Esme amulet kilim rug - medium

Imbued with symbolism, packed with pattern, and woven with the wisdom of an ancient handcraft passed down through generations, this enchanting vintage rug was made by hand in a village near the town of Eşme. Known for their geometric designs and beautiful colours, rugs from Eşme are prized for their masterful pattern work in hand-spun wool.

The one-of-a-kind rug is woven with motifs and patterns that carry powerful meaning. Stacked diamond medallions are surrounded by smaller geometric amulet forms; the amulet, or muska, serves as a protective talisman against evil. Smaller emblems represent the evil eye, or nazarlik, a protective motif that functions as a shield against the ancient curse of a malevolent glare.

Kilim rugs carry the fingerprint of their maker, with each element from weave to geometric alignment, dye tones to decorative design, bearing the hallmarks of the region where the rug was made and the textile traditions of that area. Eşme lies in the Uşak region of western Turkey, the historic centre of carpet-weaving in the Ottoman Empire during the 15th and 16th centuries. Kilim rugs from Uşak typically feature geometric or striped patterns crafted from hand-spun wool.

Kilim weaving was traditionally practised by women using techniques passed from mother to daughter, working without drawing boards or fixed templates, making each piece a unique expression of the maker’s artistry. This rug is made using the slitweave method, a warp-sharing technique that enables the creation of reversible kilims with complex designs. The looping and sharing of strands in the weaving process results in small slits appearing at the borders of the designs, giving the process its name.

Selected by the V&A, each piece has been sourced and professionally cleaned by a specialist partner.