Cream Pastel Floral Handwoven Wool Rug, Ahteran Series

Bamboo viscose over a wool and cotton base gives this Ahteran Series rug its silky finish: 182 × 267 cm (6'0" × 8'9"), handwoven in India, a wide quiet cream center with pastel flowers gathered along the edges, and every motif carved in relief with shears after the weaving was finished. One piece. The carving is the part worth putting a hand on.

01A line from the archive

Once the rug came off the loom, a worker cut around each motif with shears, one at a time, dropping the ground away so the flowers stand above it. You feel the step before you see it. The pattern itself draws on both Oushak and Hereke sources — the open field of the one, the finer flower work of the other — and the pastels keep it from reading as a period piece. The construction is wool and cotton in the body with bamboo viscose in the motifs, and the knots are set tightly enough to give the shear work something to cut into.

02Reading the motif

A wide plain center is a decision with a consequence: a coffee table will sit on nothing but cream, and the flowers around the edge are what will show past the furniture. Washing is recommended only by experts, and given the carved surface that recommendation is worth taking literally. Handwoven in India: a wool and cotton body, bamboo viscose through the motifs. Motifs carved in relief with shears after weaving, one at a time. Pattern drawn from both Oushak and Hereke traditions. Pastel flowers concentrated at the edges around a wide plain cream center. 182 × 267 cm (6'0" × 8'9") — a mid-size to large room. A high knot count is what gives the shear work something to cut into. Expert washing only. One piece. Furniture placed in the middle of it will cover the plainest part, which is either good planning or a waste, depending on how the room is arranged.