Rugsville Diba Kashmir Silk Hand knotted Multi Carpet 2'6" x 8'

The pattern in front of you descends from a tradition of village and workshop weaving that crossed Persia, the Caucasus, and Anatolia for two centuries. The geometry is older than any of the towns it was woven in, and the colour discipline was refined by generations of weavers who never met one another. The line continues here.

A single weaver carried the loom for 3 months on this piece. Approximately 417,600 hand-tied knots at around 145 per square inch on a cotton foundation. Hand-spun wool dyed in small lots from madder, indigo, oak gall, and walnut hull, each batch matured for two to three weeks in copper vats before the wool was lowered.

The composition

An open ivory field carries the central motif. The multi-tone grounds the composition; the ivory works as relief above it. The dye sits on the fibre rather than coating it, which is why the colour deepens with light rather than fading. Over the first decade the reds will warm and the ivories will move toward bone.

What you are buying

Antique nineteenth-century Caucasian Kazaks of comparable scale and condition appear at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Rippon Boswell at hammer prices between $8,000 and $25,000 when they appear at all. This is a new weaving in the same tradition, on the same loom, in the same vegetable-dyed wool. The rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating, and there is no other object you put on a floor with that property at any price.

The piece in a room

At 2'6" × 8' (76 × 244 cm) the piece is a long runner. It carries a corridor, a galley kitchen, the foot of a long bed, or a stair landing where furniture is not meant to interrupt it. The multi-tone reads as a continuous line across the length rather than as a centred composition.

Conservation

Conservation rather than maintenance is the right frame for this piece. Rotate a half turn twice a year. Vacuum with suction only. Treat spills by blotting, not rubbing. Hand-wash every five to seven years by a conservator. Direct sunlight is a friend, not an enemy, to vegetable dye.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 76 × 244 cm (2'6" × 8')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Knot density: ~145 KPSI
• Total knot count: ~417,600
• Hands: 1 weaver, 3 months
• Pile: 10 mm, hand-spun wool
• Dye: vegetable (madder, indigo, oak gall, walnut hull)
• Origin: India

Complimentary shipping across India. Cash on delivery available. 7-day exchange. Arrives rolled and protected.