Burgundy Anatolian Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug

Two weavers, and between a year and a half and two years of work: Burgundy Anatolian Hand-Knotted Pure Silk Rug — 202 × 284 cm (6'8" × 9'4") in Bursa silk throughout, a burgundy ground carrying gold and navy Anatolian drawing, with an open center and a deep classical border.

01The origin of the pattern

One piece. The center is left empty on purpose, which is why a low table can stand on it without ruining the composition; the drawing is concentrated in the border and the corners, and the field exists to be crossed.

02Color that shifts through the day

Gold gives the pattern its light and navy gives it its edges, and against the burgundy the two behave differently at different hours — the gold flattens in daylight and comes up under lamps. Silver-toned furniture suits it, and so does light oak or maple flooring, which stops the burgundy from sinking into a dark floor. The silk comes from Bursa, the Ottoman silk city, where mulberry has been grown and silk reeled for centuries.

03How it feels underfoot

Very little Bursa silk now goes into rugs at all, so pieces like this are bought as collected objects at least as much as floor covering. The weave is a 6 × 6 knot density, which is what allows the fine detail in the border to be drawn rather than suggested, and which is also why two people needed close to two years to finish it.

04Which tone on the ground

It is fragile by construction: lift spills at once, keep it out of direct sun, be careful with it around animals, vacuum on the lowest setting, and have it washed away from the house. Hand-knotted in Bursa, Türkiye, from pure Bursa silk. Burgundy ground with gold and navy Anatolian drawing, and an open center. 6 × 6 knot density, tied by two weavers over a year and a half to two years. 202 × 284 cm, with the pattern held in the border and the corners. Suits silver-toned furniture and pale maple or oak flooring. Delicate: low-suction vacuuming, no direct sun, care around pets. Professional washing only. What is Bursa silk? Bursa, in northwest Türkiye, was the center of Ottoman silk production and reels silk still.

05Knot by knot, by hand

Very little of it now goes into rug weaving, so a rug knotted entirely from Bursa silk is bought as a collected object at least as much as a floor covering. Why did this rug take two years to weave? It follows from the knot density. At 6 × 6 the number of individually tied knots in a piece of 202 × 284 cm is very large, and two weavers working together needed between a year and a half and two years to complete it. It is the sort of rug that gets moved from house to house rather than replaced, and the reason to buy the open center is that a table will not spoil it.