Rugsville Kashmir Medallion Mehroon Grey Silk Carpet 5' x 7'

Mehroon and grey is an unusual pairing in the historical Indian palette and one that comes out of contemporary studio practice rather than the inherited colour books. The combination borrows from twentieth-century interior work where deep wine-reds were brought down against neutral grey grounds to take the heat out of the colour and let it sit closer to architectural rather than ornamental. The rug renders that decision in silk, on a medallion format that runs back through Persian and Indian carpet design to fifteenth-century Timurid manuscript binding. A central concentric medallion carries the eye, with palmettes set on the cardinal axes around it and a field of supporting floral incident reaching to a measured border.

Two weavers shared this loom across approximately six months. Pure mulberry silk pile on a fine cotton foundation, the Persian asymmetric throw, knot density held at the upper Indian end. The dyes were brought up over multiple short cycles to keep the silk lustre intact. Mehroon takes the field. Grey carries the medallion structure, the palmettes on the cardinal axes, and the floral vocabulary in the borders.

The composition

Mehroon is a difficult colour to balance against grey because the wine note pulls warm and the grey pulls cool, and most weavings end up reading as two separate palettes laid against each other. The rug holds the tension. The grey is warm enough to feel like a related family rather than an opposed one, and the mehroon is restrained enough that it does not dominate. Silk pile shifts both colours between two values along the warp and weft, so the same surface reads with subtle variation through the day.

What you are buying

Comparable silk medallion pieces at this size carry international auction estimates of 14,000 to 28,000 dollars when antique stock surfaces in the colour family. New weavings in the same fibre and density shelve at Western dealers at multiples of the maker's price. Silk on cotton in this format gains value as the years pass, because the labour cost and the silk grade required to commission a replacement only become harder to source.

The piece in a room

5' x 7' (152 x 213 cm) anchors a primary living room under a coffee table, runs at the foot of a king bed, or grounds a small dining circle for four. The mehroon and grey palette pairs with cream walls, oxblood leather, and walnut case furniture. Brass and aged silver take the rug well. A single piece of art in a related red family pulls the room together. Avoid heavy printed upholstery in direct field with the rug.

Conservation

Rotate the rug a half turn every six months. Vacuum suction-only, beater bar disengaged. Blot any spill the second it occurs with a clean dry cotton cloth, never rub the silk surface. Specialist hand-wash by a silk-trained conservator at five to seven year intervals. With this care the rug runs eighty years and stays in heritable condition.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted mulberry silk on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 152 x 213 cm (5' x 7')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 2 weavers, ~6 months
• Pile: 5 mm silk
• Colour: mehroon and grey
• Origin: India

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