What an heirloom
rug is made of.
Every CarpetArtisan rug is hand-knotted to outlast its first owner. The fibres, the density of the knot, and the way colour is set into the pile are what separate a rug you keep for a season from one you pass down. This is the reference.
Five fibres, chosen for a century of use.
Chosen for resilience. A long, springy fibre with naturally high lanolin that resists soiling and recovers underfoot — the backbone of a rug built to outlast its first owner.
Prepared at high altitude, where isolation produced fibre and knotting methods found nowhere else. Dense and hard-wearing — our choice for texture in high-traffic settings.
Drawn from one of the world’s oldest continuous weaving traditions, prized for the depth it takes from natural dye — colour that reads rich and holds its tone.
For luminosity. Used to pick out detail and catch the light as you move around the rug — what lets a fine design hold its crispness, knot after knot.
A sustainable sheen. A plant-derived silk that gives lustre with a lighter footprint; several fibres can be combined in one rug for controlled variation in texture and light.
The knot count is the rug.
A hand-knotted rug is built one knot at a time, each tied by hand around the warp. Density is measured in knots per square inch (KPSI). A higher count means a finer weave, sharper pattern definition, and a thinner, more precise pile — and many more months at the loom.
- Standard
- 120–160 KPSI — a robust, contemporary pile for everyday rooms.
- Fine
- 200–320 KPSI — crisp detail for intricate or curvilinear designs.
- Master
- 400+ KPSI — silk-rich, gallery-grade work, knotted to commission.
- Technique
- Asymmetric (Persian / Senneh) knot, hand-tied on hand-spun yarn.
Colour set to last, not only to match.
Yarn is dyed in small lots before it ever reaches the loom. We work to Pantone and RAL references, or hand-match to a swatch you provide, and can custom-dye fibre for exact fidelity. Vegetable and low-impact dyes are used where the palette allows.
Every lot is checked for colourfastness to light and to washing, so a rug placed in a sunlit apartment holds its tone the way it left the atelier.
Knotted by hand, fairly.
Every rug is knotted entirely by hand, one row at a time — no machine processes, no shortcuts.
Woven by women artisans across Afghanistan, Armenia, India and Tibet, paid a fair, documented wage.
Every rug carries a lifetime repair programme. A hand-knotted rug can be re-piled and re-fringed indefinitely.
Each commission is recorded — fibre lot, knot count, region and loom — so the rug’s making is documented for its life.