Navy Floral Hand-Knotted Wool Hereke Rug

Ninety by a hundred and fifty — 90 × 150 cm (2'11" × 4'11") — is a small rug to carry a full-scale Hereke pattern, and that is what this is: an original hand-knotted Hereke, navy ground, dense branching flowers over the whole field, wool pile on a cotton foundation, woven in Türkiye.

01Up close to the pattern

The composition is called Yedi Dağın Çiçeği — seven mountains, and a single flower. One piece. Nine blossoms are gathered into one figure. The figure belongs to the start of the twentieth century, taken from the seven hills İstanbul stands on, and Sultan Abdülhamid II issued the decree that first put it on a loom. A wide burgundy border runs almond-shaped forms and small flowered medallions in sequence around the field, while cream running-water bands on the inner and outer edges hold the whole thing in.

02Knot by knot, by hand

Navy is the ground the Hereke workshops are known for, dark enough that under a lamp the flowers register before the color does. Wool over cotton, knotted from Sümerbank yarn entirely by women weavers, with the word "Hereke" worked into the corners — that signature is what separates an original from the many rugs which borrow the name. The weaving took close to a year. Genuine examples are harder to find every season, and a piece at this scale is the way to own the weave without committing to a salon-sized rug.

03The mark of slow weaving

Nobody but a specialist washer should ever touch it. Hand-knotted in Türkiye from Sümerbank yarn, entirely by women weavers. A wool pile, carried on cotton beneath. Yedi Dağın Çiçeği — nine flowers taken from the seven hills of İstanbul, first woven by decree of Abdülhamid II. "Hereke" is knotted into the corners as proof of origin. Burgundy border of almond forms and flowered medallions, edged with cream running-water bands. Close to a year at the loom. 90 × 150 cm (2'11" × 4'11") — an entrance, a bedside, or the foot of a bed. Professional washing, and nothing else. What is the Yedi Dağın Çiçeği pattern? It is a Hereke composition that gathers nine blossoms into a single figure.

04Coming off the loom

Its drawing belongs to the start of the twentieth century and was taken from the seven hills İstanbul stands on, and it went onto a loom by decree of Sultan Abdülhamid II. How do you tell an original Hereke rug? By the signature. Genuine pieces carry the word "Hereke" knotted into a corner of the rug itself rather than printed on a label.

05After the color

This one has it, alongside the navy ground and the fine floral drawing that the town's workshops are known for. Small Hereke rugs get walked past rather than walked on, which is exactly the treatment that keeps one intact for a century.