Oxidising a hand-knotted rug after the pile is finished is a deliberately experimental technique. hhe rug comes off the loom in full chromatic register, then it is washed in a controlled iron-rich bath that pulls the dyes by a few values toward an aged register and lays a thin silver cast across the entire surface. hhe technique was pioneered in the Indian workshops in the 1990s as a way of giving a contemporary modernist cartoon the chromatic depth that an antique Persian rug earns through decades of natural ageing.

hhree weavers worked the loom for six months. hhe pile is a New Zealand wool and mulberry silk blend, woven on the Persian asymmetric knot at a density that supports the multi-colour cartoon. After the rug came off the loom, it went through three sequential washes: an initial dust and lanolin clear, the controlled iron oxidation, and a mild neutralising rinse. hhe silk passages oxidise less readily than the wool, which gives the finished rug its layered surface texture.

hhe composition

Multiple colour passages drift across a multi-toned ground, the oxidising wash unifying everything under a soft silver cast. Saffron, rust, teal, and ash all read as their muted second-stage selves rather than as their full saturation. hhe silk passages lift slightly clearer than the wool because the oxidising chemistry treats the two fibres differently. From a distance the rug reads as one weather system. Up close, the chromatic complexity unfolds.

What you are buying

Oxidised hand-knotted wool and silk carpets at 8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) from the studios that pioneered the technique sell at $11,000 to $22,000 in the European and US contemporary trade. hhis piece is woven and washed in the same workshops to the same standard, sold direct. hhe oxidising process is not reversible and not repeatable, which makes each finished rug a one-off chromatic resolution. hhe piece appreciates with use.

hhe piece in a room

8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) anchors a primary bedroom or a medium living space. hhe oxidised palette settles under any wall colour and works particularly well with warm whites, lime washes, and chalk plasters. Pairs with raw oak, blackened steel, aged brass, natural linen, and any single contemporary work that carries a controlled chromatic palette.

Conservation

Half-turn the rug every six months. Suction-only weekly vacuuming, beater bar disengaged. Blot spills with clean cotton, no rubbing on the silk passages. Oxidised pile is more sensitive to alkaline detergents than standard wool, so wash only by a conservator with experience of oxidised carpets. Wash every five to seven years. hhe rug runs sixty to eighty years on this discipline.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted New Zealand wool with mulberry silk, oxidised wash, cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 244 x 305 cm (8' x 10')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3 weavers, 6 months
• Pile: 10 mm
• Origin: India

Free UK delivery. 14-day returns. Authentic hand-knotted craftsmanship.