What the trade calls a Serapi is a Heriz of the highest grade, woven before the 1920s with the most disciplined drawing and the deepest dye. The medallion expanded across the entire field. Corner pieces resolved into stylised herati clusters. New weaving in the Serapi tradition keeps this proportion.

The loom carried this piece for several months. Hand-tied knots at approximately 145 per square inch on a cotton foundation. Hand-spun wool dyed in small lots from madder root, indigo, oak gall, and walnut hull, each batch matured in copper vats for two to three weeks before the wool was lowered.

The composition

Stylised flowers float across the ground in a loose all-over repeat. The red grounds the composition; the ivory works as relief above it. The colour was matured in copper vats over weeks before the wool was lowered. The pile will compact and lustre under traffic, which deepens the colour rather than wearing it.

What you are buying

Comparable hand-knotted vegetable-dyed wool carpets sell through Western dealers at multiples of the Indian retail price for the simple reason that the labour is paid for once at source and marked up at every step thereafter. Buying from the workshop end of the chain is the structural arbitrage. The rug holds its value because the work cannot be reproduced quickly at any price.

The piece in a room

At the size as listed, the rug works as the central composition of a room arranged around it. Mid-tone walls hold the saturation. The red carries warmth into the architecture without competing with upholstery or art.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn each spring and autumn so light and traffic age the rug evenly. Vacuum weekly with suction only, beater bar disengaged. Blot spills with a clean cotton cloth without rubbing. Hand-wash by a wool-trained conservator every five years. Cared for this way, the rug runs eighty to a hundred years and outlives its first owner.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: size as listed
• Construction: symmetric (Turkish) knot, hand-tied
• Pile: 10 mm, hand-spun wool
• Dye: vegetable (madder, indigo, oak gall, walnut hull)
• Origin: India

Free UK delivery. 14-day returns. Authentic hand-knotted craftsmanship. Crated for safe transit and storage.