Collection

Mamluk

A masterpiece of order and imagination. The Loomish Mamluk collection brings forward one of history’s most fascinating carpet traditions — created in a world where art, mathematics, and architecture moved together. Built through commanding medallions, layered structures, and details arranged with extraordinary precision, Mamluk designs carry a sense of depth rarely found in pattern. Every border leads somewhere, every form connects to another, creating a piece that feels considered, powerful, and impossible to take in all at once.

3 pieces online now
Mamluk hand-knotted rug, 5.8 × 8.5 ft
Nº 01Mamluk5.8 × 8.5 ftRs 393,000 Single piece
Mamluk hand-knotted rug, 5.1 × 6.2 ft
Nº 02Mamluk5.1 × 6.2 ftRs 254,000 Single piece
Mamluk hand-knotted rug, 3.9 × 5.7 ft
Nº 03Mamluk3.9 × 5.7 ftRs 175,000 Single piece
End of the room

That is the selection online.

The house holds a great deal more than is shown here. What you do not see, ask for.

Mamluk hand-knotted rug, 5.8 × 8.5 ft01Mamluk5.8 × 8.5 ftRs 393,000 Mamluk hand-knotted rug, 5.1 × 6.2 ft02Mamluk5.1 × 6.2 ftRs 254,000 Mamluk hand-knotted rug, 3.9 × 5.7 ft03Mamluk3.9 × 5.7 ftRs 175,000
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The tradition

Mamluk rugs

What a Mamluk rug is

A Mamluk is a hand-knotted rug in the tradition of the carpets woven in Cairo under the Mamluk sultanate, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. They look like nothing else in the field: concentric medallions, radiating stars, and small interlocking polygons that resolve into a kaleidoscope when you step back from them.

Drawn with a compass

The Mamluk designers worked almost entirely with the compass and the straight edge. Every form in the field is constructed rather than sketched, which is why historians reach for architecture and mosaic to describe them rather than ornament. The originals used a narrow palette, often little more than madder red, green and a light blue, and the restraint is what lets the geometry carry the whole composition.

Why it rewards distance and then closeness

What appears orderly across a room turns out to be extraordinarily complex at arm's length. The large medallion is built from smaller medallions, which are built from polygons, which are themselves patterned. A Mamluk is one of the few carpet traditions that gives a different answer at every viewing distance.

Where a Mamluk sits

It asks to be seen whole. That means a floor with room around it and light that moves across the day, rather than a rug half under a sofa. The pieces online are in modest sizes, from about 3.9 × 5.7 ft to 5.8 × 8.5 ft.

Questions

What is a Mamluk rug?

A Mamluk is a hand-knotted rug in the tradition of the carpets woven in Cairo under the Mamluk sultanate in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is built from concentric medallions, radiating stars and interlocking polygons, drawn geometrically rather than floral.

Where were Mamluk carpets originally made?

In Egypt, principally Cairo, during the rule of the Mamluk sultanate. They are one of the few major carpet traditions with no Persian or Central Asian origin.

What makes Mamluk designs different from Persian ones?

Mamluk carpets are constructed with compass and straight edge rather than drawn as flowering vines. They use a narrow palette and build large forms out of smaller geometric ones, which produces a kaleidoscopic field instead of a floral one.

What colours are used in Mamluk rugs?

The historical palette is deliberately narrow, often little more than madder red, green and a light blue, sometimes with yellow. The limited range is what allows the geometry to be read clearly.