Pair (2×) Erami Qom Silk Rugs 350 × 250 cm | 70 Raj | 100% silk | “Black Gold – Lachak Toranj” | knot count 17,857,140 | working hours Pair total: 20,000 | duration: approx. 36–42 months (≈ 3–3,5 years)

Erami Qom silk, matched pair, “Black Gold – Lachak Toranj”, 2 x 350 x 250 cm

Two rugs of 350 x 250 cm each, 70 Raj, 100% silk, carrying 17,857,140 knots between them. The stated working time is around 20,000 hours across the pair, spread over roughly 36 to 42 months.

What 20,000 hours means

It is worth converting. Twenty thousand hours is about ten working years for one person. Spread over three to three and a half years, it means several weavers at the loom continuously for the whole of that period – and the same weavers throughout, because a change of hand shows in the knotting. Nothing about a piece like this can be accelerated: the knot count is fixed by the design, and each knot takes the time it takes.

Lachak Toranj, in black and gold

Toranj is the central medallion, lachak the quarter-medallions in the corners – the classical Persian composition. On a black ground the gold has to do all the work of separating the drawing from the field, and black is the least forgiving ground in silk: any unevenness in the dye or the knotting reads immediately. It is chosen by workshops confident in both.

Placement and care

Two rugs of 8.75 square metres each. As a pair they suit a long room, a gallery, or two adjoining spaces meant to read as one. Keep them out of sustained direct sunlight, vacuum with suction only, and rotate them on the same schedule.