8' x 11'7" Persian Nain Rug | Wool and Silk | Navy and Ivory

A hand-knotted Nain from Persia, measuring 8' x 11'7" and worked in wool and silk. The field is a deep navy carrying an allover pattern of pale vines and flowerheads, and it is framed by a wide ivory border that takes up nearly a quarter of the rug's width. At a distance the field reads as almost black with a frost of cream over it; up close the drawing separates into distinct blossoms, curled leaves and small rosettes. It is a rectangular piece in the 8x10 to 10x14 range, and one of many hand-knotted rugs we carry in this format.

The design

There is no medallion. The navy ground is covered edge to edge by a lattice of thin light blue vine work that links palmettes, split leaves and small eight-petalled rosettes, with the pattern mirrored across both the long and the short axis so that the corners answer each other. A single larger rosette sits at the centre of the field, and paired curling leaves rise above and below it, as the close photographs show. The main border runs an ivory ground with a scrolling arabesque and blue lotus flowers set in the turns of each scroll; on either side of it sit narrower guard stripes, one in tan with brown and blue tulip forms, the others a fine bead-and-dot chain. The corner shown in image 13 turns the border pattern cleanly rather than cutting it off.

The colour

The ground is a dark navy, near indigo, with no lightening from one end to the other. Against it the drawing is mostly ivory, occasionally warming into a soft cream where the silk catches the light, and a paler sky blue carries the vines themselves. A dusty mid blue fills the smaller flowerheads. The third colour is a tan brown, used for leaf halves and for the ground of one guard stripe, which keeps the palette from going cold. Small points of dark burgundy and grey-green appear in the flower centres and leaf tips. The border reverses the scheme, ivory ground with navy outlines, so the eye reads a dark panel inside a light frame.

The making

Hand-knotted in Persia to the Nain pattern, with a pile of wool and silk. The silk is used selectively, in the vine tracery and parts of the flowers, where it sits slightly lower than the wool and reflects differently, which is what gives the pale drawing its shift in tone as the rug is turned. The back photograph shows an even, tightly packed weave with the design legible knot for knot, and the ends finish in plain ivory fringe. The table records the rug as recent and unused, in perfect condition, and it is listed among our new rugs.