Burgundy Framed Floral Hand-Knotted Silk-Blend Rug

China has been one of the centers of silk weaving for as long as silk has been woven, and this came from there: Burgundy Framed Floral Hand-Knotted Silk-Blend Rug — gold and cream flowers and rosettes over a burgundy ground, a wide cream border repeating them, several hundred thousand knots and every one tied by hand.

01Reading the motif

89 × 180 cm (2'11" × 5'11"). A thin red stripe separates the inner frame from the outer one, a small piece of drafting that stops two floral fields from running into each other. Long cream fringes finish the ends and are as silky as the pile.

02Which tone on the ground

Burgundy and gold is an old pairing and a warm one; the surface reads bright and alive from one direction and dark and matt from the other, because the pile lies one way and light does not. It is most often bought as a gift, and it earns that — at this size it also works in front of a coffee station or along a short corridor. The pile is silk blended with viscose.

03The Silk on the surface

That blend gets close to the shine and fineness of a pure silk rug at a lower cost, and the house would rather name the viscose than let the word silk do all the work by itself. After pure silk this is the most labor-intensive group of rugs made anywhere, and the knot count is why the drawing can be this fine.

04When you touch it

The pile is thin and soft, so it holds little and sheds little. It can be washed, by professionals and by nobody else. Hand-knotted in China; several hundred thousand knots in one piece. Silk blended with viscose in the pile. Gold and cream flowers and rosettes on burgundy, inside a wide cream border. A fine red stripe dividing the inner frame from the outer one. Long cream fringes, as silky as the pile itself. 89 × 180 cm (2'11" × 5'11") — a gift piece, a coffee corner, a short hallway. Bright from one direction and matt from the other. Washed by professionals and by nobody else. Is this a pure silk rug? No.

05From ground to pile

The pile is silk blended with viscose, which reaches much of the shine and fineness of a pure silk rug at a lower price. Pure silk means silk is the only fiber present; here the two are spun together, and we say so plainly. What is a frame pattern? Frame refers to the composition rather than to any single motif: a field enclosed by a wide border that repeats the same floral drawing, with a fine dividing stripe between the inner and outer frames.

It is one of the oldest arrangements in classical rug design. It is small enough to be given away and fine enough that whoever receives it will not put it on the floor for the first year.