Rugsville Abusson Black Gold Wool Carpet 8' x 10'

The Aubusson tradition began in central France in the seventeenth century as a flatweave answer to the heavy pile carpets of Persia and Turkey. Lighter, lower, and graphically clearer, the Aubusson palette settled into rococo cartouches, garlands, and scrolling acanthus by the eighteenth century, then carried that vocabulary into the salons of European nobility for two hundred years. The piece in front of you draws on that vocabulary in a knotted construction, redrawn for a contemporary room.

The rug was hand-knotted in India over roughly six months by three weavers on a vertical loom. Hand-spun wool tied row by row in the Persian asymmetric knot over a cotton warp and weft. The dyestuffs were prepared from indigo, walnut hull, weld, and pomegranate skin in copper vats, matured for two to three weeks before the wool was lowered. The black was over-dyed in two baths to give it the depth that flat single-dip dye cannot reach.

The composition

A near-black ground carries a central cartouche in old gold, with garland work and acanthus scrolls flowing corner to corner. The drawing is rococo in lineage but pulled toward a calmer geometry that suits a modern room. Black and gold is the most demanding pairing in the European decorative repertoire because it amplifies any imprecision in the drawing; this composition holds because the cartouche is set off-axis enough to feel hand-drawn rather than gridded.

What you are buying

Period Aubusson carpets of comparable scale and condition appear in European salerooms at $25,000 to $60,000 when they surface in clean shape. This is a new piece in hand-spun wool on a cotton foundation, in the Persian asymmetric knot, with vegetable-dyed colour. The carpet appreciates with use rather than depreciating, a property that defines the difference between a furnishing and a long-lived asset.

The piece in a room

8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) anchors a formal living room, a library, or a dining space under an eight-seat table with the field showing at the edges. The black and gold palette wants warm wood floors, walnut or oak rather than pale ash, and walls in cream or oat plaster rather than cool grey. Pairs naturally with brass, leather, and dark velvet upholstery.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn each spring and autumn so foot traffic and daylight age the field evenly. Vacuum weekly, suction only, beater bar off. Blot spills with a clean cotton cloth, working from the outside inward. Engage a wool-trained conservator for a hand wash every five years. Cared for in this way, the rug runs eighty years and outlives its first owners.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted hand-spun wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 244 x 305 cm (8' x 10')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3 weavers, 6 months
• Pile: 10 mm
• Dye: vegetable (indigo, walnut, weld, pomegranate)
• Origin: India

Free shipping anywhere in India. Cash on delivery accepted. 7-day exchange.