The Zebra Motif and Art Deco

The zebra pattern is one of the signatures of Art Deco floor design. It appeared in the Paris and London interiors of the 1920s and 30s, where the exotic animal reference met the period's appetite for geometry and repetition. The design of this piece is attributed to the British architect and designer Oliver Hill, around 1926 — the same source as our companion piece #15703.

What distinguishes this version is the restraint. Where the historical models set black against ivory in hard contrast, here the stripes are drawn in a pale silver grey on wool white. The pattern stays fully legible, but the drama is taken out of it: the result belongs as much to a Japandi interior as to a Deco one.

Composition

The field is filled with fanned bundles of tapering stripes, meeting along soft vertical seams so that each pair of fans forms a leaf-like or feather-like shape. The bundles are staggered across the surface, which keeps the eye moving without any single focal point. There is no border — the pattern runs to all four edges.

The palette is two-tone: a warm wool white ground carrying the fine grain of hand-spun yarn, and stripes in a cool silver grey. Because the two tones sit so close together in value, the rug reads at a distance as a single textured surface and only resolves into pattern as you approach.

The Relief Surface

The pattern is not only knotted but carved. The wool ground is sheared to approximately 8 mm, the silk stripes are left standing at around 10 mm. Every stripe therefore sits physically above the ground and casts a fine shadow along its edge.

The two fibres also take light in opposite ways — the hand-spun wool matte and absorbing, the silk reflective. Seen from one side the rug is quiet, warm and almost plain; from the other the silver stripes light up. In a two-colour rug this is what carries the whole effect.

Material and Knotting

The pile is 60 % wool and 40 % silk on a cotton foundation, hand-knotted in the workshops of Kathmandu at approximately 100 knots per square inch — around 155,000 knots per square metre.

The wool is Tibetan Changpai highland wool, and it is hand-spun. To get close to the surface of the antique originals we sought out women in small Nepalese villages who still master the older spinning technique, a practice that has largely disappeared from the wider Nepalese rug industry. Hand-spun yarn varies slightly in thickness, and that irregularity is precisely what gives the white ground its depth rather than a flat, machine-even face.

Presence in the Room

At 183 × 122 cm (2.2 m²) this is an accent format:

• In front of a sofa or fireplace: The near-neutral palette works as a light-toned surface that adds texture without adding colour to the room.
• Beside a bed: Soft, dense pile on one side of a double bed, or across the foot end.
• Entrance or dressing area: The relief reads best in raking light, which is often exactly what these spaces have.

Bespoke Commissions

The Zebra design can be tailored to your project through our made-to-order Djoharian Design service: custom dimensions, a colour palette drawn from over 1,200 yarn shades and matched to Pantone, RAL, fabric or paint samples, and a 30 × 30 cm reference sample for sign-off before production. Lead time approximately 3 to 5 months from final approval, depending on size.

Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

Responsible Sourcing · Label STEP

Djoharian is a Label STEP certified dealer for fair-trade knotted rugs — fair wages for the weavers, no child labour, and ecologically responsible production. Visit the Label STEP entry for Djoharian Teppiche →

Djoharian — Since 1967

Founded in 1967, with roots in the Grand Carpet Bazaar of Tehran and more than five decades of experience in the international rug trade. Each piece is carefully selected, inspected and presented with the documentation a discerning buyer expects.

Service and Delivery

Every piece is expertly inspected in our atelier in Lohr am Main before dispatch. For expert washing and repair we offer our own professional rug cleaning service. Secure and fast worldwide shipping, fully insured, with personal consultation in our showroom or by video call.