Esme red tree of life kilim rug - large

Brighten your home with a one-of-a-kind masterpiece; brimming with bright colours and beautiful meaning, this exquisite rug will add warmth underfoot or bring joy as an art piece hanging on the wall. The enchanting piece was made by hand using ancient weaving techniques in a village near the town of Eşme in Turkey.

The one-of-a-kind rug is woven with motifs and patterns that carry powerful meaning. The central floral forms represent the tree of life, or hayat ağaci, which symbolises renewal, eternity, and the connection between heaven and earth. The evil eye, or nazarlik, 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. This rug was made in Eşme, a famous weaving town in the Uşak province known for its rich Yörük-Turkmen nomadic heritage and traditional flatwoven kilims. Uşak was the historic centre of carpet-weaving in the Ottoman Empire during the 15th and 16th centuries.

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.