Afghan Gabbeh carpet

Look closely at this Afghan Gabbeh carpet and you will discover a wide variety of colours.

This modern Afghan carpet displays a contemporary style with an all over theme of short horizontal stripes of varying lengths. Interestingly, towards one end the colours are stronger with a greater concentration of shades compared with the other end. This creates a unique, artisan expression to the carpet. 

Learn some more about this Afghan Gabbeh carpet

Despite it's modern appearance, this Afghan carpet was traditionally made by age-old methodology. 

This handmade carpet takes it's name from a type of Persian tribal rug known as a Gabbeh. These tribal rugs were woven by the famous nomadic tribes of Persia, who made these interesting rugs for use in their own day-to-day lives. These nomadic Persian rugs are known by the name "Gabbeh". Persian Gabbeh rugs have become synonymous with thick piled rugs often with whimsical designs which have a modern appearance. 

Afghan Gabbeh rugs have evolved from this design inspiration. All over designs of stripes, plain rugs, as well as more tribal styles have become popular. 

What this Gabbeh carpet is made from

Varying slightly from the Persian version, Afghan Gabbeh rugs are made from wool and cotton, whereas the Persian Gabbehs are usually made from just wool. 

This Afghan carpet has a woollen pile. The pile height of this Afghan Gabbeh carpet is relatively short at approximately 8mm, when compared to the Persian types which are considerably thicker. 

The cotton material in this carpet in the warp threads. These are the foundations upon which the wool is woven. The warp threads are the first yarns attached to the loom before the carpet weaving commences. You might be interested to know that on a handmade carpet the warp threads poke out of each end in the form of fringes.

How this modern Afghan Carpet was made

This modern carpet from Afghanistan was handmade by traditional carpet weaving techniques. It was made by the time-honoured way of hand-knotting the woollen pile.

This method means that it takes time to weave the carpet because each and every tuft of pile is formed from a knot hand-tied onto pairs of warp threads. The weavers tie the knots in rows across the width of the loom. Following the completion of a line of knots, weft threads are woven against the line of knots. This process is repeated over and over until the carpet is finished. 

The cumulation of all of the different coloured knots creates the pattern of the carpet. Because the combination of multi-coloured lines and stripes is unique, this means that this handmade modern Gabbeh carpet is a one-of-a-kind creation. 

Key details:

• Country of origin: Afghanistan
• Size: 288×245cm / 9’5″x8’1″ 
• Thickness: 8mm
• Pile: Wool, hand-knotted
• Warp: Cotton
• Age: New