Red Hereke-Pattern Hand-Knotted Wool Rug

Hereke is the town east of İstanbul that gave its name to the finest Ottoman court weaving, and this rug carries its most famous pattern without being from there: a red hand-knotted wool rug of 122 × 180 cm (4'0" × 5'11"), tied in India on a cotton foundation, its whole field filled with the nine-flower Hereke composition called Yedi Dağın Çiçeği. Nine blossoms make up the composition. They were drawn early in the twentieth century from the seven hills on which İstanbul sits, and it was an order from Sultan Abdülhamid II that first put them on a loom.

01Where the Medallion comes from

Here the flowers cover the red ground edge to edge with no medallion breaking them. A wide cream border rings the field, carrying its own flowers and leaves along navy branches; a narrow running-water band closes it on the inside and a burgundy stripe on the outside, so the frame has three depths in it.

02What the yarn is

The fringes come off silky and cream. Wool makes the pile and cotton the warp and weft. The knotting was done by hand in India, at a density that lets the small leaf shapes stay separate instead of merging, which is what this pattern needs above all, since it carries more drawing per square centimeter than almost any other classical Turkish design.

03The mark of slow weaving

Taking a court pattern and weaving it at a domestic scale is the compromise this rug represents, and it is better named than left to be assumed. Washing goes to a specialist. Hand-knotted in India, wool pile on a cotton foundation. 122 × 180 cm (4'0" × 5'11") — an entrance, a hall, or the side of a bed. Red field carrying the Yedi Dağın Çiçeği design across its whole surface. Nine blossoms, taken from the seven hills of the old city and first woven by imperial order. Cream border with navy branches, a running-water inner band and a burgundy outer stripe. Silky cream fringes at both ends. Professional washing only. One piece. Where does the nine-flower Hereke design come from? Yedi Dağın Çiçeği translates as the Flower of the Seven Mountains.

04Coming off the loom

Nine blossoms make one composition, drawn early in the twentieth century from the hills on which İstanbul stands, and first put on a loom by order of Sultan Abdülhamid II. Is a Hereke-pattern rug the same as a Hereke rug? No. Hereke names a town and its workshops, and the pattern travels further than the town does. This piece was knotted by hand in India after the Hereke design, which is why it is described as Hereke-pattern rather than as a Hereke. Red carries this drawing better than any other ground, and against dark wood the whole thing reads older in a room than it actually is.