Gray Geometric Hand-Knotted Wool and Silk Rug, Ayan Series

Like several sheets of paper dropped one on top of another and left where they fell: Gray Geometric Hand-Knotted Rug in Wool and Silk, Ayan Series — dark brown planes crossing a light gray ground, their edges drawn in thin lines, over a cotton foundation, 168 × 240 cm (5'6" × 7'10"). One of one.

The overlaps are what give it depth. Where two planes cross, the tone changes, and a three-dimensional read comes out of a flat surface with no shading trick behind it. Thin outlines round the shapes add a drawn quality, as though the composition had been sketched before anyone wove it. Beside gray and anthracite upholstery and black metal it is straightforwardly modern; in a study lined with wooden shelves it becomes the plain thing that allows everything else to be busy.

Pakistan, by hand, on a cotton foundation. Wool is matt and holds the gray steady; silk goes into the brown planes only, which makes them lift out of the ground under a lamp and settle back into it in flat daylight. That is the entire reason for the blend, and it is visible rather than theoretical. The knot is doubled, close and even, so the geometry stays true — a slack weave would let straight edges wander within a year. Professional cleaning only.

• Hand-knotted in Pakistan; wool and silk pile on a cotton foundation.
• Dark brown planes overlapping on a light gray ground, edges drawn in fine lines.
• Silk placed only in the brown planes, which is what lifts them under a lamp.
• Doubled knots, close and even — the reason straight edges stay straight.
• 168 × 240 cm (5'6" × 7'10") — a mid-size sitting room, a study, a corridor.
• Made once; the design is not repeated in this size.
• Professional cleaning only.

Geometry on a floor dates faster than flowers do, and this one is drawn loosely enough to have already stopped being of a particular year.