Samarkand small rug

With its endearing tribal theme of stylised animals this handmade Afghan Samarkand small rug really captures your imagination. 

The colours & design of this Samarkand small rug

This small Samarkand rug shows a theme of six rectangular panels set against a blue background. Each panel displays three large peacock emblems and each has a small dog or goat(?) motif above it. The beige border is equally captivating, also showing a pictorial theme of deer or goat-like creatures. 

As well as blue and beige, this Afghan rug contains an attractive range of other colours including rust-red, orange, ochre, and dark green. The colours offer the perfect combination of both warmth and lightness, plus the design is visually charming. 

Find out some more about this 4'1x2'11 Afghan rug

This handmade Afghan rug is a modern-tribal style rug. It takes it's name from the Uzbek city of Samarkand, an important trading post on the Silk Road. 

This modern Afghan rug was handmade using wool and cotton yarns. These fibres are highly regarded for their durability. The pile of this Samarkand rug is made from wool, which is velvety underfoot but is also hard-wearing. 

The cotton part of this rug is the underlying foundation yarns. These are known as the warp threads and are an integral part of the rug. As these are the first threads attached to the loom, the woollen pile is subsequently hand-knotted onto these cotton warps. The warp threads are also the fringes, and you can see how attractively this are arranged in image number 7. They are secured into a lattice formation and then bunched and wrapped with colourful yarn embellishments. How charming!

A hand-knotted rug

This breathtakingly enchanting rug was handmade by an ancient weaving technique called hand-knotting. This method is the pinnacle of rug making because it is so time-consuming. When employed alongside durable material such as the hand-spun wool and cotton like in this rug, hand-knotting creates a rug of great longevity. 

Hand-knotting is time-consuming because each tuft of pile in the rug is formed from a knot. The knots are tied onto couples of warp threads, and they are tied in rows. In between each row of knots there are weft threads nestled. It takes many rows of knots to complete the rug and all of the different coloured knots work to create the patterns that we find so appealing.  

Using this small handmade rug in your home

The great thing about the size of this Afghan Samarkand small rug is that you can use it in so many places around your home. Because it is made from hardy natural fibres and was meticulously hand-knotted by long-lasting weaving techniques. This means that you can position this rug in busy areas of the home such as hallways as well as more relaxed areas too, like living rooms or bedrooms. 

Key details:

• Country of origin: Afghanistan
• Size: 125x89cm / 4'1"x2'11"
• Thickness: 7mm
• Pile: Wool, hand-knotted
• Warp: Cotton
• Age: New