8'4" x 11'8" Pakistani Ziegler Rug | Wool | Pale Green and Beige

A 8'4" x 11'8" carpet knotted by hand in Pakistan in natural wool, worked in the Ziegler manner: an all-over floral lattice held at low contrast, with a wide border that reads almost as a second field. Seen whole, it is a pale grey-green ground carrying ivory and sand drawing, with the border lighter than the centre, so the eye goes to the edges first. The rectangular format is close to a standard 8 by 12, and the pattern is continuous rather than centred on a medallion.

The design

The field runs an all-over repeat of rosettes, small stepped starbursts and rounded vase or pomegranate forms, linked by thin stems that branch at right angles and end in little serrated leaves. Pairs of shield-shaped blossoms sit facing each other along the vertical axis, each one outlined in a soft grey brown that is the darkest note on the rug. The main border is drawn much larger: broad hooked vines that rise from bundles of vertical strokes at the base, curling over a central palmette flanked by rosettes, a motif repeated along all four sides and turned cleanly at the corners. A narrow guard of paired scrolls runs inside and out, and the ends finish in short ivory fringe.

The colour

The ground is a light green with a good deal of grey in it, nearer sage or eau de nil than leaf, and it shifts toward pale silver where the pile lies away from the camera. Against it the drawing is beige and ivory, warmed here and there with a dry apricot in the rosette centres. The border is the warmest part of the rug, a sandy cream that reads gold in raking light. Outlines are grey brown rather than black, which keeps the whole thing quiet: nothing in the palette steps forward, and the pattern shows itself mostly through changes in tone.

The making

Hand-knotted in wool on a wool foundation, with a natural wool pile cut low enough that the drawing stays crisp on the back, as the folded corner shows. The knotting is even across the width, and the slight banding across the field is the ordinary variation of hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn rather than a fault. The table records it as new and in perfect condition, with full pile and intact selvedges and fringes. It is among the larger pieces in our hand-knotted stock.