Lam Round Placemats - Natural - Set of 4

Round table mats, 30cm across and 1cm thick, each one coiled from a single flat braid of water hyacinth stitched turn against turn from the centre outward. The plait is three strand and the dried leaf is flattened, so the surface carries a papery grain that catches the light along every strand. The tones run in bands: a mid brown centre, a bleached pale ring about two thirds of the way out, then mid brown again and a slightly darker border at the rim. The outline wanders a little rather than running true.

At 30cm a mat takes a dinner plate with a margin around it, and four of them will set a table of four. The braid is 1cm thick, so the plate sits clear of the table surface. Seen from above, the banding reads as a set of rings.

The mats are water hyacinth, a floating weed that chokes the rivers of Vietnam, which is where they are woven. Harvesting it for weaving takes an unwanted species out of the waterways and puts it to use. Nothing is dyed: the banding comes out of the variation in colour of the dried plant itself, so the rings fall at different widths on every mat and no two in a set are identical.

How many come in a set?

Four.

How big is each mat?

30cm across and 1cm thick.

What is water hyacinth?

A floating river weed. In Vietnam, where these mats are woven, it is an unwelcome species in the waterways, and harvesting it for weaving takes it out of them.

Is the pattern dyed?

No. The banding comes from natural differences in the colour of the dried plant, so the rings fall differently on every mat.

How do I look after them?

Spot clean only, using a damp cloth. Colours may fade in direct sunlight.