Rug 96723

A small handwoven rectangle lies with short cotton fringe at the ends and a low, even wool surface that slips smoothly under the palm. The first impression is a cool, steady teal field—quiet and matte—faintly banded by the nap so that horizontal strokes appear when the pile is brushed. From the very top to the very bottom runs a disciplined spine of multiple diamonds: stepped lozenges nested inside one another, each edged in clear ivory so the geometry stands out. Between the larger diamonds, smaller linking lozenges—some plain ivory, some touched with light blue—bridge the gaps like hinges. Inside several of the main diamonds a tiny inner lozenge sits, also ivory, and around it a thin halo of teal makes the center look slightly recessed, as if the shape were set into the field.
Flanking this spine, the field is packed but orderly. Paired rectangular brackets, laddered bars, and little cross-shapes repeat in mirrored columns, all drawn with precise lines so every figure is readable at a glance. Most of these satellites are ivory, which keeps the surface bright against the teal ground; here and there, a measured note of light blue cools the cluster, and tiny stitches of brown sit like shadows inside corners and joints, sharpening the forms without darkening the rug. Near each corner a large triangular corner piece bites into the field—an ivory wedge with stepped edges—so the eye senses a firm frame before the borders even begin. The composition stays perfectly bilateral: what the left side does, the right side answers; what the top begins, the bottom completes.
The borders rise in four distinct walls. Closest to the field is a narrow ivory track studded with small rosettes—minute circles with ringed centers—spaced at an even beat in teal and light blue. Outside it, a belt of deeper teal carries a tight chain of tiny diamonds and hooks in ivory; the chain turns the corners in crisp right angles with no break in rhythm. Beyond that, the widest band opens in beige. Big geometric emblems—cartouches, triangles, stepped shields—march around the rug, their fills alternating beige and soft washes of teal, with fine outlines and small joints accented by hairline touches of brown. The outer guard repeats the rosette idea again on ivory, smaller and closer together, before the border finishes at a clean beige rim and gives way to fringe.
Color changes are sharp and readable: ivory cut against teal; light blue used sparingly to cool the centers of rosettes and links; beige warming the broad outer frame; brown reserved for small interior strokes that add weight to corners and seams. Nothing bleeds or hazes—the drawing is crisp—so from a distance the rug resolves as a teal tablet framed by pale masonry. Step closer and the eye walks a measured path: diamond to diamond down the spine, then out through mirrored brackets and crosses, then around the rosette chain and the large beige emblems of the outer wall.
Underfoot the surface is compact and even; the low pile makes the edges of the ivory outlines feel especially clean, and the borders meet at corners with tidy, exact turns. The overall mood is traditional and geometric: a Hamadan voice speaking in stepped diamonds and disciplined ornaments, rendered in a cool, serene palette of teal, ivory, light blue, beige, and quiet brown.