About this piece
"Morni" is the Kashmiri word for the peahen, and birds are the heart of this carpet. Beneath an arched mihrab (prayer niche), an emerald cypress tree, the classic symbol of eternal life, rises from a garden of flowers. All around it, peacocks, parrots, hoopoes and songbirds perch, preen and take flight across the ivory ground, each one drawn individually in peacock blue, emerald, coral, rose and gold.
At the base, a semicircular fountain holds a pair of peacocks facing one another, and the arch above is crowned with a delicate floral spandrel. The field is framed by layered borders: an apricot and navy vine border between fine guard stripes, finished with a navy binding and natural fringe.
The carpet is hand-knotted in silk on a silk foundation at a 24 x 24 density, roughly 576 knots per square inch, which is about 2 million knots in this piece. The density is what allows each bird's feathers and eyes to be drawn so finely.
Its proportions make it beautiful as a prayer rug, a bedside or entrance piece, or framed wall art.
