Rugsville Tibet Laka Black Wool & Silk Carpet 6' x 9'

Black grounds in carpet design are the most demanding for a wool-and-silk piece, because the silk highlights against a black field must be calibrated to read as illumination rather than as dust on the surface. The Tibet Laka takes that challenge and works a deep black ground with silk highlights along contemporary abstract motifs, the way a painter works metallic pigment over a deep ground. The lineage is Tibetan-tradition wool-and-silk weaving in a contemporary studio commission.

Two to three weavers shared this 6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm) loom in India over around five months. The pile is hand-spun Tibetan wool with silk highlights, knotted on a cotton foundation using the Tibetan loop knot. The black ground was achieved with iron-mordanted indigo, prepared in extended cold-water vats. After weaving the rug was sheared close so the silk lustre reads cleanly, washed for lustre, and the selvedges hand-finished.

The composition

A deep black field carries quiet contemporary abstract incidents in silk, with the silk picking up light along the drawn motifs. The black is not flat; under raking light the field carries small tonal variation between dye batches that gives it an internal life. The silk highlights flicker as the viewer moves around the rug; the rug reads as a single black field at distance and resolves into the silk drawing on approach.

What you are buying

Hand-knotted wool-and-silk Tibetan-tradition carpets in a black ground are among the most labour-intensive pieces in the carpet world. Comparable rugs from international design dealers price at three to four times this MSRP. The Tibetan loop knot, the silk content, and the black ground all add to the labour and material cost. The piece appreciates with use as the wool gains lustre and the silk softens.

The piece in a room

6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm) anchors a small drawing room or a primary bedroom against a king bed. The deep black palette pairs with cream or ivory plaster walls, with limewashed white, with leather upholstery in cognac or tobacco, with brass lamps. Avoid pairing with strongly competing dark walls; the black ground reads best against a quiet ground.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn each spring and autumn. Vacuum weekly with suction only on a low setting; the silk needs gentle handling. Blot spills immediately with a clean white cotton cloth. Hand-wash by a Tibetan-trained conservator every five years. The black holds its tone with this routine; the silk holds its lustre.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted Tibetan wool and silk on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 183 x 274 cm (6' x 9')
• Construction: Tibetan loop knot
• Hands: 2-3 weavers, ~5 months
• Pile: hand-spun Tibetan wool with silk highlights
• Dye: iron-mordanted indigo on the ground
• Origin: India

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