The Rug Library

Hand carving is done after weaving, when an artisan shaves and trims the pile along the design to give patterns a three-dimensional, sculpted look.

Gultarash is an Indian term for the scissor work that carves and embosses a rug's pile after weaving to sharpen motifs and create a high-low effect.

Khadi gultarash (carving) is done with scissors held upright to cut a line into the design, while put gultarash (embossing) uses angled scissors around motifs to give a three-dimensional look.

In a carved rug, the pile is first sheared to an even height and then cut back along chosen lines, creating channels that make motifs stand out in relief.

Cutting the pile at an angle where two colours meet forms a V-shaped channel whose shadow sharpens the colour boundary, a method often called bevelling.

A 'high-low' or tone-on-tone carved rug can use a single colour throughout, relying only on differences in pile height to create pattern through shadow.

Carving adds texture as a design element: instead of relying on colour alone, the pattern is also read through the shadows cast by grooves in the pile.

Specialised carving scissors, including electric models with angled blades, are made for cutting grooves and bevels into rug pile, especially on tufted rugs.