Hereke in pure silk | 112 x 75 cm | Nr. 18684

Hereke in pure silk

Delivery time	2 days
Origin	Turkey
Dimensions	112 cm x 75 cm (= 0.84 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: pure silk Weft & Warp: pure silk
knots	1.000.000
Year of manufacture	1980
Condition	pre-owned, cleaned & partially restored
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Very valuable silk rugs come from the Turkish town of Hereke. The tradition was fostered by the art-loving Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid (reigned 1839 - 1861). In 1844 he had the court workshops moved back from Cairo to Hereke. Hand-knotted Hereke silk rugs are among the finest rugs in the world and are knotted at densities of up to 6 million knots per m². Thanks to the knotting technique, incidentally, the pattern is just as clearly visible on the back as it is on the front. At renowned art auction houses, antique Turkish rugs fetch top prices.

Typical motifs on Hereke rugs are flowers, branches and leaves, as well as birds, the tree of life and the so-called Mehrab or Mihrab pattern, a prayer niche shown together with oil lamps. Alongside traditional motifs and typically Ottoman or Turkish patterns, Hereke silk rugs are today also knotted with more modern designs suited to contemporary taste. Typical colours for Hereke silk rugs are a deep dark blue, a radiant red, a lively green, a luminous yellow and a range of natural tones in every shade.

Material

The silk pile of this Hereke in pure silk makes the colours of the pattern glow in ever-changing facets, depending on how the light falls. It turns this Hereke in pure silk into a real highlight and creates an atmosphere in the room that is cosy and at the same time very elegant and refined. Silk is obtained by hand from the cocoons of the silkworm. Because the individual silk filaments are extremely long, very fine yarns can be spun that are still tear-resistant despite their light weight. Such fine yarn allows smaller knots to be tied and therefore finer patterns to be created. This is why the finest rugs in the world are hand-knotted from pure silk.

With this Hereke in pure silk, even the foundation is made of pure silk. Because the weft and warp threads are made of this thin yet hard-wearing material, an especially fine knotting – and with it an especially fine pattern – becomes possible.

Condition

This Hereke in pure silk has had admirers before you. It was knotted around 1980. It has been cleaned thoroughly and is in good, though only partly restored, condition. This unusual piece does show slight signs of use and a few repaired areas. We have not restored this Hereke in pure silk completely, because we feel that it has a special charm just as it is. If that is what you would like, we are of course happy to continue restoring the rug for you. We can bring almost any rug back to near-perfect condition.