Turkish Oriental rug | 375 x 256 cm | Nr. Z-4398

Mottled Turkish Oriental rug, terracotta with diamonds

Origin	Turkey
Dimensions	375 cm x 256 cm (= 9.60 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: wool
knots per m²2	90.000
Pile height	6mm
Year of manufacture	1970
Colour	Terracotta, multicoloured
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

The pattern of this Oriental rug takes its cue from classic Persian rug designs. The rug itself was knotted in Turkey. This extraordinary piece was sewn together by hand, with real mastery, from several original Hereke runners. The result is a captivating, individual work of art that exists exactly once. Its basis is vintage runners of around 50 years of age, made from 100 % pure, high-grade new wool – prized for its durability, its natural sheen and the world-famous Hereke knotting tradition. A genuine eye-catcher that brings together traditional knotting craft and contemporary design, and sits just as well in classic interiors as in modern ones.

Pattern

The surface of this Turkish Oriental rug has a mottled look. The shifts in hue and the light-and-dark shading of the pile yarn make the colours shimmer and keep the rug forgiving of dirt. These so-called colour shifts, known as abrasch, make the rug look livelier. The mottling comes about because the wool of this Turkish Oriental rug was hand-spun. During dyeing, the natural dyes are taken up to varying degrees.

In the pattern of this Turkish Oriental rug it is above all the diamonds that catch the eye. A diamond is a rhombus standing on one point, and in an Oriental rug its four equal sides may be serrated, stepped or set with hooks. The diamond is one of the oldest basic forms in the Oriental rug. In the Islamic world it carries a symbolic meaning: it stands for the immortality of the soul. That is why it is found so often as a filler motif.

The abstract, geometric composition is what gives this Turkish Oriental rug its understated elegance. The pattern flatters the design of the room and never steals attention from the furniture, the décor or the architectural details. It creates a pleasant atmosphere without dominating the style of the room.

The background of this Turkish Oriental rug is terracotta.

Material

The technique used to make the materials for this Turkish Oriental rug's pile is over 200 years old. The wool was dyed with natural colours and spun by hand. Dyeing with natural or plant dyes is more complicated, more expensive and more time-consuming than dyeing with chemical colours. For a luminous red, for example, you need around one kilo of ground madder root as dyestuff per kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that isn't too pale, you even need two kilograms of the dyestuff weld per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is just as time- and labour-intensive. And fewer and fewer people still know how to spin wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: because it is dyed with natural colours, the high-quality wool keeps its natural lanolin content. Wool that has been naturally dyed and hand-spun creates fascinating, shimmering patterns. The charm of hand-spun wool, with its slight irregularities and natural shades, unfolds as a contrast in modern interiors, but just as well in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country-house style. The foundation (weft and warp threads) of this Turkish Oriental rug is made of new wool.