Red Bordered Hand-Knotted Silk-Blend Rug

Morning light does one thing to it and evening light does another: a red bordered hand-knotted silk-blend rug, made in China from a cotton, viscose and silk blend, with a classical frame pattern drawn around a red field. Under a low sun it goes bright; late in the day it deepens and quiets down. It measures 125 × 186 cm (4'1" × 6'1").

The frame drawing keeps to traditional motifs at a small scale, repeated the whole way round, so the pattern never competes with the field for attention — it encloses it. Depending on where you are standing, the same square inch is either vivid and glossy or dark and matte.

It is knotted by hand, one knot at a time, in a cotton, viscose and silk mixture: the cotton is the strength, the viscose and the silk are the light. The pile is fine and shallow, which makes it quick to vacuum and easy to keep. Red is not a neutral. It sets the temperature of any room it enters, and it is worth being certain about that before it is unrolled. Professional cleaning keeps the pile standing.

• Knotted by hand in China; cotton for strength, viscose and silk for light.
• A classical frame pattern repeated around a red field.
• The surface reads glossy from one side of a room and matte from the other.
• Fine, shallow pile — quick to vacuum.
• 125 × 186 cm (4'1" × 6'1"), 2.3 m² (25 sq ft).
• Suits an entrance, a hall, a living room, a bedroom or the front of a desk.
• Red will set the temperature of the room it goes into.
• Professional cleaning.