Midnight Garden Lilihan Runner

A village floral packed with charm, including tiny human figures.

This late-20th-century Lilihan has a deep midnight-navy field that makes the vegetable-dyed colors glow. You get shades of salmon to coral, powder and cornflower blue, soft camel, and ivory, all outlined crisply so the drawing reads clean. The layout is the classic Lilihan garden: three stacked floral panels rising from urns with palmettes, rosettes, and serrated leaves branching outward in mirror symmetry.

Look closely and you will spot four whimsical little persons knotted into the field, a weaver’s folk motif that gives the piece a personal signature. Coral borders carry a meandering vine of rosettes and leaves that frame the composition and keep the energy contained. Hand knotted wool pile on a cotton foundation, with the supple handle Lilihan is known for.

At 3’5” x 9’11”, it is an easy fit for an entry, hallway, or kitchen galley, and it looks beautiful along a bed or anchoring a dressing area. The palette plays well with light walls, natural wood floors, and black or brass accents. If you want a runner that reads elegant but still village-made and a little playful, this Lilihan delivers.

• Origin: Lilihan (Lilian) village, Persia
  
• Materials: Hand knotted wool pile on cotton foundation
  
• Age: Second half of the 20th century
  
• Size: 3' 5” x 9' 11" (103 x 302 cm)
  
• Vegetable-dyed