Mink Oushak Hand-Knotted Wool Rug, Mihman Series

Mink Oushak Hand-Knotted Wool Rug, Mihman Series — a mink ground with flowers opening across it in pale blue, pomegranate pink, ruby red and brick, bounded by a border of large flower heads. Knotted by hand in Afghanistan, a wool surface above cotton, 269 × 364 cm (8'10" × 11'11"). There is one. Oushak drawing is usually firm; here it has been let out.

01A line from the archive

The stems curve as though wind had moved them, and the motifs are spread widely enough that the eye can walk between them without getting caught. Color arrives in small quantities — a blue, a blossom pink, a red — against a ground that stays neutral all the way to the border, and the effect at ten paces is of a pale rug with something happening in it rather than a patterned one. The construction follows the rest of the series: a wool surface, a cotton base carrying a modest amount of recycled synthetic thread, and roughly 2,000 knots per 10 cm².

02Coming off the loom

What that count buys is the thinness of the flower stems, which at a coarser knot would simply become lines. Months of hand work go into a piece at this scale. A mink ground is more forgiving than a cream one and less forgiving than a red one, so keep it clear of a doorway and let a trained washer handle it. Hand-knotted in Afghanistan, Mihman series. Wool pile over a cotton foundation with a small proportion of recycled synthetic yarn. Roughly 2,000 knots per 10 cm². Curving Oushak flowers in pale blue, pomegranate pink, ruby and brick over mink. A border of large flower heads closes the field. 269 × 364 cm (8'10" × 11'11") — a wide room, or a long one with the furniture standing on it. Washing by a professional. A single rug; the next one will not be this one. This is the Oushak for people who want the pattern without the volume.