Hereke in pure silk | 63 x 42 cm | Nr. Z-1370

Hereke in pure silk, beige with border

Origin	Turkey
Dimensions	63 cm x 42 cm (= 0.26 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: pure silk Weft & Warp: pure silk
knots per m²2	490.000
Pile height	3mm
Year of manufacture	2015
Colour	Beige, multicoloured
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 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 beige and by bright, multi-coloured tones. The border is worked in beige and blue-grey.

Material

The silk of this Hereke's pile makes the colours of the pattern glow in different facets – 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 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 light in weight and still tear-resistant. The fine yarn makes it possible to tie smaller knots and thus to create finer patterns. 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. The fine yet hard-wearing material of the weft and warp threads allows for particularly fine knotting and therefore for a particularly fine pattern.