Cream Frame-Pattern Handwoven Wool and Silk Rug, Hanzâde Series

The middle of this rug has almost nothing on it, and that is the design. A cream rug from the Hanzâde series, hand-knotted in wool and silk, its open field enclosed by a worked border of beige and earth tones, 170 × 227 cm (5'7" × 7'5"), made in Türkiye. One piece.

An open field is a risk in a hand-knotted rug, because everything then depends on the border and on the evenness of the ground. The border here is drawn fine — classical forms circling the empty center like stitching around a cloth — and the cream inside it is even enough to take the comparison. The rug does not divide a room. It gathers one, and it gives a seating group a defined place to stand without drawing a line anyone can see. Beside brass-footed furniture and metal frames it is exactly right.

Two fibers go into the pile at once, month after month, and each fringe at the ends is knotted separately once the field is finished. Wool supplies the warmth underfoot; silk supplies the flex, so the rug handles more like cloth than like a floor covering and shows a faint shine where light crosses it. Silk in a pale pile has a cost attached: it marks under a heavy chair leg and it will not forgive a domestic cleaning machine. Washing goes to a specialist.

• Hand-knotted in Türkiye in wool and silk, Hanzâde series.
• Open cream field inside a fine border of light beige and warm earth tones.
• Fringes tied on individually after the knotting is finished.
• Months of work per rug.
• 170 × 227 cm (5'7" × 7'5") — a bedroom, or a seating group in a light room.
• Furniture legs will mark a silk pile; move them from time to time.
• Only a specialist should wash it.
• One rug, and no other like it.

Rugs with a crowded field get tiring, and this one was built to be looked past. It will still be doing that job in twenty years.