Şeki silk, a Heriz drawing, cream held inside red
250×337 cm
Products
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250×337 cm
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Six by six knots, and the center deliberately left bare
202×284 cm
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Burgundy silk that goes brown by lamplight, blue at the border
220×303 cm
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Gold on burgundy, every knot of it silk: 207 × 309 cm
207×309 cm
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Cream and gold swapping places along the pile: 100% silk
207×303 cm
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Even the fringe is silk; red field, beige drawing
218×302 cm
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One purple medallion, and the whole rug folds into two hands
170×240 cm
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Teardrop shawl motifs in milk coffee, thin enough to fold
166×240 cm
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Coffee-brown panels carved above the pile, cream between them
204×302 cm
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The Hereke drawing scattered small, on silk in dark red
170×251 cm
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Silk warp, silk weft, silk pile: cream inside red borders
171×242 cm
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Nine by nine knots, and silk even in the warp
129×219 cm
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Turquoise used sparingly, gold-yellow across the rest, in silk
167×241 cm
One of a kind
Cream and Burgundy Oushak-Pattern Hand-Knotted Silk Rug
from 610.000 TL
≈ 150.000 TL/m² -
Cream ground, and knots dense enough to keep each flower apart
123×185 cm
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One medallion in the middle of a field of pure silk
124×183 cm
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Pure silk at sixty-four knots per square centimeter, Seljuk star
124×187 cm
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Plain cream from the door, frames inside frames up close
123×183 cm
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Frames running inward, worked in silk alone, in China
124×185 cm
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Silk held at pastel strength: blue, gold and earth on cream
123×185 cm
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Emerald under an Oushak field: 100% silk pile
184×274 cm
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Turquoise under cream and gold, Oushak drawn eight by eight
108×159 cm
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The Hereke nine-flower drawing, worked in silk on silk
94×154 cm
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Turquoise held between midnight blue and a yellow border
84×125 cm
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Burgundy silk, the old Anatolian figures set further apart
104×168 cm
A pure silk rug is one in which the warp, the weft and the pile are all silk, with no cotton or wool anywhere in the structure. Every piece is hand-knotted. Silk is a protein fiber reeled from the silkworm's cocoon, and it is fine, strong and reflective enough to hold detail no other rug fiber can carry.
The word doing the work here is pure. A great many rugs sold as silk have a silk pile standing on a cotton foundation, which is a different object at a different price. This page sets out what pure rules out, how the rug is made, how to verify one, and what owning one involves.
What "pure" actually rules out
It rules out the cotton warp. In most fine hand-knotted rugs the foundation is cotton, because cotton is cheap, strong and stable under tension, and only the visible pile is silk. In a pure silk rug the foundation is silk as well, which means the fringe is silk, the back is silk, and the rug is lighter and more flexible in the hand than its size suggests.
It also rules out the other things sold under the word. Mercerized cotton, viscose and bamboo yarn all take a high sheen and are all marketed with the language of silk. None of them is silk. Compare this collection against the broader silk rugs group, which includes silk pile on cotton foundations.
From cocoon to loom
The rug starts as an insect's building material. Cocoons are collected, the filament is reeled off and drawn into a thread fine enough to knot, and the thread is dyed to the color scheme of the design before it ever reaches the loom. Then a weaver ties it, knot by knot, following the drawing.
Silk is thin and it breaks, which is why this stage takes the skill it does. A weaver working in silk is tying knots at a density that would be impossible in wool, on a foundation that punishes a moment's inattention, and a room-sized piece can occupy one pair of hands for more than a year. That labor, and the quantity of silk it consumes, is what the price of a pure silk rug consists of.
How to confirm the whole rug is silk
Three tests, in order of how much the seller will let you do.
- Look at the fringe. In a pure silk rug the fringe is the silk warp itself, so it is fine, soft and slightly translucent. A cotton fringe is thicker, chalkier and matte.
- Move around it. Silk reflects light directionally, so the field shifts value as you walk past it and a single color reads warm from one end of the room and cool from the other. Nothing else on a floor does this to the same degree.
- Touch it. Silk is cool at first contact and warms in the hand within seconds. It is also noticeably slick against the palm compared with a wool or a mercerized cotton pile.
Beyond that, ask for documentation of the fiber and check what the guarantee and the return policy actually cover before you pay. This is a purchase where the seller's record matters as much as the rug, so look at what they have sold before and what their customers say. Read the silk rug guide for the burn and solvent tests a specialist uses.
