Cream Hereke-Pattern Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug

Silk right through the build, from the warp up to the surface: a cream hand-knotted pure silk rug of 94 × 154 cm (3'1" × 5'1"), woven in China, its field drawn after the Hereke nine-flower design, Yedi Dağın Çiçeği, and its borders weighted in burgundy. One piece.

Silk holds detail that wool cannot, and this field uses all of it: flower heads about the size of a thumbnail, each with its own leaves and its own outline, repeated across a cream ground that stays pale because nothing heavy is put on it. Burgundy is kept for the borders, where it frames the field and stops the cream from floating. Light is the variable. Held at one angle the rug is nearly white; turned through ninety degrees it darkens two tones and the flowers go silver.

Chinese silk weaving has a long history of its own, and this is a Hereke design executed in it. At 94 × 154 cm the piece is small enough to be used somewhere other than the floor, and often is: over a table, on a wall, in a small entrance. It is delicate by construction, since silk cuts and crushes where wool would spring back, so keep it off the busiest routes, out of long direct sun and away from claws. Cleaning belongs with a silk specialist rather than a general rug washer.

• Hand-knotted in China, with silk running from the warp up through the surface.
• 94 × 154 cm (3'1" × 5'1") — a small floor piece, a wall piece, or a table cover.
• Cream ground with fine Hereke floral drawing and burgundy borders.
• The surface changes tone with the viewing angle, as silk does and wool does not.
• Suits walnut and maple, and sharpens against brass and metal detailing.
• Delicate: keep it off high-traffic routes and out of direct sun.
• Cleaning goes to someone who works on silk, and to nobody else.
• A single piece, and often bought as a gift.

Why does a silk rug change color as you walk around it?

Silk filament is smooth and reflects light along its length, so the pile reads bright from one direction and dark from the other. Turning the rug, or simply crossing the room, moves the whole surface between pale cream and a deeper shade.

Where is a silk rug of this size normally used?

Pieces of this scale are put on walls, laid over tables and set in small entrances at least as often as they are used underfoot. If it goes on a wall, support the weight along a sewn sleeve rather than at a few clipped points.

Small silk rugs get handed on rather than worn out, which is the practical reason they end up as gifts.