In an age of limitless custom handmade rug and carpet options, why does the instinctive question, ‘What is new?’ persist in our lexicon? Moreover, why are we so inarticulate? We ask for new, when what we really want is something beautiful and eye catching and well made; the ‘newness’ of wares in the handmade rug industry being a somewhat laughable concept in itself. So while this carpet is newly made, the technique is actually quite time honoured dating to long before the annexation of Tibet by China and the subsequent growth of carpet production in Nepal. It is a Wangden carpet and it is distinctive because of its warp-faced back, supple hand and handle, and in the case of this piece, luxuriously plush pile.

It is also beautiful and eye catching, ‘new’ if one would rather, and it is precisely what the handmade carpet industry needs in this moment. Less copying, more original designs, and to be quite frank, carpets like this which actually stand proud of the banal homogeny of sameness, introducing something new, err, reincarnated to the world of rugs. I love this piece so much and I long to see more work like this in the marketplace. Don’t you agree? Spotted in Kathmandu of course!!

For further information on this example of the Wangden weaving technique,  contact Silk Road Rug Industries.