What the construction buys
Detail, first of all. A silk foundation allows a knot count several times what a wool rug can reach, and that is what makes faces, script, fine vine work and shading possible in the drawing. It is also what makes the rug expensive, since every one of those knots was tied by a person.
Then the surface. Silk's natural luster gives color a depth and vividness that a matte fiber cannot, and the same property produces the shift in tone as the viewing angle changes. Silk also carries less static charge than most rug fibers. What it does not do is take punishment: a silk pile crushes and does not spring back, so these are not rugs for a hallway.
| Pure silk | Silk pile on cotton warp | Fine wool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Silk warp and silk weft | Cotton warp, silk pile | Cotton or wool warp |
| Fringe | Silk, fine and translucent | Cotton, thicker and matte | Cotton or wool |
| Knot count | The highest achievable | High | Moderate |
| Underfoot | Slick, cool, crushes | Slick, cool, crushes | Warm, springy, recovers |
| Suits | Display, walls, formal rooms | Formal rooms | Daily use, decades |
Sizes, patterns and colors in this collection
Size is chosen from the room. Large formats hold a wide salon or a meeting room, where the drawing can be read from a distance. Mid-size pieces suit a bedroom or a sitting room. Small formats are placed to make a focal point in a corner or a narrow space, and in a fine silk that is often the most effective use of one.
The pattern families are the classical ones. Traditional drawing gives a formal, historic room; Oushak designs in silk carry the Anatolian repertoire at a density wool cannot reach; framed patterns build a symmetrical, orderly field, and framed rugs collect them; classic drawing is the neutral option; and Persian silk designs bring their own vocabulary of curved vine and medallion. The Hereke and Kayseri traditions are where Turkish silk weaving is concentrated.
Color runs from the quiet to the emphatic. Cream and pastel grounds keep a room light and let the luster do the work. Gold and burgundy are the assertive end, and in silk they hold their saturation under lamplight where a wool version would go flat.
Where a pure silk rug goes, and what it needs
Rooms that are looked at more than they are walked through: a formal living room, a bedroom, a study, a space set aside for occasions. Collectors buy them, and a good many pure silk rugs spend their lives on a wall rather than a floor, which is a legitimate use and the one that preserves them.
Care is a matter of restraint. Vacuum on a low setting with a head that will not drag at the pile, and do it regularly, since dust ground into a fine silk knot is what wears the rug rather than feet. Marks want a stain remover made for silk and nothing improvised. Washing belongs to a firm that specifically handles silk rugs; if it is ever washed at home, the water must be no more than lukewarm, the product must be one that will not strip the fiber, and the rug must be dried properly and out of the sun. Read how a rug is washed, and compare hand-knotted rugs in wool if the room in question takes daily traffic.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a rug pure silk rather than just a silk rug?
In a pure silk rug the warp, weft and pile are all silk. A rug sold simply as silk usually has a silk pile knotted onto a cotton foundation, which is cheaper, heavier and identifiable by its thicker cotton fringe.
How do I test a fringe to see whether it is silk?
A silk fringe is the warp itself, so it is fine, soft and slightly translucent. A cotton fringe is thicker, chalkier and matte, and on many rugs it has been sewn on rather than being a continuation of the foundation.
Why does a silk rug change color as you walk past it?
Silk filament reflects light directionally, so the same dyed area returns different amounts of light depending on the angle it is seen from. That shift is what gives a silk rug its apparent depth and is hard to imitate.
How is a pure silk rug made?
Cocoons are collected, the filament is reeled off and drawn into a thread fine enough to knot, and the thread is dyed before weaving. A weaver then ties the rug knot by knot, and a large piece can take more than a year.
Can a pure silk rug be hung on a wall?
Yes, and many are. Silk crushes underfoot and does not spring back, so hanging preserves a fine rug in a way that flooring does not. Collectors treat pure silk rugs as objects rather than as furnishings.
How should a pure silk rug be cleaned?
Vacuum regularly on a low setting with a head that will not pull at the pile, since ground-in dust does more damage than feet. Use a stain remover made for silk, and send the rug to a washer who specializes in silk.
Why does a pure silk rug cost more than a silk rug on a cotton warp?
Silk is a scarce and expensive fiber, and a pure silk rug uses it for the foundation as well as the pile. It is also knotted at a higher density, so more silk and far more hours go into a piece of the same size.
Related collections: silk rugs · Hereke rugs · rare rugs · wool rugs