The Karakul Collection

Karakul is our name for a small, closely selected group of new rugs hand-knotted in Afghanistan, where weaving is still very much a household craft rather than an industry.

What holds the collection together is not one pattern but one standard. Every piece is chosen by us individually, for its drawing, its colour and the evenness of its knotting, and every piece is one of a kind: the rug you see is the rug you receive. Browse the full Karakul collection.

Design

The drawing follows the classical rugs of Oushak (also written Ushak or Usak) in western Anatolia, in a light, open floral form. Slender branching vines rise through the field in a tall lattice, carrying palmettes, rosettes and serrated leaves; near the head two large open flowerheads are picked out in a slightly stronger blue. Small blossoms are scattered freely across the ground in between.

The wide border is drawn in the same fine line: rows of small rosettes, upright leaf and cypress-like forms and a scalloped vine band, framed by narrow guard stripes of tiny blossoms.

Colour

The ground is a soft, almost white ivory moving into cream. The drawing is set in pale blue and powder blue, with the faintest touches of sand and straw — so lightly that from a distance the rug reads as a calm, light surface, and the pattern opens up only as you come closer.

It is a rug for bright, airy rooms: white walls, pale oak or limed floors, linen, light upholstery and blue-grey accents — interiors where the floor should stay light and the room should feel open.

Material and Quality

The pile is 100 % wool, hand-knotted onto a cotton foundation. The knotting is fine enough to carry the long, thin vine lines and small blossoms cleanly, even at such low contrast. At around 23 kg the rug lies flat and settled on the floor.

In the Room

At 248 x 293 cm (8 ft 2 in x 9 ft 7 in, 7.3 m² / 78 sq ft) this is a classic room-size format in the 8 x 10 ft range:

• Sitting room: holds a sofa, two armchairs and a coffee table, with the front legs of the seating on the rug.
• Bedroom: placed under the lower two-thirds of a king or super-king bed, it frames the bed generously on both sides.
• Dining room: takes a table for six with the chairs still on the rug when pulled out, in rooms from about 3.5 x 4.5 m (11 x 15 ft) upwards.

In London, this is a rug for a bright bedroom in a Kensington mansion flat or a white-painted sitting room in Richmond, where its pale blue drawing echoes the soft daylight — and it reaches London within 2–7 working days.

Specifications

Responsible Origin · Label STEP

Djoharian is a Label STEP Fair Trade Partner. Label STEP is the international fair-trade organisation for hand-knotted rugs, standing for fair pay for the weavers and no child labour.

Djoharian — Since 1967

Our family business was founded in 1967, with roots in the Grand Carpet Bazaar of Tehran — five decades of trade and connoisseurship behind every piece we offer.

Delivery, Service and Care

Every piece is inspected in our atelier in Lohr am Main, Germany, before dispatch. Secure and fast worldwide shipping, fully insured. We are happy to send further photographs or a short video of the rug in daylight, and offer personal consultation in our showroom or by video call. For expert washing and repair we run our own professional rug cleaning service.