Kuba Pile Rug

Four stars on a red road, with flowers crowding the shoulders.

This Kuba pile rug comes from the Caucasus and dates to the early 20th century. It is wool. Kuba, in the eastern Caucasus, lent its name to a broad family of village rugs, often noted for dense, geometric drawing. Four dark blue medallions, each holding an eight-point star, string down a stepped red field whose color shifts in soft bands. Small flowers scatter across the navy corners. A sawtooth border in red, blue and cream closes it in. Twelve feet long.

The red never settles on one shade. Nobody seems to have minded.