Cream Oushak-Pattern Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug

Sixty centimeters by ninety-three — 60 × 93 cm (2'0" × 3'1") — is small enough to carry home under one arm, and at that size what you have is a pure silk rug knotted entirely by hand: cream ground, a central Oushak medallion, burgundy and pale blue in the drawing, silk in the warp and the weft. One piece. At this scale everything depends on the drawing being fine, and it is.

01The origin of the pattern

The medallion sits in the middle with the field opening around it, and the classical Oushak vocabulary of hooked leaves, stepped edges and small rosettes is reproduced at a size where each element measures a few millimeters across. Burgundy anchors the borders.

02Color that shifts through the day

A pale blue runs through the field and is the only cool color present, which is why the cream never turns yellow. China has been reeling and weaving silk longer than anywhere else, and pieces at this scale are one of the things its workshops do best.

03Where it sits in the house

The rug is not really floor furniture: it goes on a low table, on a shelf, on a wall, or in the smallest entrance in a house. Silk is soft and it is not tough — a chair leg will mark it and strong sun will fade it.

04Which tone on the ground

Take it to somebody who cleans silk, and nowhere else. Woven knot by knot in China, from pure silk in warp and weft. 60 × 93 cm (2'0" × 3'1") — the smallest size in this group. Cream ground with a central Oushak medallion. Burgundy in the borders, pale blue running through the field. Classical Oushak drawing reduced to a few millimeters an element. Used on tables, shelves and walls as often as on the floor. Marks under furniture legs and fades in strong sun. Silk-specialist cleaning.

05The Silk on the surface

One piece. It is the size of a folded newspaper and holds as much drawing as rugs ten times its area, which is roughly the whole point of silk.