Handmade Modern Sickle-Leaf carpet

This exciting handmade modern Sickle-Leaf carpet measuring 275x194cm shows the perfect blend of modern and traditional themes. This transitional rug shows a classic floral pattern with a red field / central colour yet with contrasting navy blue and grey fragmentations. 

Showcasing a Traditional and Modern Sickle-Leaf carpet

This is a hand-knotted transitional carpet, hand-knotted in Afghanistan. The underlying pattern is traditional - and is in fact based on the design of the world's most expensive carpet: the "Clarke Sickle-Leaf". More on that in a bit...

The way in which this modern Afghan carpet was handcrafted was also created by traditional methods of hand-knotting.

However the ingenious rug makers have given this ancient design a modern abstract twist by fragmenting the pattern with bold splashes of navy and grey.  

These transitional rugs work well with many interiors, including modern settings, as well as farmhouse style, classic, and eclectic rooms.

What is the "Clarke Sickle-Leaf" carpet?

The Clarke Sickle-Leaf carpet is perhaps one of the most famous Oriental rugs in existence.

The Clarke Sickle-Leaf is an antique Persian Safavid Carpet dating from the Seventeenth Century that was probably made in Kirman, south-east Iran. It was part of the collection of a successful American Industrialist William A. Clarke.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. consigned carpets from the William A. Clark Collection for 5th June 2013 sale at Sotheby's, New York. The catalogue note states: "The visual impact of the Clark sickle-leaf carpet is so potent that it has impressed carpet scholars for decades, beginning with its first publication, where the author writes, “ The Clark-Corcoran carpet is definitely the finest of the group, and is surely one of the outstanding examples of Persian carpet weaving,” Arthur Upham Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, vol. VI, 1939, pp. 2385-2386."

Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet achieved a world record price at auction of £21.8m ($33.8m). Amazingly this sum was triple the previous auction record for a carpet. 

How was this Transitional Sickle-Leaf carpet made and what is it made from?

This Transitional Afghan Sickle-Leaf carpet was handmade and crafted by traditional techniques of hand-knotting.

Hand-knotted rugs are made by carpet weavers tying tufts of coloured wool around pairs of warp threads. Each knot forms a tuft which makes the pile. The knots are tied in rows, after each row of knots a number of weft threads are woven between and warps and then the next row of knots of ready to be tied. Following a design plan, slowly but surely the pattern forms. 

On this modern Afghan carpet the weavers have used cotton as the foundation fibre. The foundations are the warps, upon which the knots are tied. The warps are the starting point and the first material on the loom. On the finished carpet, the warps emerge at each end in the form of fringes.

As a foundation fibre cotton is a superb material as it is strong and keeps its shape well. This Afghan carpet has a wool pile with art-silk highlights. The wool pile is hard-wearing and long lasting ensuring you can use this rug for many years. This rug is mostly woollen pile, but also contains a small amount of art-silk highlights which serves to accentuate the pattern. 

Where can I use this handmade red and blue Afghan carpet?

This hand-knotted Afghan carpet is suitable for use in numerous locations around the home. The design is versatile in nature and can be used in all sorts of settings, whilst the size is appropriate for sitting rooms, bedrooms, as well as potentially dining rooms or kitchens. 

Key Details: 

• Country of origin: Afghanistan
• Dimensions: 275x194cm / 9’0”x6’4”
• Thickness: 8mm
• Pile: Wool and art-silk
• Warp: Cotton
• Age: New