A modern rug is built to read as one image rather than as a repeating pattern. The studio tradition the piece descends from runs from the Bauhaus weave room through Eileen Gray's villa rugs and into the present. The composition is its own argument; nothing in it refers outward.

Two weavers shared the loom for six to seven weeks. The structure is hand-built throughout, with the wool prepared, spun, dyed and packed by hand from start to finish. Small-batch vats give the surface its slightly uneven dye saturation, which the eye reads as patina even on a new rug. The piece is washed at the end to settle the colour and bring the wool to its final feel.

The composition

Built around gold and brown. The composition is the result of a slow studio process; the cartoon was charted at scale, the dye batches were proofed against each other, and the colour relationships were settled before any wool reached the warp. The result is a single still image at room scale rather than a tiled repeat that fills a floor. The slight tonal drift across the field is the trace of small-batch dyeing in copper vats; from any standing distance it gathers into a single colour.

The piece in a room

5' x 8' fits the central living arrangement of a one- or two-bedroom flat. The rug is the floor of the conversation area, and the rest of the room takes its cue from its palette rather than the other way round. Pale walls let the field push forward; mid-tone walls let the rug settle into the architecture as a quieter ground.

Care

Routine care: vacuum once a week on the lowest suction setting. Reverse the piece end for end at the spring and autumn change so both faces share the wear evenly. Address spills with cold water on a clean cloth, working from the perimeter inward. Have the rug professionally dry-cleaned every three to four years to refresh the colour and clear any trapped dust from the weft.

Reference

• Medium: handmade wool
• Dimensions: 5' x 8' (152 x 244 cm)
• Construction: hand-made on a vertical loom
• Hands: 2 makers, six to seven weeks
• Pile: medium pile, hand-spun yarn
• Origin: India

Free shipping nationwide. Seven-day return or exchange.