Authenticity

Authenticity, for us, means describing a rug truthfully: how it was made, what it is made of and what you can expect when it arrives. This page explains the terms we use and the character of handmade work.

What "hand-knotted" means

A hand-knotted rug is made on a loom strung with vertical warp threads. The weaver ties individual knots of yarn around pairs of warps, one at a time, and after each row passes horizontal weft threads through to lock the knots in place. The cut ends of the knots form the pile.

Because the pile is knotted into the foundation, a hand-knotted rug has no glued backing. Its design is visible on the reverse, and its fringe is formed from the warp threads themselves. It is the most time-consuming way to make a rug, and among the most durable.

When we describe a rug as hand-knotted, that is what we mean.

Other constructions

• Hand-tufted: yarn is punched through a cloth with a hand-held tool and secured with a backing.
• Flat-woven: pattern and structure are made together by interlacing wefts through warps, with no pile. The dhurrie is India's best-known flatweave.

Each product page states the construction of the rug.

Handmade variation

Handmade rugs vary, and these variations are natural character, not defects.

• Abrash: gentle shifts of tone within a single colour, caused by dye batches and yarn.
• Dimensions: a handmade rug may measure a few centimetres more or less than its stated size, and may not be perfectly square.
• Fringe: fringes may vary slightly in length and evenness.
• Pile direction: the rug may look lighter from one end and deeper from the other.
• Drawing: lines and motifs may show small irregularities that reflect the hand of the weaver.

We photograph and describe rugs as faithfully as we can, but screens and lighting vary. If a particular quality matters to you, ask us for more images or a sample.

Materials

We name the principal fibres of every rug. We describe plant-based cellulose fibres, such as bamboo silk, accurately as viscose-type fibres and not as silk.

A note on this demonstration site

This website is a demonstration. Product origin, region and maker details shown on product pages are illustrative and do not describe verified supply chains. As our partnerships develop, we intend to publish verified information and to mark clearly what has been verified.

Questions

If you have a question about the authenticity or construction of a rug, please contact us. If we know the answer, we will tell you; if we do not, we will say so.