Sourced from a Yunnan workshop by Sandry Law
Sandry Law first came across these floor mats in a small Dali workshop tucked behind the morning market. The maker — a third-generation cotton-batting family — still uses a hand-carding method passed down from the Bai people. Their mat layers are built with raw cotton from the valleys around Erhai, compressed slowly to avoid lumps, then wrapped in a linen cover woven with mineral-dyed threads. The stone colour here is achieved with a wash of local grey clay, fixed with a mild iron mordant, so each mat varies slightly in tone.
Sandry was there during the demonstration: the stitcher pulled a linen shell over a cloud of cotton, folded the edges twice, and ran a tight line of stitches — no piping, no synthetic filler. He ordered a first batch for tea.furniture that same afternoon. The mats now come from the same workshop, with the same maker overseeing every piece. They’re designed to last a lifetime of kneeling sessions, and they settle into a tea room without shouting — the highest compliment a floor mat can receive.