Blue and Cream Oushak-Pattern Handwoven Wool Rug, Mahal Series

Mahal Series Oushak-pattern rug in blue: a soft blue ground carrying cream, beige and earth-toned motifs, closed on four sides by a wide cream border of repeating flowers. Handwoven in Pakistan in wool over cotton, 242 × 293 cm (7'11" × 9'7"). A single piece.

The border does most of the structural work here. It is broad enough to hold the blue center well inside the rug's edges, and its flower repeat is drawn small, so from standing height it reads as texture rather than as a row of blossoms. Inside it the Oushak motifs sit loosely, with pale ground showing between them — an interpretation of the old drawing rather than a copy of it. Hand-dyed yarn means the blue is not one blue: it lifts under a window and settles toward slate at the far end of a room.

Weavers in Pakistan tied it with the double knot that came out of Anatolia, knot by knot across roughly seven square meters. The pile is wool from edge to edge, cotton runs underneath as the skeleton, and a small quantity of synthetic yarn is worked into that foundation so the rug keeps its rectangle over years of use. Its body is medium and firm rather than soft, which is why it lies flat without an underlay and why grit brushes off it easily. Wash it professionally, and not otherwise.

• Knotted by hand in Pakistan, double knot, wool pile.
• Cotton foundation, with synthetic yarn present in small quantity to hold the shape.
• Wide cream border of repeating flowers around a soft blue field.
• Hand-dyed yarn: the blue shifts between window light and lamplight.
• 242 × 293 cm (7'11" × 9'7"), which sets a sofa and two chairs entirely on the rug.
• Medium body, firm surface, lies flat on board or stone.
• Professional washing.
• One only.

Blue floors are usually bought for calm; this one earns its keep by being the thing that decides where the furniture goes.