Red Oushak-Pattern Handwoven Wool Rug, Şahzade Series

Red Oushak-Pattern Handwoven Wool Rug, Şahzade Series — 155 × 203 cm (5'1" × 6'8"), made by hand in Afghanistan, the wool accompanied on the label by cotton and a synthetic yarn, on a madder-toned ground carrying the large-scale floral drawing Oushak is known for.

01Choosing the size

Three square meters and a bit. One piece. Madder is a root, and the red it gives is not the red of a synthetic dye: it has brown under it; it goes orange in strong sun and browns rather than fades as it ages.

02What it sits well with

That is why old Oushaks look the way they do and why a rug drawn in this palette settles into a room instead of shouting across it. At 155 × 203 cm the piece is large enough to carry the front legs of a sofa and small enough to be lifted by one person, which is a more useful pair of facts about a rug than most of what gets written about them. Handwoven in Afghanistan.

03The Wool on the surface

The house declares three yarns and we would rather print it than have a buyer find out afterwards: wool takes the pile, cotton holds the structure, and a synthetic component sits with them. Red hides more than any other ground color — crumbs, dust, the shadow of a spill — which makes it the practical choice under a dining table and the risky one in a room with a lot of pink or orange already in it.

04The tone of the ground

Cleaning is a rug washer's job. Handwoven in Afghanistan; wool, cotton and synthetic all declared. Large-scale Oushak floral on a madder-toned red ground. 155 × 203 cm (5'1" × 6'8"), 3.1 square meters. Madder browns as it ages rather than washing out. Red conceals daily marks better than any other ground color. Professional washing. One piece. A red rug in a room that gets used will outlast everything set on top of it, and it will still be the last thing anyone thinks to replace.