Afghan Gabbeh Rug

This handmade Afghan Gabbeh rug is an artwork in itself. It features an abstract theme of a field of multi-colour lines or stripes of random lengths and widths surrounded by a plain mocha-brown border. 

The colours of this modern Gabbeh rug are really appealing. It shows earthy tones of beige, brown, rust-red, orange, ochre, and blues. Look closely and you will be astounded by the delicious array of colours. 

Find out some more about this Afghan Gabbeh Rug

This Gabbeh rug was handmade in Afghanistan. 

Gabbeh rugs are modern style rugs that originated from the nomadic tribes of Persia. These tribal rugs featured quirky designs that had a modern appearance. 

Afghan Gabbeh rugs have developed a style of their own, with popular designs showing themes of stripes, squares and sometimes plain rugs.  

What this handmade Gabbeh rug is made from:

This Afghan rug differs slightly from Persian Gabbeh rugs. The Persian Gabbeh rugs are usually made entirely from wool. Afghan Gabbeh rugs are on the other hand made from wool and cotton. 

The main feature of this Afghan Gabbeh is its remarkable colours and artistic abstract pattern, which is made from wool. It doesn't just look nice, this Afghan wool is robust and hard wearing.

The pile height, which is approximately 8mm, is shorter than most Persian Gabbeh rugs. However, the quality of the tightly hand-spun wool and the fine knotting more than makes up for this.  

The cotton element contained in this Afghan rug are the warp threads. These are the foundation yarns of the rug. The warps are the long cotton strings that were attached to the loom before the weaver started creating the rug. You can see that these warps are cotton, as they also double as the rug's fringes. Each strand of fringe therefore travels the whole length of the rugs and the exposed excess of warp becomes the fringe. 

How this Gabbeh rug was handmade

The process behind making a handmade rug like this is time-consuming. This rug was made by age-old rug making methods. The woollen pile was meticulously hand-knotted. 

Hand-knotting creates a sturdy and long-lasting rug, the results of which are yet to be surpassed by modern short-cut techniques such as hand-tufting, machines, glues, etc.

On a hand-knotted rug such as this, each tuft of pile is made by a knot tied onto pairs of warp threads. The weaver (one weaver would have made this rug), knots in rows from one side of the loom to the other. After a row of knots is completed, the threads called wefts are woven between the warps which are beaten against the line of knots. This is repeated over and over until the rug is completed.

All of the different coloured knots collaborate to make the pattern of the rug. 

This rug is a practical choice for use in your home

Made from durable natural yarns, this Afghan rug will serve you well for many years. As a properly handcrafted rug, this is a hard wearing rug which is also a one-of-a-kind rug. How special it that?

The colours and design make it a practical choice, ideal for everyday use. The size is handy too, a rug like this can be accommodated in numerous places around your home. 

Planning on using this rug on a hard floor or fitted carpet?

Partner this handmade Gabbeh rug with a Rug Underlay.

This will stop the rug from sliding or creeping. A Rug Underlay will also make the rug look neater be keeping it in place as well as helping to prevent any slips or trips. 

Key details: 

• Country of origin: Afghanistan
• Size: 146×105cm / 4’10″x3’5″
• Thickness: 8mm
• Pile: Wool, hand-knotted
• Warp: Cotton
• Age: New