Rugsville Kashmir Medallion Blue Red Silk Carpet 4' x 6'

Indigo as a field colour, rather than as an accent, was a Mughal-court refinement of the inherited Persian Indian vocabulary. The change is small in description and total in effect: the room cools by several degrees, the medallion sits in dialogue with the field rather than crowning it, and the entire composition reads as a piece of considered restraint rather than a courtly flourish. The piece in front of you is built on that inversion, expanded to four-by-six so the medallion can speak at scale.

Two weavers shared the loom for close to ten months. Mulberry silk for both pile and foundation, the asymmetric Persian knot tied in the single-knot Indian technique against a vertical beam. The indigo field was built up in successive cold-vat baths over several days, since indigo on silk requires layering rather than dipping. The red medallion centre was drawn from matured cochineal. Both colours were cooled and re-bathed where saturation needed reinforcement, then the silk was air-dried under shaded conditions to lock the colour without surface heat.

The composition

Deep indigo field carrying a central medallion in concentric red, ivory, and gold. Four palmettes mark the cardinal axes, and arabesque vine work in ivory and red runs the negative space. Border layers carry cream guard bands flanking a red main band of small repeating florals. The silk's directional sheen shifts the field between midnight and twilight blue depending on viewing angle; the medallion's red glows under low warm lamplight. The fibre's natural patina will only deepen with the years.

What you are buying

Antique Indian silks of comparable scale and condition with this colour inversion list with specialist dealers in the $10,000 to $25,000 band. This is a new weaving in the same Mughal-court lineage, on the same silk-on-silk loom, at the same density of work. Ten months of two-weaver labour and the cost of pure mulberry silk for both pile and ground are inside the price. The rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating, which makes it closer to a piece of inherited art than to a piece of flooring.

The piece in a room

4' x 6' (122 x 183 cm) anchors a guest bedroom at the foot of the bed, sits in a study at the foot of a writing desk, or grounds a fireplace seating area as a focal piece. The blue field reads against ivory or bone walls and pairs cleanly with warm wood floors, brass, and dark walnut. Long stretches of direct sun should be moderated to preserve the silk dye depth; diffused daylight is welcome.

Conservation

Rotate every six months, half turn each time, so wear and light reach the field evenly. Suction-only vacuuming monthly. Spills lifted with white cotton cloth, never scrubbed. Silk-trained conservation cleaning every three to five years; never use a wool-only cleaner. Storage rolled face out, never folded. With this care the silk only improves over decades.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted mulberry silk on silk foundation
• Dimensions: 122 x 183 cm (4' x 6')
• Construction: single-knot Indian, Persian asymmetric
• Hands: 2 weavers, ~10 months
• Pile: 5 mm silk
• Dye: natural, indigo field with red accents
• Origin: India

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