Yellow Geometric Handwoven Cotton Kilim, Holi Series

Holi is the name of the festival in India that greets spring with colored powder. The series takes its name from it, and this kilim was handwoven in India, in cotton. Flatwoven cotton rugs have a long history in India, where they are called dhurries.

01The origin of the pattern

This kilim belongs to that family: no pile, the pattern entirely on the surface, its geometry built from stripes alone. The field is divided into rectangular blocks of stripes; in some the stripes run across, in others along the length.

02Color that shifts through the day

The colors are mustard yellow, orange, gray and cream, and the gray stripes hold small lozenges and tooth motifs. An orange stripe runs around the outer edge; inside it, a border sets orange lozenges on cream. It measures 120 × 180 cm (3'11" × 5'11"), about 2.2 square meters.

03Where it sits in the house

Each tassel at the ends has a pink wrap at its neck. Because the blocks change direction, the design has no top or bottom, so in a doorway or a kitchen entered from more than one side it reads the same from every approach.

04Which tone on the ground

Mustard and orange are neighbors on the color wheel; a rush-seat chair or a light oak table keeps them calm. A navy sofa sets the yellow apart, and both colors look more vivid. Red barely shows up: only in two or three blocks, as thin broken lines running between stripes. Between the orange edge and the field, a gray band worked in a small lozenge lattice keeps the two apart.