The stripe is the most economical mark a loom can make. Every weaving culture in the world begins with a stripe and most return to it. The Pueblo, the Tuareg, the Welsh, the Bauhaus, all settled on the simple horizontal band as the truest expression of what a loom does.

Two weavers at the tufting frame for six to seven weeks, with a finisher working behind them. The yarn was prepared in the same workshop where the rug was made; the small-batch dye process gives the surface its slight tonal drift. The back was sealed in latex with a cotton scrim, then the field was sheared at finish for an even pile and washed to settle the dye.

The composition

The principal colour is a multi-toned palette. Around it the secondary palette is held in restrained register, so the rug carries one structural value and the geometry serves it rather than the reverse. Hand-spun wool tightens into the foundation as the piece settles in, and the surface continues to change in tone across the first year of normal use. Up close the surface carries the trace of every step of the hand process; from across the room it gathers into one settled colour.

The piece in a room

5' x 8' is the canonical mid-scale rug for the Indian flat. The piece holds a sofa-and-chairs arrangement or a six-seat dining table with room to spare. The composition reads at standing distance from the doorway and rewards a slow look from a low chair beside it. Pairs with warm wood, brass and mid-tone walls.

Care

Vacuum the surface weekly on suction. The latex back will not tolerate wet cleaning at home, so spills are addressed only with blotting and minimal moisture. Loose fibre clears from the pile across the first month or two of use. A professional dry clean every two to three years preserves both the surface finish and the structural integrity of the back.

Reference

• Medium: hand-tufted wool, latex bonded with cotton scrim
• Dimensions: 5' x 8' (152 x 244 cm)
• Construction: hand-tufted through stretched canvas, sheared finish
• Hands: 2 tufters and a finisher, six to seven weeks
• Pile: 12 mm, hand-spun wool
• Origin: India

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