8' x 10' Pakistani Chobi Rug | Wool | Dark Brown and Beige

This is a hand-knotted rug measuring Width: 8' x Length: 10', woven in Pakistan with a pile of natural wool. The field is a dark brown so deep it reads nearly black from a distance, covered edge to edge with palmettes, rosettes and curling leaves in tan, gold and ivory. A wide beige border runs around all four sides, and the rectangular format is close to a true 4:5 proportion, with plain ivory fringe at both ends.

The design

The Chobi drawing here is an all-over floral system rather than a medallion one: thin rust-brown vines wander across the field, carrying large serrated palmettes, open fan-shaped blossoms, small eight-petal rosettes and long lanceolate leaves. Cream boteh-like cones outlined in deep red sit inside green leaf cradles at intervals, and the pattern reverses on the long axis so that the two halves answer each other without repeating exactly. The main border alternates two shapes, a lobed cartouche with a small flower spray inside and a rounded palmette rosette, joined by a thin undulating vine. Inside and outside it run narrow guard stripes of small cross-flowers and buds, and a plain dark brown edge line closes the whole thing off.

The colour

The ground is a dark brown with an aubergine cast where the light crosses the pile, and it does the work of a black field without the hardness of one. Against it the beige and ivory of the border sits warm, shading to a soft gold in the larger border cartouches. The flowers carry olive and sage green in the leaves, a dry rust red in the palmette hearts and the small flower outlines, and a tan that sits halfway between the ivory and the brown. Nothing is bright; the reds are muted enough to read as accents rather than as a second field colour.

The making

Hand-knotted, with a pile of natural wool that takes a clear sheen in the raking-light photographs. The back shows the knotting clearly, with the border medallions legible from the reverse, and the selvedges and fringe are intact. The table records the rug as new and in perfect condition, with no wear, repair or fading noted. At Width: 8' x Length: 10' it falls into the 6x9 to 8x10 range, large enough to take the front legs of a seating group or to sit under a six-seat table.