The Sultanabad pattern moved into beige grounds in the early twentieth century when American buyers asked for rugs that would read against the new oak and walnut floors of Arts and Crafts interiors rather than against the dark mahogany of the Victorian period before. The drawing was kept, the saturation was lifted, and what came out was a quieter Sultanabad that suits modern rooms as easily as it suited the Craftsman bungalow. Nodi works in that line.

One weaver worked this 3' x 5' (91 x 152 cm) runner across about three months in India. Wool was hand-spun, knotted on a cotton foundation in the Persian asymmetric style. The beige ground is undyed wool washed once after the loom came down. The figures carry muted indigo, soft red, sage, and ochre in the open Sultanabad spacing rather than the dense court repeat.

The composition

A beige field running close to natural sheep wool. Open Sultanabad floral figures spaced across the field in a slow rotation. A single main border in muted indigo with paired ivory guard stripes. The drawing has rest between figures, which is the signature of the Sultanabad register. The beige will warm with light and the figures will settle, and the rug gains weight as a composition over the first decade.

What you are buying

Authentic Sultanabad runners with documented attribution and intact condition trade at the major Western auctions in the range of $4,000 to $9,000. This is contemporary weaving in the same tradition, on the same loom geometry, by hand, in the same fibre. A hand-knotted Sultanabad appreciates with use rather than depreciating, which is a property no machine alternative shares.

The piece in a room

3' x 5' (91 x 152 cm) reads at the foot of a bed, in a pooja or mandir corner, beside a writing desk, or in a small entryway. The beige and muted indigo register sits against light oak, against waxed teak, against limestone, against painted plaster. The piece reads warm under brass lamp light and cool under daylight.

Conservation

Rotate the runner end for end every six months. Vacuum weekly, suction only, no beater bar. Blot spills with a clean cotton cloth at the moment of incident. A wool-trained hand wash every six to seven years keeps the lanolin and the colour honest. The piece runs three generations of careful ownership.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 91 x 152 cm (3' x 5')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 1 weaver, ~3 months
• Pile: 8 mm
• Origin: India

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