Oaxaca Wool Rugs

Weaving of the Oaxaca wool rug

Each Oaxaca woollen rug is handmade following the pre-Hispanic legacy of the Zapotec people. A foot-operated loom is used for weaving the Oaxaca wool rug. The result is an exquisite weaving that is admired and recognised in Mexico and abroad. This loom weaving using pure wool gives these rugs extraordinary strength and durability. This Oaxaca wool rug will not only add warmth to your home, but will also draw attention to its intricate geometric shapes.

Natural products are used to dye the wool, the most famous being grana cochinilla. This insect feeds on the nopales in the area, and is not only used to dye the wool used to make carpets red, but also to make cosmetics, food colouring and wine. In addition to cochineal, natural dyes such as yellow or mustard from the pericon plant, brown from walnut shells and blue from the indigo bush are used. Nowadays, however, chemical dyes are also used for more vivid colours.

Carpet making is usually carried out within family-run micro-enterprises. Each family uses patterns based on thread-counting to obtain the different geometric figures. Among the different figures that can be found within the Zapotec patterns, the most refined is the snail-shaped fretwork, the most difficult to obtain due to its curved outline, which is not suitable for an inexperienced artisan.

One of the virtues of the Oaxaca wool rug is that it is totally reversible.

We can find this fantastic rug in different sizes. However, being a product handmade by artisans, the exact measurements of each rug may vary. The exact size of each rug can be found in the individual description. The length of the fringes has not been taken into account when calculating the size of each Zapotec woollen rug.