Burgundy Oushak Hand-Knotted Wool and Silk Rug, Harem Series

Erzurum first-shearing fleece and silk, knotted together on the Gördes double knot, and what they produced is an Oushak-pattern rug, hand-knotted, in burgundy and beige, 164 × 242 cm (5'5" × 7'11"), made in Türkiye for the Harem series.

01Color that shifts through the day

The classical Uşak drawing is worked at close knot density, and there is one of it. Burgundy holds the ground; beige does the drawing. Oushak — the English name for Uşak — is a rug town out in the west of Anatolia, and its repertoire — broad medallions, angular floral arabesques, a border that repeats rather than narrates — has been copied out of that town for centuries. Here the beige runs cool against the deep red and warms up under lamplight, which is when the silk in the motifs shows itself.

02How it feels underfoot

Silk takes light at a different angle from wool, so parts of the pattern lift out of the ground as you move past. The rug was made by the Çınar mill from wool and silk yarns. Erzurum first-shearing fleece is the wool: the fleece taken from a sheep's first clip, brighter and softer than later shearings and unusually strong for how soft it is.

03From the hand of the weaver

The knot is the Gördes, tied symmetrically over two warps, which is slower per row than the alternative and holds a curve without letting it blur. Rugs knotted this densely in wool and silk are made in smaller numbers every year. Wash it through a specialist and nobody else. Hand-knotted in Türkiye by the Çınar mill, in wool and silk. Erzurum first-shearing fleece — the first clip from the animal, and the brightest. Gördes double knot, tied over two warps at close density. Burgundy ground with the Uşak drawing in beige, lifted by silk in the motifs. 164 × 242 cm (5'5" × 7'11") — a hall, a study, or under a small dining table. Rugs at this weaving class are getting harder to source each year. Specialist washing only.

04Color, by the light

No home cleaning. A single piece from the Harem series; there is no second one. In twenty years the beige will have warmed by a half-tone and the burgundy darkened by one, and the rug will look more like itself than it does now.