Cream Hereke-Pattern Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug

Warp, weft and pile are all silk; there is nothing else in it. Cream Hereke-Pattern Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug, knotted by hand in China and measuring 123 × 185 cm (4'0" × 6'1"), carrying the Hereke floral drawing on a cream ground with red and blue in the flowers and burgundy in the borders.

01Knot by knot, by hand

One piece. Hereke sits on the eastern shore of the Marmara, and it was where the Ottoman court had its rugs and silks woven; the name has meant the finest Turkish weaving ever since. The pattern here is Hereke's. The weaving is China's, out of a silk tradition just as long, and the house says so rather than implying otherwise. What the drawing needs in order to work is knot density, and it has it — the flower heads are small and each one keeps its outline.

02The tone of the ground

Silk changes color with the angle it is seen from, so the cream moves between ivory and something warmer as you cross the room. A silk rug at this size is often not walked on at all. It hangs, it covers a table, it lies in front of a desk or inside an entrance, and it is one of the few rugs bought as a gift.

03From ground to pile

Silk is also the most delicate fiber a rug can be made from: it marks, it dislikes water, and a household cleaner will destroy it. Beside walnut and maple it settles; beside brass and steel it makes a deliberate contrast.

04Reading the motif

A silk washer, and no one else. Hand-knotted in China; pure silk in warp, weft and pile. Hereke floral drawing on cream, with red and blue flowers. Burgundy borders framing the field. The knot count is high, and it is what keeps each flower head distinct. 123 × 185 cm (4'0" × 6'1") — small enough to hang, cover a table or hold an entrance. Delicate: silk marks and must not meet household cleaners. Washing by a specialist in silk rugs. Why is a Hereke pattern woven in China? Hereke is the name of a pattern family as well as of a Turkish town.

05From the hand of the weaver

This rug carries the Hereke floral drawing but was knotted in China, which has a long silk-weaving tradition of its own. It is not a Turkish Hereke rug and is not offered as one. Can it be hung on a wall instead of used on the floor? Yes.

06The Silk on the surface

At 123 × 185 cm and in pure silk it is light enough to hang, and small silk pieces have long been used as wall panels, table covers and prayer rugs. Hanging also spares the pile, which is the most fragile part of any silk rug. Silk was the first material anyone wove a picture into, and a rug this size is closer to that idea than to a floor.