Rugsville Kashmir Panel Red Ivory Silk Carpet 4' x 6'

A panel design in Indian silk weaving is, in its purest form, a system of stripes carrying related flower vocabularies. The inner guard echoes the outer in a smaller voice. The wide central band runs palmettes in three shapes, connected hand to hand, and at the centre a diamond holds four secondary palmettes on its cardinal axes. The arrangement was perfected in the loom-houses of northern India during the long rule of the Mughals and has not been improved since. The version in front of you keeps the strict architecture and uses red and ivory to set the field in clear contrast.

Two weavers shared this loom for around five months. Pure mulberry silk pile on a fine cotton foundation, every knot tied by feel with the Persian asymmetric throw. The dye saturation came up across multiple short cycles to keep the silk lustre intact, since long single immersions would have pulled the surface flat. Red on the field, ivory in the medallion ground, and the deeper accents in the bud motifs of the inner guard set against the outer stripe.

The composition

The red is steady, the ivory cool, and the silk pile catches and releases light differently along the warp than across the weft. From one direction the red field reads denser, from the other the ivory medallion comes forward. The repeat of bud forms in the borders rhymes top to bottom and side to side without becoming mechanical. Three palmette shapes alternate in the central stripe, which keeps the band moving rather than pulsing as a fixed beat.

What you are buying

Equivalent silk pieces at this size and finish appear at Christie's, Bonhams, and Rippon Boswell in the range of 12,000 to 25,000 dollars, and that is for second-hand stock. New weaving in the same tradition, on the same fibre, to the same density, runs higher in Western dealer rooms. The carpet appreciates with age rather than depreciating. There are very few decorative objects with that property at this price.

The piece in a room

4' x 6' (122 x 183 cm) anchors a child's bedroom, a reading nook, the foot of a queen bed, or the conversation circle of a small sitting room. Red holds well against a teak floor or a pale stone surface. Ivory walls let the centre medallion read as the focal point. Avoid heavy printed upholstery directly on the rug, the silk wants to be the only patterned voice in its immediate field.

Conservation

Half turn every six months so light wear distributes evenly across the silk surface. Suction-only vacuum, beater bar never engaged. Blot spills immediately with a dry cotton cloth and do not rub. Specialist hand-wash by a silk conservator at five to seven year intervals. Kept this way, the rug runs sixty years and remains in heritable condition.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted mulberry silk on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 122 x 183 cm (4' x 6')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 2 weavers, ~5 months
• Pile: 5 mm silk
• Colour: red and ivory
• Origin: India

Free shipping across India. Cash on delivery available. 7-day exchange. Crated for safe transit and re-usable for storage.