Our Tibetan rugs are made completely by hand from all natural fibres. It is often wrongly assumed that rugs labelled ’hand tufted ’, ‘handmade’ or ‘hand-loomed’ are really handmade.
For instance, the misleading term “hand tufted’ actually means that the rug is made by using a hand held gun to punch tufts of fibre into a stretched out canvas: a cheap and quick way to make a rug. “Hand-knotted’ denotes a rug that really is woven by hand.
Our rugs are all hand-knotted by expert crafts people on old wooden looms. They are designed by Tashi, our Tibetan rug designer in Kathmandu. Local Nepali weavers are used and production is under the control of our good friends who are Tibetan refugees living in Nepal.
The rugs can be made from a range of materials, including Tibetan wool, silk, banana silk, hemp and nettle fibre. They can even be made from a mixture of two or more materials. For example, using a small percentage of silk in the design may increase the price but also helps to accentuate the detail in the pattern.
The time, labour and skill that goes into making a hand-knotted rugs makes them more expensive than mass produced rugs. A single rug can take weeks to make.
Each rug is unique and the buyer has to accept and treasure the inconsistencies in the pattern, weaving and material. Owning a rug which has been made by hand over a long period by a truly talented cra-fts person is something very special.