Vintage Malayer Mahi Persian Runner Rug

Woven from high-quality handspun wool on a cotton foundation with natural dyes in Hamadan, western Iran, one of the world’s oldest cities, dating back to before 1100 BC.
Hamadan carpets are famous for their thick and tight pile, firmness, and durability so they are perfectly suited for highly frequented rooms.

They feature bold and mature colour combinations, such as bold blue contrasting with scarlet or crimson red, creating clear lines and shapes. The designs are diverse, with the Herati pattern (also known as “Mahi” or fish pattern) being the most common. This pattern is characterized by inner leaves resembling fish and central flowers with intricate branching, creating a complex geometry across the entire carpet.

The most prominent feature of the Hamadan carpet is not the design, but its texture. Hamadan hand-woven carpet is a unique carpet among Iranian hand-woven carpets, which is woven with a technique known as “single weft”. After the knotting of each row (or Raj in Farsi) is completed, the weaver places a row of weft on the new row and hits it firmly with a comb, in this way, the row of carpet threads is visible. As a result, a distinctive design is created, where the strings of warp are placed in the middle of the map and are seen as part of the carpet texture.