Hand-knotted Qom Persian Rug in Silk, 337 × 210 cm

A hand-knotted Qom rug from Iran, 337 × 210 cm. Qom weaving began in the early twentieth century and works to a drawn cartoon rather than from memory, which is why the layouts come out so exact. Around 5.3 million knots went into this piece (700,000-799,999 knots/sqm) — a density that lets the drawing carry detail rather than outline. Pile 100% silk &, warp 100% silk. A silk pile shifts tone as you move past it — the same field reads light from one side of the room and dark from the other. At 7.08 m² it takes a sofa and two chairs with the front legs on the rug. Proportion 1.6:1. Every rug here is a single piece — there is no second one in this size and colour.