Herat · Afghanistan
Herat Carpets
Herat lies in the west of Afghanistan, in the old heart of Khorasan. Our looms stand there, and every carpet we make is knotted in the city by weavers who learned the work at home, from the generation before them.
The city and its looms
Herat has been a centre of craft for centuries, and weaving there is a household discipline as much as a workshop one. Upright looms are dressed in family rooms and courtyards, and a carpet grows slowly under several pairs of hands.
That domestic setting matters to the result. The weaver is not producing to a machine cycle; they are working to a standard set within their own family.
Materials from the region
The pile is hand-spun highland wool, chosen for resilience and for how deeply it takes dye. Colour is prepared naturally, in small batches, so a field carries subtle tonal movement instead of flat uniformity.
- Hand-spun wool, sorted before spinning.
- Natural dyes, batched by hand.
- Sun-drying after washing, as it has always been done.
What a Herat carpet looks like
The drawing tends toward the architectural: clear borders, considered spacing, and restraint in the field. It is a tradition that trusts proportion more than density of ornament, which is why these carpets sit as easily in a modern room as a classical one.
Commissioning from Herat
We weave standard formats of roughly 4, 9 and 12 square metres, and we take commissions: your dimensions, your palette, your design, discussed before the loom is dressed. Each finished carpet carries its certificate of origin.
Questions
- What is a Herat carpet?
- A hand-knotted carpet woven in or around Herat, in western Afghanistan. The city's weaving is known for dense knotting, hand-spun wool and disciplined, architectural drawing rather than crowded ornament.
- Are Herat carpets made of wool?
- Ours are. The pile is hand-spun highland wool, dyed in small natural batches, which is what gives the surface its depth and its resilience underfoot.
- How long does a Herat carpet take to weave?
- It depends on size and knot density. A large carpet at a high density is the work of many months on the loom, before washing, shearing and finishing.
- Can I visit or order directly from Herat?
- Enquiries reach the weaving house directly by email or WhatsApp, and commissions are arranged from there. Write to us and we will discuss size, palette and design with you.
Continue
- Khorasan carpets and their tradition →
- Afghan rugs: a buyer's guide →
- Hand-knotted wool rugs explained →