlines of the vines are a shade darker than the field, a soft greige, which is what keeps the pattern legible at all. Nothing in the rug is dark, and there is no accent colour anywhere in the field or the borders.

Making

Hand-knotted in India, with a pile of wool and silk and a cotton foundation showing at the fringe and the folded back corner. The wool takes the ground and the bulk of the pile; the silk is reserved for the flowerheads and the finer scrollwork, which is why those elements sit higher and shine. The weave is fine enough to carry the small leaf and bud detail in the guard borders without it blurring. The rug is new and in perfect condition, one of the rectangular pieces in our recently woven stock, and the pile has not been walked on. More of what we carry can be seen across the full collection.