Dark Red Pure Handloom Maheshwari Silk Saree, Antique Gold Border, Butta Body | Phulwari

A dark red ground under a border of antique gold, browner than the usual yellow.

Why this piece

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  Red taken dark — deep enough to read dignified rather than festive-bright, and steady between daylight and lamplight.


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  Antique gold, not yellow — the border metal runs darker and browner than the usual gold, which is what keeps it from shouting against the red.


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  Butta body — the field is worked all over in a repeating figure — the butta body design this weave is searched for by name.

The colourway

Dark red with an antique gold rather than a bright one is the more restrained version of the oldest pairing in this craft. The brown in the metal picks up the depth in the red instead of sitting on top of it.

How it is woven

Every piece is made end to end in Maheshwar, in the master-weaver households of Mominpura. A pit loom in Maheshwar, the weft going in by hand, and a dobby carrying the buti and the border. Nothing here is machine-woven. If you have been sent a powerloom piece before, this is the difference you can feel in the hand of the cloth.

Small irregularities in the weave come with the method — a slub, a slightly uneven pick. They are the fingerprint of a hand-inserted weft, not a fault in a finished piece.

The border, and how it wears

The border is a bugdi border: the woven border design reads the same on both faces. Turn the edge over at the fall and the figures come up the same way.

Weighed and published rather than described: 350 to 360 g at 44 to 46 GSM. The drape is soft from the first day and stays soft after cleaning, the pleats sit where you set them, and the semi-sheer body takes a petticoat underneath.

Specification

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  Total length: 6.3–6.5 m, including an 80–90 cm blouse piece


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  Width: 45–46 inches


• 
  Weight: 350–360 g, measured in-house


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  Fabric weight: 44–46 GSM


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  Body: semi-sheer; wear it with a petticoat


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  Drape: soft, holds its pleats, and stays soft after the first clean


• 
  Loom: pit loom, with the weft inserted by hand


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  Patterning: dobby-set, on body, border and pallu


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  Finishing: pallu kuchu, selvedge and edges finished; fall and pico on request


• 
  Woven in: Maheshwar, Khargone district, Madhya Pradesh


• 
  Country of origin: India


• 
  Net quantity: one saree with attached blouse piece


• 
  Care: Dry Clean Only

Care and storage

1. Professional dry clean only. Home washing is not recommended.


2. Air-dry in the shade, without wringing.


3. Iron inside out on a low-to-medium setting, under a cotton press cloth.


4. Store it wrapped in breathable cotton or muslin, in a cool dark cupboard.


5. Refold along fresh lines every three to six months.

Dispatch

This piece is held in stock rather than made to order, so hand weaving does not put you in a queue. About half of all orders leave the next day, most go within two to three days, and most orders inside India arrive in three to seven days.

A note on colour

This piece is a dark red, bordered in antique gold. Screens, camera settings and the light a photograph was taken in all move a shade a little, so the piece that reaches you may sit slightly away from the image on this page. Every colour in this range has been tested for fastness on wash and rub.

Product details

Country of origin: India. Net quantity: one saree with attached blouse piece. Care: Dry Clean Only.

It comes off a loom in Mominpura, the weaving quarter inside Maheshwar. The loom is a pit loom, the weft goes in by hand, and a dobby holds the butta pattern across the body and the work through the border. Red is the ground with the longest history in this weave and the least forgiving: it has to be held even the whole way or the drape bands, and a dark red is harder still because the depth accumulates. Setting a darker, browner metal against it is a choice made before the first pick, and it is the reason the piece reads restrained where a bright gold would have made it loud. The cloth weighs 350 to 360 g at 44 to 46 GSM. Its border is bugdi, the woven design reading the same on both faces, and the odd slub is left in.

Exchange: *Easy exchange is available within 3 days of receiving the product.
*No exchanges on home decor items.
*Unboxing video is required.

Return: *Only for damaged/wrong products.
*Unboxing video required.
Learn More

1. What exactly do I receive?
One unstitched Maheshwari silk saree, 6.3 to 6.5 m long including an 80 to 90 cm blouse piece attached to the saree, and 45 to 46 inches wide. The blouse piece is unstitched fabric and its price is already in the price on this page. The measurements are uniform across this weave and are measured in-house, not taken from a supplier sheet.

2. Is the saree stitched, and are fall and pico done?
It is an unstitched drape — you pleat and drape it yourself, or have it pre-pleated locally if you prefer. Fall, pico and edge finishing are not done before dispatch, but we will do them on request before the piece is sent.

3. How do I know it is handwoven and not powerloom?
It is woven on a pit loom with the weft inserted by hand, and the patterning on body, border and pallu is dobby-set on the loom. The Handloom Mark is held on record against these pieces, they are woven by master-weaver households in Mominpura, Maheshwar, and the weaver confirms each piece. Nothing we sell is machine-woven.

4. What is a bugdi border?
Bugdi describes the woven border design reading the same on both faces of the cloth. It is woven into the border on the loom, and you can turn the edge over and see it for yourself.

5. How should I clean and store it?
Professional dry clean only; home washing is not recommended. Air-dry in the shade without wringing. Iron inside out on a low-to-medium setting under a cotton press cloth. Store it wrapped in breathable cotton or muslin in a cool, dark cupboard, and refold it along fresh lines every three to six months so no single crease is held for years.

6. Will the colour bleed on the first clean?
Every colour in this range has been tested for fastness on both wash and rub. That is a test result rather than a reassurance. Dry cleaning remains the instruction.

7. What if the shade that arrives is not the shade on my screen?
Screens and camera settings shift colour, so the dark red may read a little differently in your own light. If the shade does not match, or you are not satisfied with the quality, we will exchange the piece within the stated window and condition requirements.

8. What is the return and exchange window?
Two days from delivery, and the piece has to be unused, with its tags and its original packaging. Within that window we exchange for a colour mismatch or for dissatisfaction with quality.

9. Is it see-through? What do I wear underneath?
The body is semi-sheer — that is what 44 to 46 GSM and 350 to 360 g of cloth feels like — so it is worn with a petticoat, matched to the body colour or deliberately set against it.

10. Which occasions does it suit?
Festivals, festive family occasions, formal and ethnic dressing, and lighter occasions generally. It also works as wedding and reception wear when you are attending as a guest.

11. What do the motif and border names mean?
Buta and buti are the canonical spellings for the small woven figures scattered across the cloth; the same motif circulates as butta, butti and booti, and they all mean this. The figure on this saree is a flower buti, one of the named shapes in that vocabulary. Zari (also written jari) is the metallic thread worked into the border and the pallu. This is a butta body design in dark red, with the buti repeating across the field and antique gold at the border.

12. When will it be dispatched and how does delivery work?
These sarees are held in stock, not made to order. About half of all orders leave the next day, most within two to three days, and most orders inside India arrive in three to seven days. Shipping within India is free, Cash on Delivery is available, and we ship worldwide with international carriage charged on actuals.

13. How long will it last?
Cared for as instructed, this is a piece to keep and to pass on rather than one to wear for a single event. The drape does not stiffen or go slack after the first clean, and the tracked defect and colour-complaint rates on this weave are negligible.

14. The weave looks slightly uneven in places. Is that a defect?
No. A hand-inserted weft leaves small irregularities behind — the occasional slub or an uneven pick — and they are characteristic of hand weaving rather than faults. Every piece is finished at the pallu kuchu, selvedge and edges, and passes a pre-dispatch check before it is packed.