Soumak

Wool & Silk, Pile & Soumak technique

An open ivory field carries a symmetrical, mirrored arrangement of slender curling tendrils rendered in a fine brown outline, radiating from a central axis top and bottom. Small pale dots, almost pearl-like, punctuate the sprays of foliage at intervals, adding a scattered, airy rhythm across the otherwise plain ground. A simple tan-toned border frames the composition without additional patterning, keeping the emphasis on the delicate linear design at the center.

Flat Weave Technique

The field is laid out as an interlocking basketweave lattice in soft gold on an ivory ground, each compartment scattered with small sprays of pink, blue, and yellow blossoms with green foliage. A plain ivory band separates this trellis pattern from the wide pale green border, which carries a continuous scrolling ribbon motif interwoven with floral garlands in blue, cream, and soft rose. The corners resolve the scrolling border motif into a symmetrical curling flourish.

Flat Weave Technique

The field is organized as an interlaced lattice of crimson-red bands crossing over a pale ivory ground, each diamond-shaped compartment enclosing a rosette in muted gold, cream, and soft blue. A wide ivory border frames the composition with alternating palmette and rosette medallions, separated by a slender blue-green guard stripe, while the outermost edge carries a delicate meandering floral vine in tan and rust tones. The palette throughout remains soft and sun-bleached, dominated by straw, ivory, dusty rose, and pale slate blue.

Flat Weave Technique

Four dark-outlined star-and-medallion forms, each enclosing an oval cartouche of coral-pink and cream floral sprays, are arranged symmetrically across the pale gold field, their points meeting at a small central knot motif. Cornerpieces of dense scrolling vinework echo the medallions' navy tone, while the wide outer border alternates ivory and celadon diamond lattices set against a soft khaki ground. A narrow band of small floral sprigs on cream separates this diamond border from a slender red guard stripe framing the field.

Flat Weave Technique

A quatrefoil medallion in soft rose and cream tones anchors the composition, its lobed form filled with sprays of small blossoms and set within a dense scrolling frame of dark ground arabesques. Around it, pale scalloped medallions radiate outward across a muted golden-green field toward corner spandrels of intricate vinework. The wide outer border alternates a cream floral band with a saw-toothed pattern of dark and ivory triangles, all contained by a slender striped guard stripe in coral and cream.

Flat Weave Technique

An open apricot-toned field is animated by symmetrical scrolling acanthus tendrils in sage green and ivory, punctuated by small rosettes and pairs of stylized dolphins facing one another along the central axis. The wide ivory border repeats the scrolling foliate vine and is anchored at each corner by a pale blue rectangular cartouche and, along the sides, by round medallions rendered in warm ochre. Color throughout stays soft and muted, with touches of coral and dusty blue giving accent to the otherwise cream and gold palette.

Flat Weave Technique

An open ivory field is filled with tall, slender stylized trees rendered in coral red and rust, their branches ending in small hooked forms and blossoms, arranged in loose vertical rows across the ground. At the center sits a single octagonal medallion in deep red and indigo blue with a small rosette, the only enclosed device in an otherwise unbroken field. The wide border combines a meandering vine on a straw-colored ground with a narrower band of small palmettes and a slim geometric guard stripe in blue and rust.

An overall pomegranate-and-vine lattice in muted gold covers the pale, almost bleached ground, the pattern repeating in vertical columns with only slight drift in scale. The border stack combines a cloudband meander, a diagonal reciprocal stripe, and an outer band of small rosettes, all rendered in the same soft gold against dark, near-black outlining. Wear has softened the contrast throughout, giving the field a uniformly muted, tonal appearance.

80% wool (melange grey), 20% cotton

The field is organized in narrow horizontal bands that alternate between a paler ivory tone and a deeper taupe-grey, with no other ornament or border to interrupt the sequence. Close inspection reveals a fine herringbone texture running throughout, giving the striping a soft, slightly broken edge rather than a hard line. The detail inset shows the individual threads crossing in a tight chevron pattern, mottled with flecks of cream and brown.