Ziegler-tradition floral carpets in red and rust descend from the late nineteenth-century commissions of the Manchester firm that gave the design family its name. The Ziegler workshops opened the dense floral repeats of classical Persia into more relaxed compositions, and the red and rust palette in this rug holds onto the warmth of the original Persian work while keeping the air of the Ziegler reading.

Three weavers shared the upright loom for around six months. Hand-spun wool was dyed in small lots over copper vats, the red drawn from madder root matured for two weeks, the rust from a second madder bath at lower concentration, and the floral accents from indigo, weld, and walnut hull. About 1.4 million Persian-asymmetric knots were tied row by row on a cotton warp and beaten down by hand.

The composition

A red field carrying floral arabesques in deeper rust, ivory, faded indigo, and walnut brown. The central medallion is rendered in soft ochre. The border holds a single restrained guard band rather than the layered borders of denser Persian traditions. Vegetable dye produces a slight irregularity across the field that flat synthetic dye cannot replicate. Over the first decade the red will warm and the rust will deepen by half a stop, both shifts welcome.

What you are buying

Antique Ziegler floral carpets in fair condition trade at international auction in the range of twenty to fifty thousand US dollars depending on age. This is a new weaving in the same tradition on the same kind of loom, in the same fibre, at a fraction of that figure. The carpet appreciates with use rather than depreciating, an attribute almost no other domestic object on the floor can claim.

The piece in a room

8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) anchors a primary drawing room or holds a six-seat dining table. The red and rust palette reads against cream plaster walls, against deep walnut joinery, and against pale oak floors. It pairs with leather upholstery in cognac or tobacco, with brass lighting, and with art that uses warm earth tones. The Ziegler floral prefers rooms with strong architectural lines and minimal pattern elsewhere.

Conservation

Suction vacuum every week with the beater bar disengaged. Rotate end to end each spring and autumn. Blot spills with a clean white cotton cloth from the edge inward. Avoid bleach. A wool conservator should hand-wash the rug every five years to restore lanolin and remove embedded dust. With this care the carpet runs eighty years.

Reference

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

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