NEW 242 × 246 cm Hand-Knotted Hossein Erami Qom Silk Rug “Golfarang – Brown” | 5.95 m² | 73.45 Raj | 6,553,600 knots | 100% silk on silk

Hossein Erami Qom silk, “Golfarang – Brown”, 242 x 246 cm

242 x 246 cm – square within four centimetres – 5.95 square metres, 73.45 Raj, 6,553,600 knots, silk pile on a silk foundation.

73.45 Raj

This is the finest weave in the group. Raj counts knots across a seven-centimetre span of warp, so 73 means the knots are very small indeed; it is the range where a workshop can draw a rose petal with the same freedom a painter has with a brush. Weaves this fine are slow, and they are only attempted on silk, because wool fibre is too thick to take the knot down that far.

Brown as a ground

Brown is an unusual choice and a quietly difficult one. It sits close in tone to the warm colours in the Golfarang palette, so the flowers cannot rely on contrast to separate from the field – they have to be modelled. Silk makes it work: the directional sheen gives the ground its own depth, so the drawing lifts off it as the light moves.

Placement and care

Just under six square metres, square, suited to a centred seating area. Avoid prolonged direct sunlight, vacuum with suction only, and rotate it periodically.