Hereke in pure silk | 156 x 104 cm | Nr. 20383

Floral Hereke in pure silk, dusky pink with an all-over pattern, central medallion and border

Origin	Turkey
Dimensions	156 cm x 104 cm (= 1.62 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: pure silk Weft & Warp: pure silk
knots per m²2	1.100.000
Pile height	3mm
Year of manufacture	1985
Colour	Dusky pink, Light green
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.

Pattern

The recurring pattern (known as a repeat pattern) flatters the design of the room and never steals attention from the furniture, the decorative pieces and the architectural elements. It settles beautifully into any setting and complements a room's furnishings in a subtle way. In this Hereke, the repeating elements find their centre in the middle of the field with its symmetrical medallion.

The lavish floral motifs of this Hereke are elegant and full of variety. The graceful plant symbols, depicting blossoms, leaves and branches, are artfully intertwined.

The ornate border forms a wonderful contrast with the centre and shapes the transition at the edge of the rug.

The overall impression is dominated by dusky pink and light green. The border is kept in dusky pink.

Condition

You're not the first to take a liking to this Hereke. It had owners before you who treasured and used it. It was hand-knotted around 1985. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good, though only partly restored, condition. The edges and fringes of this fine silk rug have suffered a little over the years and could do with a repair. We haven't fully restored this Hereke because we feel it has a special presence exactly as it is. If that's what you'd like, we'll gladly carry on restoring the rug for you, of course. We can bring almost any rug back to near-perfect condition.

Material

The silk of this Hereke's pile makes the colours of the pattern glow in ever-changing nuances, depending on how the light falls. It turns this Hereke into a real highlight and creates an atmosphere in the room that is cosy and at the same time highly 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 light in weight yet still tear-resistant. Fine yarn allows smaller knots to be tied and therefore more intricate patterns to be created. That is why the finest rugs in the world are hand-knotted from pure silk. In this Hereke even the foundation is made of pure silk. Thanks to the thin but hard-wearing material of the weft and warp threads, a particularly fine knotting and therefore a particularly fine pattern are possible.