Handmade Waziri runner

Inject a splash of colour into your hallway with this colourful handmade Waziri runner rug. With it's intriguing design rooted in tribal heritage this Afghan hallway runner will certainly add some interest to your space. 

The colours of this Afghan runner are magnificent. It boasts a field and border colour in blue, whilst the design allows for pops of contrasting shades including rust-red, purple, ochre, orange, brown, green and cream. 

The design of this Waziri runner is particularly exciting, showing a modern-tribal theme of gul motifs - each of which has a different colour configuration. 

Discover some more about this Handmade Waziri runner

This hallway runner rug was handcrafted in Afghanistan. It is a modern handmade runner with it's design drawing upon Afghanistan's tribal legacy. Indeed, the Waziri title takes it's name from an Afghan tribe. 

Traditionally the design of Afghan rugs showed a field of repeating theme of emblems known as guls. Years ago, Afghan rugs were mostly red and black in colour. The modern Afghan rugs are an appealing choice for their vivid colours paired with historically inspired patterns. 

What this Afghan runner is made from

Although this Waziri runner is a fusion of modern and tradition, the materials it is made from fits with the latter category. Like the majority of Oriental rugs, this blue runner is made from wool and cotton. Natural materials that have proven to be durable over many years. 

This runner has a pile made from wool. Afghan wool doesn't just look nice, it is well known for it's hard-wearing nature too.

The cotton part of this runner is the foundations of the rug. These are called the warps. They are a part of the runner that you don't notice - other than the fact that they poke out of each end as fringes. The warps are important nevertheless, these are the first fibres to be strung onto the loom before the weaving begins. These cotton strings run the length of the runner, and are what the knots are tied onto. As a tough material, cotton makes for excellent foundation threads. 

How this handmade runner was made

Tradition continues with the handcrafted weaving method. The woollen pile, which is visually so appealing and hard wearing, is hand-knotted. 

This is an ancient form of rug weaving; a method little changed over thousands of years and still is yet to be surpassed by modern technologies. 

Hand-knotting is a time-consuming and protracted process. Every tuft of pile is made by a knot (tied by hand). The knots are tied onto pairs of warp threads, and knotted in rows across the width of the loom. After each row is completed, threads are woven between the warps (known as wefts), and are then compacted against the row of knots. This Waziri hallway runner will be made from many rows of knots. The combination of all of the knots results in the colours and design of the runner.  

Amazingly, this Afghan runner contains somewhere in the region of just shy of 400,000 knots. 

Where you can use this Waziri runner in your home

This Afghan runner rug was made for use on the floor. It's proportions make it ideal for use in hallways and corridors. You could also consider using this runner in a kitchen or even run it behind a sofa in a living room. 

Wherever you decide to unroll it, it will be perfectly durable due to the meticulous weaving methods combined with the hard wearing natural materials that it is made from. 

Key details: 

• Country of origin: Afghanistan
• Size: 290×85cm / 9’6″x2’9″
• Thickness: 7mm
• Pile: Wool, hand-knotted
• Warp: Cotton
• Age: New