Norlha's Carpet Collection

Tibetan carpets are recognized throughout the world for their colorful patterns, and for quality that will last you a lifetime. Conclusive evidence on weaving traditions on the Tibetan Plateau can be found as early as AD 600, during the time of Tibet’s great king Songtsen Gampo, and later, during China’s Tang Dynasty. Over the centuries, Tibetan designs have reflected influence from India, Persia and China, though weaving techniques are uniquely Tibetan, a distinctive method of mounting the warp on a vertical loom.

In June of 2016, Norlha opened its carpet section in Labrang, a reflection of Norlha’s efforts to preserve and uphold tradition. Our carpets are knotted from Central Tibetan sheep wool, which was, until the middle of the 20th century, Tibet’s main export, coveted for its fine, long fiber. Today it has been largely forgotten and it's very rare to find carpets woven purely out of Tibetan wool.

As in all our projects, Norlha employs a vertical method, supervising every step in the creation process. We separate, wash and clean the wool which we have carefully sourced, retaining only the very softest of the fibers in each batch. We work only with natural shades of wool. To obtain variations we mix yak wool fiber into our thread, a process unique to Norlha.

The wool for our carpets is hand spun, taking a woman 20 days to spin the wool for a single carpet. Our carpets are knotted on traditional Tibetan vertical looms and it takes a weaver up to 30 days to weave a standard sized carpet. The result is a final product that takes nearly two months to complete.

Though we use traditional weaving and knotting techniques, we innovate with simplified Tibetan inspired designs, making our carpets adaptable to a wide range of decorative environments. A Norlha rug is timeless and made to last a lifetime.