Navy Hand-Knotted Wool Hereke Rug

Nine flowers taken from the seven hills of İstanbul make the pattern on this Navy Hand-Knotted Wool Hereke Rug — wool pile over cotton, 179 × 242 cm (5'10" × 7'11"), woven in the town of Hereke. The design is called Yedi Dağın Çiçeği; it was drawn at the opening of the twentieth century and put onto the looms by order of Sultan Abdülhamid II. Hereke is a small town on the Gulf of İzmit that wove rugs and silk for the Ottoman palace, and the deep navy here is the shade its workshops are identified by.

01The origin of the pattern

A wide burgundy border holds the flowered field; cream running-water bands close it on the inner and outer edges, and that arrangement is what keeps a dense floral ground from reading as clutter.

02Color that shifts through the day

In low light the navy goes nearly black, and the burgundy is what shows where the field ends. The yarn came from Sümerbank, the Turkish state mill, and the word Hereke is knotted into a corner — which is how an original gets told apart from everything else sold under the town's name, and originals have become genuinely hard to find. Roughly a year of work stands behind it.

03Coming off the loom

Wool above, cotton beneath: the traditional pairing for this weave, and the reason a rug at this knot density will lie flat for a very long time. Nothing but professional washing should ever touch it. Knotted by hand in Hereke, Türkiye, from Sümerbank yarn. Wool pile over a cotton foundation. Yedi Dağın Çiçeği — nine flowers taken from the seven hills of İstanbul, begun by order of Abdülhamid II. Navy field, wide burgundy border, cream running-water bands inside and out. The Hereke signature is knotted into the corner. About a year at the loom. 179 × 242 cm (5'10" × 7'11") — an entrance hall, a landing or a bedroom. Nothing but professional washing. How can a real Hereke rug be identified? The town's name is knotted into one corner of the rug itself, and the weave carries the very high knot density Hereke workshops are known for.

04What the yarn is

This piece has both, and its yarn came from Sümerbank, the Turkish state mill. Original examples have become hard to find. What is the Yedi Dağın Çiçeği design? The name means the Flower of the Seven Mountains.

05Knot by knot, by hand

Nine flowers make up the design; it was drawn around the opening of the twentieth century from the seven hills of İstanbul, and weaving of it began by order of Sultan Abdülhamid II. It was made to be walked on and it will be, but the corner signature means somebody, eventually, will turn it over to read it.