Patchwork rugs grew out of a practical problem. Worn antique carpets were too damaged to sell whole and too valuable to throw away. Cutting the surviving pile into rectangles, rejoining them, and washing the seams under a single dye solved both halves of the problem at once.

The fragments were cut from worn but structurally sound village rugs from the wider Persian and Turkish weaving regions, with the squares chosen for sound foundation rather than for pattern. After matching for pile height, they were stitched onto a cotton ground and submerged in a vat of indigo with copper mordant dye for the overwash. 2 weavers shared the loom for roughly 3 months between cutting, re-knotting at the seams, and the dye work.

The composition

The turquoise wash settles like weather over the assembled fragments. Borders survive in faint outline. Medallions emerge as silhouettes rather than statements. The eye does not rest in one place; it moves across the surface the way it moves across a Rauschenberg combine.

What you are buying

What the price reflects is the cost of the antique source carpets, the labour to cut and reassemble them, and the dye bath. The mathematics work out close to the cost of a new hand-knotted rug at the same density, without the long cultural depreciation that affects new production.

The piece in a room

At 4' x 6' (122 x 183 cm) the rug occupies the floor between two facing chairs or anchors a small entry hall. The patchwork geometry holds at this scale because the squares are sized to be read at standing distance.

Conservation

Vacuum weekly, suction only. Rotate twice a year. Blot, do not rub, on spills. The patchwork seams are sewn rather than woven through, so an annual visual check at the joins is worth the minute it takes. Professional hand-wash every five years keeps the dye stable and the foundation supple.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation, antique pile fragments rejoined
• Dimensions: 4' x 6' (122 × 183 cm)
• Construction: cut, re-knotted, and overdyed
• Approximate density: 100 KPSI across the reassembled field
• Hands: 2 artisans, roughly 3 months end to end
• Pile: 8 mm wool
• Dye: vegetable overwash (indigo with copper mordant)
• Origin: India

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