20 Jul 17
Tim Moock of Felt brought his first Shyrdaks back to the UK after visiting Kyrgyzstan in 1996 and has now become the leading expert on these wonderfully decorative and authentic rugs.
Felt’s rugs are made under a fair-trade agreement by the nomad women of the Tien Shan ‘Mountains of Heaven’. Because each one is individually handmade, Tim often works closely with clients to create bespoke rugs in their chosen colours, patterns and sizes. Recent commissions include a large pair of rugs based on antique originals. The client loved the vintage pair, but they were not big enough for her sitting room. Felt re-commissioned the design for them, in a much larger size (2 x 3m) as well as another pair for his own stock (shown above).
Another recent commission was made for a young couple who pledged their troth in a yurt whilst travelling. Now married and back in London, they wanted a rug as a reminder of their life changing trip. Felt created an original rug pattern that described their time in a yurt on a lush pasture in the mountains. The rugs were created in three colourways and the couple liked them so much they chose to keep two!
As practical as they are decorative, each Felt rug takes a master cutter and her team up to 20 days to complete. The raw wool is flattened with boiling water, rolled in a reed mat and then ‘felted’ by being dragged behind a galloping horse. Every rug consists of a thick plain felt base on to which a surface layer of interlocking coloured felt shapes is bound with strong stitching. The interlocking shapes in these geometric patterns are vocabulary from the ancient language which still forms part of the everyday life of the rug makers.
