The Art of Weaving: Exploring the Handmade Carpet Industry in India

For an artist, creation occurs when inspiration strikes. Routine is the antithesis of a creative soul, yet, somewhat paradoxically, to be a brilliant artist, one must perfect their skills over time, practicing a wide range of designs and styles before settling on a mode of expression best suited to story-telling. When one thinks about the handmade carpet industry, it’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that artistry is a monolith - weavers trained over generations to produce the same patterns and designs that have been woven for centuries. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

 

The art of hand-weaving certainly began as a display of exquisite craftsmanship and artistry, combined with a dash of functionality. The oldest surviving carpet from ancient Central Asian Civilizations - the Pazyryk, required intensive labour to hand-knot 360,000 knots in each square meter of the carpet. The result of this labour? An opulent tapestry, embellished with three framed borders, each filled with motifs of griffins, fallow deer, workhorses, and men respectively, framing four lotus bud motifs at the heart of the carpet. Clearly crafted for a nobleman, the story of this rug indicates that beyond its role as a practical floor covering to provide warmth in freezing climates, carpets also served as symbols of wealth and beauty. 

 

A fine line exists between a mastery of craft and an expression of artistry, and, in our opinion, these elements converge at the hands of the skilled weavers who handmake carpets. The Pazyryk tells us two things - that nature has always inspired art, and that producing such extravagance in design relied on the existence of several weavers, trained over a long period of time. How else would humans with limited access to modern technology manage to produce such a grand display of talent, skill, and artistry? Today, the weavers of Mirzapur continue a long tradition of passing down, and practicing, their expertise with Obeetee, proving that the art of weaving is far from stagnant. 

 

Modern India’s handmade carpets boast ubiquitous and diverse design narratives. Traditional influences from the original carpetmakers, the ancient Persians, and the prominent art styles of the Mughal era persist today, in the form of motifs and patterns. Take our Serapi-B Hand-Tufted Woollen rug, that draws on classic interpretations of floral and geometric patterns to pay homage to the quintessential style of Persian design. Beyond the traditional, Indian handmade carpets also draw on local practices to create carpets that celebrate indigenous prints, textiles, and craft styles. Obeetee’s collaboration with Abraham & Thakore, A Stitch in Time, for instance, celebrates the every-day elegance of the kantha stitch in the form of a carpet. Finally, contemporary designs open the door to unorthodox interpretations of what it means to design Indian carpets. From fragmented elements of traditional motifs, to geometric and abstract design narratives, contemporary carpets push the boundaries of shape and form to engage fully with story-telling. 

 

Some of our readers may be wondering how weavers work their brilliance, and what to look for when they’re looking for their next handmade carpet. At Obeetee, our skills lie in handweaving three ways: hand-knotting, hand-tufting, and flat-weaving. Each method creates a beautiful carpet with unique characteristics. Hand-knotting, is the oldest technique, and as the name suggests, involves using a loom to knot two types of yarn, the warp and the weft, to create a high-density of knots. Hand-tufting also uses a loom, but instead requires weavers to use a tool to punch the yarn into a stretched canvas, creating a durable, but less expensive carpet. Flat-weaves, on the other hand are unique in that they require the loom to be placed against the floor, so that the warp and the weft can be interlaced, rather than knotted. This method results in carpets with colourful, reversible patterns. Each technique provides the potential to weave unique designs, ranging from traditional to modern.

 

With an array of natural fibres available, from wool, silk, cotton, jute and more, carpets can be woven to suit a variety of functional and aesthetic needs. If you’re interested in exploring our collections to find a carpet that is distinctly you, do visit us online at obeetee.in, or in store at our flagship locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Pune.