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Coral & Hive: Handwoven, artisanal rugs
The team at Coral & Hive create custom, handwoven rugs for the natural home. The making process involves the weaving together of many elements. From the ethical sourcing of local natural fibers, to artful design by the creative team in Cape Town and London, to the large wooden looms in South Africa and India, where singing artisans spin and weave the final creations by hand, using skills that have been passed down through generations.
Photograph courtesy of DH Liberty, Darah Huang
THE WEAVERS SPIN, WEAVE & SING RUGS TO LIFE
The weavers are the heart and soul of Coral & Hive. These talented artisans use traditional weaving techniques to create each rug. They are preserving an heirloom craft while bringing contemporary designs to life. The weavers work together, spinning, weaving and singing the rugs to life on large wooden looms. By the time the rug reaches your home, it is a completely unique creation, lovingly crafted by many hands along the way.
ONE OF THE LARGEST LOOMS IN AFRICA
These work-of-art rugs are handwoven on large wooden looms. Coral & Hive has one of the largest looms in Africa, enabling the team to custom create rugs of any size and shape. The company also works with a family-owned loom in India to give customers access to the incredible natural fiber offerings and exceptional weaving talents of India.
NATURAL MATERIALS, ETHICALLY SOURCED
Coral & Hive’s African fiber rugs are made using pure karakul wool and mohair, ethically sourced from sheep and goats that graze freely under the African sun. Karakul wool is beautifully textured and naturally coated in lanolin, making it organic and durable. Mohair is a silky, sumptuous fiber that is soft to the touch. The Coral & Hive team blend these fibers to create truly unique, textured living rugs.
The company’s Indian rugs are made from sustainably sourced jute, pure New Zealand wool, cotton and silk. In India, Coral & Hive push the creative boundaries with unique fiber blends and designs, producing some of the most inspiring rugs in our collection.
THE MAKING PROCESS
How will your rug be made? The wool needed for the rug is weighed and put into a large basket for the weaver. If color is included the fibers are dyed. The looms are warped up with strong twine and the artisan draws the design on cotton fabric, which is placed behind the warp to act as a template.
Then, line-by-line, the wool is passed back and forth through the warp and the rug begins to take shape. When complete, the rug is knotted, finished, checked and wrapped up to travel to its forever home. Depending on the size, intricacy of the weave and fiber chosen, the rug can take 10-16 weeks to weave.
A FEMALE-OWNED BUSINESS, WITH A PASSION FOR WEAVING & WELLBEING
Coral & Hive was founded by Jeannine Birch, whose creative vision can be found in every element of the company. She started the brand as a way to share the magic of South African makers. She grew up watching and admiring the art of weaving, and is passionate about the creative process behind woven craftsmanship. Jeannine has an innate awareness of how these elements contribute to a sense of wellbeing in a space.
CUSTOM CREATIONS & DESIGNER COLLABORATIONS
In addition to their in-house collection, Coral & Hive has also collaborated with top designers to push the boundaries of creative design. The interplay of patterns, textures, fibers and colors have created unique rugs for the likes of interior design studio Bergman and Mar, retailer Anthropologie, and renowned South Africa gallery, The Southern Guild. Have something special in mind? Let’s work together to bring your special rug creation to life!
WHY WE LOVE CORAL & HIVE
It’s one of life’s little luxuries to step barefoot onto a beautiful and high quality rug. We love Coral & Hive because their ethos aligns with ours; beauty, sustainability and showcasing the best of African design and artisan creativity. It makes us smile to know that each rug is woven with such love and joy in South Africa, before making its journey to a forever home in the USA. We are delighted to support another female-owned brand whilst helping you create a sustainable, natural home.
