Early 20th Century Khotan Rug

A gorgeous early 20th Century Central Asian Khotan rug with an all-over pale-crimson abstract pomegranate pattern on a light-indigo background surrounded by a large-scale floral and vine pattern border. This rug is a wonderful example of how a highly skilled weaver can use an abrash technique to create a wonderfully sophisticated pattern. Abrash is the term used to describe the shade and color differences in hand-knotted and hand-dyed rugs. Because most Persian rugs are woven with wool, it is common for a weaver to run out of a particular color of wool and they must substitute another. A skilled weaver can plan ahead and use this to their advantage. In the case of this rug, the weaver started with a dark cranberry red floral border which quickly turns into a burnt orange scrolling vine and floral pattern and continues to get lighter until it turns into a yellow scrolling vine at the end. The background also fades at times from a dark indigo to several shades of blue and white. This is truly the work of a highly skilled weaver.