Purple Oushak Carved Handwoven Round Rug, Safir Series

Safir is the Turkish word for sapphire; the rug itself is lilac-purple rather than blue, and the name belongs to the series, not to the color. Purple Oushak Carved Handwoven Round Rug from the Safir series — round, with every motif edge cut in by hand, woven in India from cotton, wool, bamboo viscose and viscose, at 150 × 150 cm and 200 × 200 cm. Carving is the technique the series is built on.

01The mark of slow weaving

After the pile is set, a weaver takes shears to the surface and cuts a channel along the outline of every motif, so the drawing sits in its own relief and throws a shadow. On a round rug that matters more than on a rectangle, because there is no straight border to tell you where the pattern begins.

02Reading the motif

The Oushak figures — the medallion families of western Anatolia — have been reworked here at a scale and in a palette with nothing classical about it: lilac shading to a deeper purple, with cream and gray coming through. Purple is not a neutral and this rug does not pretend to be one.

03Which tone on the ground

It sits well with gray and cream and it fights almost anything warm, which is worth settling before it arrives. The knot count is high, since a loose pile will not hold a cut edge, and the four yarns in the surface give it both softness and a light sheen.

04Which furniture, which room

A round rug also asks something of the room: it wants space around it and will look like a mistake pushed against a wall. Cleaning is professional. Handwoven in India from cotton, wool, bamboo viscose and viscose. Every motif outline is carved by hand with shears, so the drawing stands in relief. Oushak medallion figures redrawn in lilac and purple, with cream and gray. Round, at 150 × 150 cm (4'11" × 4'11") and 200 × 200 cm (6'7" × 6'7"). High knot density — carving will not hold on a loose pile. Reads well with gray and cream; awkward beside warm colors. A round rug needs clear floor around it. Professional washing. Round rugs are usually chosen to soften a corner; this one is strong enough to be the reason for the corner.