Rugsville Tibetan Silk Purple Carpet 6' x 9'

Purple is the hardest colour to dye well in any natural fibre. The chemistry shifts with every variable in the bath, the fibre type, the water hardness, the temperature, the dwell time, so that two batches dyed an hour apart will read as different colours under daylight. In silk the problem compounds because the fibre catches a wider spectrum of ambient colour than wool does. The bath that produced this purple was tuned over six trial dips before the master dyer signed off on the final tone.

The piece was hand-knotted in India by two to three weavers over close to six months. Bamboo silk pile worked over a cotton foundation, every knot tied by hand using the Tibetan asymmetric loop that the silk fibre demands. The rug went through three rounds of dry shearing and one wet wash, each pass cutting the pile down by fractions of a millimetre to bring the surface flat enough for the silk to read as a single optical plane.

The composition

One field of deep purple, modulated only by the directional shimmer of the silk. The colour leans aubergine in low light and pulls toward magenta under direct daylight, which is the deliberate effect of the bamboo silk fibre catching ambient colour. There is no border, no medallion, no central figure. The rug is built to function as a saturated ground for a room with restrained walls and considered furniture, the way a deep glaze sits behind a still life.

What you are buying

Hand-knotted bamboo silk at 6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm) is a primary-room scale piece. Six months of skilled hand labour at this density justifies the original price; the clearance figure here sits well below the cost-recovery point on the build time alone. Comparable silk knot work at this scale through Western dealers runs at multiples of this number. The rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating; the silk lustre opens up with daily traffic.

The piece in a room

6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm) is a working size for a primary living room with a small sofa arrangement, a generous bedroom under a queen bed, or a study with two armchairs and a low table. Purple at this saturation needs restrained walls; pale plaster, deep navy, and warm grey all hold it. Avoid using it against patterned wallpaper or against another high-saturation textile in the same room.

Conservation

Silk does not tolerate a beater bar. Vacuum suction-only. Blot spills with a clean white cloth and cool water, never rub. The dye is colourfast under normal use; avoid alkaline cleaners or strong solvents. Professional hand-clean by a silk-trained conservator every five to seven years. Rotate twice a year to keep the lustre even.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted bamboo silk on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 183 x 274 cm (6' x 9')
• Construction: Tibetan asymmetric knot
• Hands: 2-3 weavers, ~6 months
• Pile: 8 mm bamboo silk
• Origin: India

Free shipping anywhere in India. Cash on delivery available. 7-day exchange after delivery.