The Rug Provenance Card: Eight Facts to Ask For

A rug provenance card is a short list of eight facts that describe what a rug is made of and how: fibre, grade, origin, character, construction, technique, made and care. Rugberry gives every rug the same eight facts, so you can compare rugs the way you would compare cloth.

Why should a rug come with a provenance card?

A rug should come with a provenance card because two rugs that look the same in a photograph can be made of different fibres, in different ways, and last very different lengths of time. The card turns a picture into facts.

Fine fashion houses sell cloth before cut: the weight of a wool, the mill, the weave. Rugberry borrows that idea. Its essence is material first, and the card is where that idea becomes practical for a buyer.

The card also protects the buyer from the vocabulary of rug selling. Words such as luxurious, premium and silky are opinions.

Fibre, grade and construction are facts you can check, on the rug and against another rug. Our guide to reading a rug spec sheet covers the measurements that sit alongside these facts.

What are the eight facts on a provenance card?

The eight facts are fibre, grade, origin, character, construction, technique, made and care. Each answers one question a buyer should ask, and together they describe the rug without a single adjective doing the work.

Fact	The question it answers	Example: Grain Wool Rug in Umber
1. Fibre	What is the rug made of?	New Zealand wool
2. Grade	Which family of fibre, and what is it chosen for?	Terra, Grade I: strength, natural texture, everyday living
3. Origin	Where does the fibre come from?	New Zealand
4. Character	How does it feel and behave?	Low and closely textured, the weave visible underfoot
5. Construction	How is the rug built?	Handloom
6. Technique	How is the surface worked?	A low, closely worked surface, 12 to 14 mm
7. Made	How and in what sizes is it made?	By hand on the loom; listed in six sizes from 5x8 to 12x15 ft, any size made to measure
8. Care	How do you look after it?	Vacuum regularly, professional cleaning only

The verdict: if you can only check two facts, check fibre and construction, because together they predict feel, wear and price better than any photograph.

Why do fibre, grade and origin come first?

Fibre, grade and origin come first because the material decides almost everything else: how soft the rug is, how it takes colour, how it handles spills and sun, and what it should cost. Everything after it describes what was done with that material.

Fibre

Rugberry works in nine natural fibres: New Zealand wool, Lincoln, jute, merino, silk, mohair, alpaca, cashmere and llama. It also uses Botanical Silk, a plant-based fibre, and always names it in full, never as silk. Read silk vs Botanical Silk for why that matters.

Grade

The nine fibres sit in three grades: Terra for strength and everyday living, Fina for softness and fine hand, Rara for the rarest fibres, offered only in Rugberry Reserve. The grade tells you what a fibre was chosen for. See the three grades explained.

Origin

Origin names where the fibre comes from, as with New Zealand wool. It is a clue to consistency, since fibre from a known source and standard behaves more predictably than an unnamed blend.

Where to find the card at Rugberry

On rugberry.in, the facts sit on every product page in the same order: what the rug is made of, how it feels, the technique, the thickness, the colours, the sizes, customisation, pricing and care. Read the "Made of" line first, then the technique.

The fine wool rugs are a good place to practise. Open three rugs and line up their fibre, technique and thickness; the differences in price start to make sense.

What do construction and technique tell you?

Construction tells you how the rug is built, and technique tells you how its surface is worked. Together they explain why two rugs in the same fibre can feel and wear completely differently.

Rugberry uses four constructions: handloom, hand knotted, hand tufted and hand woven. A handloom rug is woven row by row with no glued backing; a hand tufted rug is punched into a cloth and sealed; a hand knotted rug is tied knot by knot. Read handloom rugs in India for how the loom shapes a rug.

Technique covers the surface: cut pile or loop pile, its height, and textures such as ombré, carving, high low, mottling, micro loop or tip shear. Rugberry works in ten textures, five cut pile and five loop pile.

A photograph shows you a rug. Eight facts tell you what you are buying.

