Nepal rug | 354 x 254 cm | Nr. Z-2927

Plain Nepal rug, light brown

Origin	Nepal
Dimensions	354 cm x 254 cm (= 8.9916 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	120.000
Pile height	10mm
Year of manufacture	2010
Colour	Light brown
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

In Nepal has only been knotted since 1959, since the flight of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans who accompanied him. Under the guidance of the dedicated Zurich importer Jo Iten-Maritz, the displaced families were taught from 1966 onwards to knot rugs in the Tibetan tradition using the conventional patterns. Once the designs were adapted to contemporary Western taste, Nepal's knotting output grew considerably. The central trading point is the capital, Kathmandu. Most of the workshops are based here too.

Nepal rugs are knotted using a special technique. During knotting, a kind of continuous knot is looped linearly around a rod, so that a horizontal row of loops is formed. Once the rod is completely covered with these loops, they are cut open from above along that section, so that the pile fans out and a velour surface is created. In the end, the knot takes on the form of a Persian knot. This rapid method is only possible, however, because Nepal-Tibetan rugs are largely unpatterned and of a single colour over wide areas.

Pattern

The pile is a single shade of light brown. The plain design is understated, yet it can also set a wonderful decorative accent. The monochrome look of this rug fits superbly into any setting.

The surface of this Nepal rug appears mottled. The changes in tone and the light-and-dark shading of the pile yarn make the colours shimmer and keep the rug from showing dirt. These so-called colour shifts, known as abrash, give the rug a livelier look. The mottled effect arises because the wool of this Nepal rug was hand-spun. During dyeing, the natural dyes are absorbed to varying degrees.

The edge of this rug is adorned with a suggested border.

Condition

This Nepal rug has a history. It was knotted around 2010 . We have cleaned it thoroughly and lovingly restored it. It is therefore – despite its age – in very good condition.

Material

The technique used to produce the materials for the pile of this Nepal rug is over 200 years old. The wool was dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand. Dyeing with natural or plant-based dyes is more complicated, more expensive and more time-consuming than dyeing with chemical colours. For a luminous red, for example, you need around one kilo of ground madder root as dyestuff per kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that isn't too pale, you even need two kilograms of the dye weld per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is just as time-consuming and labour-intensive. And fewer and fewer people still master spinning wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: dyeing with natural colours lets the high-quality wool keep its natural lanolin content. The wool dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand creates fascinating, shimmering patterns. The charm of hand-spun wool, with its slight irregularities and natural tones, comes into its own as a contrast in modern interiors, but equally in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country-house style. The weft and warp threads of this Nepal rug are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and stretchy, which makes it especially suited to a hard-wearing foundation.