Rugsville Kashmir Medallion Blue Red Silk Carpet 5' x 7'

Inverting the field of a classical medallion is the kind of move only the most senior workshops have made in the Indian silk tradition. The standard piece carries a red ground and an ivory or indigo medallion; this composition reverses that hierarchy and makes the indigo field the primary statement. The change shifts the entire room's temperature and reframes the medallion as one element in a larger considered ground rather than as a glowing centre. Mughal-era patrons commissioned this inversion for evening rooms, where blue holds under warm light better than red.

Two to three weavers shared the loom for around twelve months. Pure mulberry silk for both pile and foundation, with the asymmetric Persian knot tied in the single-knot Indian technique against a vertical beam. The indigo field was built across multiple cold-vat layered baths over weeks, the silk lowered and lifted in successive passes so the colour entered the fibre at the core. The red of the medallion was prepared from cochineal matured in copper. Both colours were balanced under controlled drying so they hold their depth across the rug's life.

The composition

A deep indigo field carrying a central medallion in concentric red, ivory, and gold. Four large palmettes mark the cardinal axes, with arabesque vine in ivory and red running the open space between. Border layers stack cream guard bands either side of a red main band of small floral repeats. The silk shifts the indigo between midnight and twilight depending on the viewer's angle and the light source; the medallion's red glows under warm low light and recedes slightly under cool daylight, giving the rug two distinct presences.

What you are buying

Comparable antique Indian silks with this colour inversion at the five-by-seven scale list with specialist dealers in the $15,000 to $35,000 band when they surface in intact condition. This is a contemporary weaving in the same Mughal-court tradition, on the same silk-on-silk loom, at the same density. The price reflects twelve months of two- to three-weaver labour and the cost of pure mulberry silk in both pile and foundation. Silk on silk appreciates rather than depreciating with use; the rug enters the room as a long-horizon object.

The piece in a room

5' x 7' (152 x 213 cm) sits as the focal field of a primary bedroom, anchors a study under a chesterfield and reading chair, or grounds a fireplace seating arrangement. The indigo holds against ivory and bone walls, settles deeper against pale sage or muted teal, and pairs with brass, walnut, and patinated bronze. The rug expects diffused light. Long direct sun stretches should be moderated to preserve the silk's colour depth.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn every six months. Monthly suction-only vacuuming, beater bar disengaged. Blot spills immediately with white cotton, never rub. Silk-trained conservation cleaning every three to five years. Storage rolled face out, never folded. Cared for this way, the silk gains patina across decades and the rug outlives its first owner intact.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted mulberry silk on silk foundation
• Dimensions: 152 x 213 cm (5' x 7')
• Construction: single-knot Indian, Persian asymmetric
• Hands: 2-3 weavers, ~12 months
• Pile: 5 mm silk
• Dye: natural, indigo field with red accents
• Origin: India

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