Blue Gabbeh Lamb Wool Rug
This blue Gabbeh lamb wool rug is double hand knotted in Afghanistan and measures 304 x 244 cm, or about 7.4 square metres. The ground is a deep blue, and the centre is built from horizontal bands of red, rust, gold and green, framed in cream. Its design is packed with small motifs, and the outer border changes from stacked stripes at the sides to rows of small squares at the ends.
The design up close
Across this blue Gabbeh lamb wool rug, a wide band of blue frames the whole piece. Inside it sits a central panel of horizontal stripes. A narrow red band runs along the top, followed by blue and gold bands carrying small motifs, a row of small animal figures, and a wide red-orange band lower down. Thin cream guard lines run down both sides of the panel and keep it apart from the outer field.
The outer border is built differently. Down each side, vertical bands in red, green, cream and tan stack one on top of another, each with a line of small diamonds, squares and stylised plants. Across the top and bottom, a single row of small squares in red, orange and cream sits on blue, with a fine fringe at each end.
Bold bands like these read clearly from across a room, and close up each band turns out to be made of many small motifs in several colours.
Where Gabbeh rugs come from
Gabbeh rugs come from a nomadic weaving tradition: a thick, soft pile, open fields of colour and simple motifs, sometimes small figures or animals. The Gabbeh is a rug of the tribes of the Zagros mountains in Iran, including the Lori and Qashqai, who wove thick, simple rugs mainly for their own households. Weavers in Afghanistan now make Gabbeh rugs in the same spirit, and this blue Gabbeh lamb wool rug is hand knotted there.
How this blue Gabbeh lamb wool rug is made
Each knot is tied by hand on a loom, one at a time, and a room-size rug can take a small team of weavers many months. This rug is double hand knotted, and its lamb’s wool comes from a young sheep’s first shearing, which gives the pile a soft hand underfoot.
Sizing it for your room
At 304 x 244 cm, this blue Gabbeh lamb wool rug covers about 7.4 square metres. A three-seat sofa of around 2.2 m leaves about 42 cm of rug showing past each end, so the whole sofa sits on the rug. Under a dining table of about 180 x 90 cm, the rug gives roughly 62 cm at each end and 77 cm along each side. Cream walls and timber floors suit the blue ground.
Looking after your rug
Vacuum it on a suction-only setting, or with the beater bar switched off, so the brush does not pull at the knots. Turn it around every six to twelve months so sun and foot traffic wear it evenly. Blot spills with a clean white cloth and cold water rather than rubbing them in. When it needs a full clean, choose a cleaner who washes handmade rugs by hand.
Put a good underlay beneath it. It stops the rug sliding on timber or tiles, adds cushioning and takes some of the wear off the pile. Moths like wool in dark, quiet spots, such as the part of a rug under a sofa, so vacuum those areas often and lift the furniture now and then.
See it before you buy
Visit our showroom at 307 Penshurst St, North Willoughby, open every day from 11 am to 4:30 pm, to see this blue Gabbeh lamb wool rug in person. If you would rather judge it in your own room, with your own light and furniture, book an in-home viewing and we will bring a selection to you.
Browse more Gabbeh Rugs, or ask about a custom made rug in your own size and colour. Read more about Gabbeh rugs.
