She was particularly interested in revising an ancient technique of Gelim weaving, originally from northern Iran, where the weft threads are dip-dyed to create a gentle grade of blending colour. Visually soft and feathery yet contained within strong graphic, almost Abstract Expressionist colour fields, this collection of rugs is a beautiful example of Ptolemy’s ‘chromatic minimalism’ celebrating ancient craftsmanship in modern form. Hovering between fine artworks and designed functional pieces, they evoke a sense of timeless craftsmanship earning their place as design classics of the future.

Every year, Mann and Julian Blair, from Rugmaker, visit India to work closely with the weavers and dyers to explore new techniques and ideas. Last year, they took Photographer Katya de Grunwald with them and have produced wonderful images showing the weaving process and the rugs on location in this magnificent country and its influence on their Rug Collection. They believe strongly that flatweave rugs are currently having a renaissance within the interior design world which has been heavily dominated by pile rugs in recent years. Glorious on wooden floors in particular and also excellent when hung on the wall, these uniquely double-sided flatweave rugs are durable, hard weaving artworks for the floor. This year, several new designs are being added to the collection based on the idea of ‘asymmetry’ – modern painterly rugs that feature asymmetrical bands of colour along the longer edge of the rug.