From the day we arrive on the planet, and, blinking, step into the sun, there’s more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done, there’s far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found, but the sun rolling high, through the sapphire sky, keeps great and small on the endless round.

Contemporary. In the context of decorative rugs and carpets what does the word even mean? Does it reference a genre? Or does it mean anything made today, in this era? Left intentionally vague as to elicit a diverse response, one savvy contributor queried to clarify: “Do contemporary designs ever ‘ grow up’ and become traditional?”

There are royal houses, there have been revolutions, and there are numerable foodstuffs—from pumpkin, to carrot, to apricot, to a forward extra-strong cheddar—all of which bear the moniker orange. In fact, it is from this latter cohort that the English name for the fiery hue originates, having been named after the appearance of the ripe citrus fruit of the same name.

Owing to its origins as a historically rare, difficult, and thus cost-intensive color to produce, purple has long been associated with regality and the privileged.

The Greek title of this feature, Porphyrogénnētos, translates literally as “born in the purple” and was the Roman and Byzantine concept under which children born to reigning emperors held superior rights to the throne over siblings born before their father ascended the imperial throne.

The notion of a rug or carpet being quintessential—which is to say definitively indicative of the singular aesthetic of its maker— is certainly nothing new. In fact, it is quite time honored and traditional. Kerman, Kashan, Heriz, and Tabriz—to name but a few—are iconic and easily recognized examples of names that came to define aesthetics inherent to a specific place and indeed time.

We’re just mad about saffron, and gold, and yellow, and squash and … The myriad versions of the color described as yellow tend to delight, enliven, and beautify. Indeed, the particular hue created by the pigment yellow ochre is considered one of the first used in art; the Lascaux cave paintings discovered in France in 1940 feature a yellow horse dating to some 17,000 years ago.