The Uşak Design: A Short History and How to Read It

Uşak is a real place in the history of carpet weaving, and the name on a modern rug is a reference to a specific tradition rather than decoration. Here is what it refers to, and what the pattern is actually saying.

Where the design comes from

Uşak is one of the oldest commercial weaving towns in Anatolia, and its carpets travelled so widely in the 15th and 16th centuries that they turn up underfoot in Renaissance portraits — which is why collectors still talk about "Holbein" and "Lotto" patterns.

In our range this sits in the Ottoman Court collection. The formal side of Turkish weaving: Hereke, Uşak, Kayseri and the prayer-rug towns, where medallion, arch and border were resolved to a courtly standard.

How to read the pattern

The large-medallion Uşak layout repeats a single ornament so generously that the field looks cut from a larger cloth. That deliberate crop is the point: it implies the pattern carries on beyond the rug.

Uşak in a machine washable rug

Court designs were drawn from cartoons and resolved to the millimetre, which is the one part of the tradition that transfers cleanly to a modern loom. What has to be recovered is the colour: the originals were dyed with madder, indigo and weld, and those pigments shift in a way flat synthetic colour does not.

Our Uşak designs are woven in chenille polyester on a woven cotton backing with a non-slip finish. That construction is what makes the rug washable at 30°C in a domestic machine — there is no latex or rubber layer to crack, and no wool to felt. It is a genuinely different object from the hand-knotted rugs the name refers to, and it is meant to be: one is an heirloom, the other is a floor covering you can put in the wash.

Colours it comes in

We currently weave 3 Uşak designs, across 4 colour families — blue & navy, pink & fuchsia, red & burgundy and grey & silver. Prices run from £50 for the 60 × 100 cm to £185 for the 200 × 300 cm, with delivery to the UK and Europe included.

What size to buy

A formal medallion design wants to be seen whole. That argues for the larger sizes — 155 × 230 cm or 200 × 300 cm — where the centre is not hidden under a coffee table.

Every design is woven in all ten sizes: 60 x 100, 80 x 150, 100 x 200, 120 x 180, 80 x 300, 100 x 300, 155 x 230, 200 x 300, 160 round, 200 round cm. We would put Uşak in the living room, the bedroom, the dining room and the hallway before anywhere else.

Common questions

Is this the same as a hand-knotted Uşak?

No. A hand-knotted Uşak is a different object entirely — tied by hand in wool or silk, often over months, and priced accordingly. What we make is a power-woven washable rug that uses the Uşak design vocabulary. The pattern is the inheritance; the construction is modern.

What colours does Uşak come in?

4 colour families — blue & navy, pink & fuchsia, red & burgundy and grey & silver. We file a rug under the colour it reads as across a room, not the colour covering the most area, so an ivory ground with strong blue motifs is listed under blue.

Where should a Uşak rug go?

The living room, The bedroom, The dining room and The hallway suit it best. Anchor the sofa and coffee table. Because it washes at 30°C, the rooms most people avoid putting a rug in — kitchen, hallway, under a dining table — are the ones where it earns its keep.

Living with it

• Machine washable at 30°C on a gentle cycle — sizes up to 120 × 180 cm fit a standard 7 kg drum.
• Non-slip woven cotton backing: no separate underlay needed on wood, tile or laminate.
• Low pile, so robot vacuums pass over it without snagging.
• No latex, glue or rubber crumb — nothing to break down into dust.
• Dry flat or over a rail. Never tumble dry.