Yellow Bordered Anatolian Hand-Knotted Wool Rug, Pinhan Series

The ornament is all at the edges. Anatolian figures run the borders and gather at the corners, and the middle of the rug is left open. Yellow Bordered Anatolian Hand-Knotted Wool Rug, Pinhan Series — a wool surface on a cotton foundation, in mustard and gold, knotted by hand with a double knot. Pinhan is a Turkish word meaning hidden, and the series was named for the way the drawing works rather than for anything mystical.

01Where the Border comes from

The yellow is not one yellow: mustard through the open field, gold where the light falls, and a deeper tone in the border where the figures are packed tight enough to darken the whole band. Because the middle carries nothing, a low table and a pair of chairs can stand on it without landing on a pattern, while the loaded frame gives a more decorated room something to answer. Weavers tie it with the double knot.

02Knot by knot, by hand

Press a thumb into the pile and it pushes back; that resistance is the knot doing its work. Everything underfoot is wool. Below the wool the structure is largely cotton, and a small quantity of synthetic yarn goes in with it to hold the shape — Halıcızade prints that on the page instead of leaving it out. Take it to a rug washer when it needs washing; the pile is dense and will hold water for days if it is soaked at home. Hand-knotted with a double knot, wool throughout the surface. Cotton structure carrying a small share of synthetic yarn, declared rather than omitted. Mustard and gold yellows, with the deepest tone in the border. Anatolian ornament restricted to the borders and corners; the field is left plain. Pinhan means hidden, and the name describes the composition. A Halıcızade design, woven in several sizes. Professional washing. Most people decide against yellow before they have seen one drawn this way, with the field doing none of the shouting.