Turquoise Anatolian Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug

Turquoise and midnight blue run into each other through the center and the borders answer them in yellow and a warm red-brown: Turquoise Anatolian Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug — 84 × 125 cm (2'9" × 4'1"), knotted in Türkiye in silk alone, symmetrical in its drawing, with fringes at both ends.

01Color that shifts through the day

A single piece. Turquoise is a difficult color in a rug and it works here because it is never left alone. The midnight blue keeps it from going sweet, the yellow in the border keeps it from going cold, and the red-brown grounds the whole arrangement.

02Coming off the loom

The pile catches light along its lay, so the turquoise comes up bright from one direction and goes nearly gray from the other, and the pattern appears to lift and settle again as you walk past it. It was knotted by hand in Türkiye from silk yarn only, which is what allows drawing this fine at a size this small. Rugs of this kind are often laid on a table or hung on a wall rather than walked on, and that is a reasonable thing to do with this one.

03Which tone on the ground

Keep it away from direct sun or the color will go. Cleaning is a job for someone who handles silk, not a domestic one. It is a single piece, and it was not made as part of a run. Knotted by hand in Türkiye from silk yarn and nothing else. Turquoise and midnight blue at the center; yellow and red-brown in the borders. Symmetrical drawing, with fringes finished at both ends. 84 × 125 cm — table, wall or a small stretch of floor. Bright from one direction and gray from the other, along the lay of the pile. Direct sunlight will fade it; keep it out of a south window. Cleaning by someone who handles silk. Hang it and it stops being a rug; walk on it and it stops being a picture.

Either use is defensible.