Rugsville Kashmir Medallion Red Ivory Silk Carpet 3' x 5'

Pairing a deep red ground with an ivory medallion is the older form of the Indian composition, the one that pre-dates the indigo experiments and stays closest to the original Mughal-court vocabulary. The ivory at the centre acts like a window cut into the field, and the medallion reads as light against warm depth rather than as colour against colour. This is the version of the Indian silk that historians most often cite as the baseline against which later refinements are measured.

One weaver shared the loom for around eight months. Pure mulberry silk pile, silk foundation, the asymmetric Persian knot tied against a vertical beam in the single-knot Indian technique. The red field was built from cochineal matured in copper vats over several weeks, with the silk dipped twice to deepen the saturation past the surface and into the fibre core. The ivory medallion centre uses undyed silk, which means the contrast between red and ivory holds at full strength rather than fading toward muddy in the way two-dyed colour pairings sometimes do.

The composition

The red field carries a central medallion in concentric ivory, gold, and a finer indigo line, the medallion edged in cream and crowned by four palmettes set on the cardinal axes. Vine work in ivory threads the open ground without crowding it. Border layers carry indigo guard bands either side of a cream main band carrying small floral repeats. The silk shifts the red between warm crimson and deeper garnet by angle. The undyed ivory will warm to bone over the years; the red will deepen toward old wine.

What you are buying

Comparable antique Indian silks with the red-ivory medallion at this scale and intact condition list with specialist dealers in the $5,000 to $15,000 band. This is a new weaving in the same lineage, on the same kind of silk-on-silk loom, at the same density of work. Eight months of single-weaver labour and the cost of pure mulberry silk in both pile and foundation are inside the price. The rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating; pure silk is the only floor fibre with that property at any price point.

The piece in a room

3' x 5' (91 x 152 cm) sits in a meditation alcove, beside a writing desk, in a small entry as a focal piece, or layered atop a larger neutral wool rug. The red ground reads warm and devotional under low warm light and clean and architectural under bright cool light. Pair with ivory walls, brass detail, dark walnut, and patinated bronze. Avoid prolonged direct sun to preserve the silk colour.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn twice a year. Suction-only monthly vacuuming, no beater bar. Blot spills immediately with white cotton, never rub. Silk-trained conservation cleaning every three to five years. Stored flat or rolled face out, never folded. The silk will gain patina with use over multiple decades.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted mulberry silk on silk foundation
• Dimensions: 91 x 152 cm (3' x 5')
• Construction: single-knot Indian, Persian asymmetric
• Hands: 1 weaver, ~8 months
• Pile: 5 mm silk
• Dye: natural, red field with ivory medallion
• Origin: India

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