Single niche carpet dated 1287 AH (1870/71)

WARP: cream wool; Z2S; 20 threads per inch (82 per dm).

WEFT: white cotton; Z3S but also some Z2S, sometimes 2 or 3 parallel threads per shoot; 2 shoots after each row of knots; 11 knots per inch (42 per dm).

PILE: wool and cotton; 12 colours: dark red, red, yellow, green, light green, dark blue, blue, dark brown, brown, light brown, very light brown, cream, cream (cotton); symmetrical knot tied around 2 threads; see note for inner border; 110 knots per sq. inch (1722 per sq. dm).

SIDE FINISH: 2 cords overcast with white cotton.

END FINISH: lower: incomplete, 2 cms plain weave with white cotton; 3 bands of weft twining with 4 threads; maximum of 2.5 cms. fringe, mostly knotted. Upper: incomplete, 5 shoots of plain weave with white cotton.

DESIGN: field: cream ground; 11 bands of floral sprigs within a jagged dark blue lattice. The bands are offset with eight motifs in the lowest band and then seven until they diminish within the niche. There are scattered knots in dark blue in the second band of sprigs. The two spandrels have lattice elements with sprigs and other floral and geometric motifs and the repeated date 1287. The angular niche is outlined by a band of dark blue and the whole field is edged with a reciprocal trefoil design in blue and brown.

Main border: red ground with large stylised S-motifs in a variety of colours, crossed, barred and with triangles at their forked terminals.

Inner border: dark blue ground, except for lower border, where it is mostly dark brown; small flowers in many colours with an intervening single-angle in green.

Outer border: mainly dark brown ground with small areas in dark blue; floral and angular decoration as inner border.

Note: immediately below the inner border there is a line of knots in red wool, apparently of a much thicker spin. There ae short lengths of similar knots elsewhere.