Black Oushak-Pattern Handwoven Wool Rug, Mahal Series

Mahal Series handwoven wool rug, 182 × 265 cm (6'0" × 8'8"): cream and earth-toned flowers opening across a black ground, inside a wide border drawn in warm red. Wool surface, cotton foundation, tied in Pakistan with the Anatolian double knot. A single piece, and the size is its own. Black is the hardest ground to read, and this one is not a single black. The dyeing is not industrial, so the ground carries several tones at once and the flowers sit on a surface that moves rather than a flat one.

01The origin of the pattern

In low light the black closes and the composition reduces to the red border; by day the pale work in the field comes up and the rug looks lighter than it is. The border is wide enough to pull the eye inward, which is the whole job of an Oushak border and the reason the center holds. Everything you touch is wool.

02From ground to pile

Underneath, the foundation is cotton with a small proportion of synthetic yarn added for strength — the house states that rather than calling the rug all-natural. The weavers in Pakistan work the Anatolian double knot, the tighter of the two, and it gives the rug a firm, not-quite-thick handle.

03Where it sits in the house

That firmness is what keeps a rug this size flat under furniture for decades. It cleans easily and it should be cleaned by a rug washer. Hand-knotted in Pakistan using the Anatolian double knot. Wool across the entire surface, over a cotton foundation stiffened with a little synthetic yarn. Cream and earth-tone flowers on black, framed by a warm red border. Non-industrial dyeing, which is why the black holds more than one tone. 182 × 265 cm (6'0" × 8'8"); one piece at this size. Firm rather than thick, so it stays flat under weight. Professional washing. Put it in a study with walnut and it belongs to the room; put it under white walls and it becomes the only dark thing in sight.