Construction also explains price. Hand knotting is the slowest of the four, which is why the hand knotted Couture Silk Rug starts at ₹57,600 for 5x8 ft ex GST, while handloom and hand tufted rugs in New Zealand wool sit closer to ₹30,000. Same size, different hours of work.

A quick test

Fold a corner of the rug or swatch. If you see a cloth backing with latex, it is tufted; if you see the same pattern woven through, it is woven or knotted. That one fold confirms the construction line on the card.

Character in plain words

Character is the one fact written in words rather than names, and it is written plainly: "low and closely textured, the weave visible underfoot" for Grain, "plush underfoot, soft and deep" for Plush, "cool underfoot, with a sheen that changes as the light moves" for Luma. Each line describes a feel you can check with your own hand.

A good character line avoids praise and describes behaviour. If a seller's description could fit any rug, it is not telling you about this one.

What do made and care add?

Made and care close the card with the practical facts: how the rug is made and in what sizes, and how to keep it looking right. They are the facts you will need most after the rug arrives.

Made tells you whether the rug is held in stock in standard sizes or made to measure, and in what sizes. Rugberry's Studio Collection is listed in six standard sizes, from 5x8 to 12x15 ft, and any design can be made to measure in any size, shape or colour.

Care is short on purpose. Most Rugberry rugs need regular vacuuming and professional cleaning only; jute rugs add "blot spills at once and keep dry".

A care line you can remember is a care line you will follow. Our daily rug care routine turns it into habits.

How do you use the card to compare rugs in India?

Use the card to compare rugs by lining up the same eight facts side by side, then judging price only between rugs whose fibre and construction match. A cheaper rug in a different fibre or construction is a different rug, not a better deal.

1. Ask every seller for the eight facts. If fibre or construction is missing, ask again before you look at price.
2. Group like with like. Compare handloom New Zealand wool with handloom New Zealand wool, not with hand tufted blended wool.
3. Compare price per size. At Rugberry, the Grain Wool Rug in Umber is from ₹29,600 and the Cashmere Blend Rug in Salt from ₹43,200 for 5x8 ft, ex GST, at the time of writing.
4. Feel a swatch. A card describes, a swatch proves. See why to order a swatch first.

What the card cannot tell you

The card cannot tell you how a colour will look in your room, or whether a size suits your seating. Those two choices depend on your light and your layout, so pair the card with a swatch and a measured plan.

For sizes, our guide to living room rug sizes shows how to fit a rug to a sofa and chairs. For colour, look at the swatch in morning, evening and lamp light before deciding.

Red flags when a seller cannot answer

• "It is silk" with no maker's fibre name: ask whether it is silk from the silkworm or a plant-based fibre.
• "Hand made" with no construction: ask whether it is knotted, tufted, woven or handloom.
• "Pure wool" with no origin or grade: ask what kind of wool, and how it is expected to shed and wear.
• No care line: ask how it should be cleaned before you buy, not after the first spill.

Interior designers can attach the card to a specification, which makes approvals and site handover simpler. Our guide to checking rug quality adds the physical checks to do when the rug arrives, and the customisable rugs show every design that can be made to measure.

Frequently asked questions

What is a rug provenance card?

It is a short record of what a rug is made of and how it was made, much like the label on good clothing. Rugberry fills in the same eight lines for every rug, so you can set two rugs side by side and compare them before you buy.

What is the most important fact on a rug label?

The fibre is the most important fact, followed by construction. Together they decide how a rug feels, how it wears and what it should cost.

What is the difference between construction and technique?

Construction is how the rug is built, such as handloom, hand knotted, hand tufted or hand woven. Technique is how the surface is worked, such as cut pile, loop pile, carving or ombré.

Why does Rugberry grade its fibres?

Rugberry grades its nine fibres into Terra, Fina and Rara so a buyer knows what each fibre was chosen for: strength, softness or rarity. The grade appears on the provenance card next to the fibre.

How can I check a rug's construction at home?

Fold a corner and look at the back. A cloth and latex backing means hand tufted; a pattern woven right through means woven or knotted.

Ask for the facts, then trust your hand. Material first.