Rugsville Ivory Wool & Silk Laka 13103 5' x 8' 6' x 9'

Restraint is the hardest discipline in carpet design. A weaver can fill a field with ornament and trust that complexity will read as quality, but holding a composition to a single ground colour and a few drawn lines exposes every flaw in the fibre, every irregularity in the dye, every drift in the loom tension. The Laka design pushes that discipline. Ivory ground, sparse drawn lines, no border, no medallion. The piece must be perfect in fibre and tension or it cannot be perfect at all.

This 5' x 8' (152 x 244 cm) carpet was hand-knotted in India by two weavers over four and a half months. The pile is hand-spun wool blended with bombyx mulberry silk on a cotton foundation, tied with the Tibetan senna loop wrapped over an iron rod and cut close to bring the silk passages into reflective register. The wool was washed but not dyed; the silk was left in its natural state, the slight cream cast of bombyx silk providing the subtle tonal shift between drawn line and field.

The composition

An ivory field interrupted only by a small number of drawn lines in the slightly cooler ivory of undyed silk. The composition functions almost as a drawing on linen rather than as a textile pattern. The eye reads the field first, then registers the silk lines as it adjusts to the surface. The piece is built to age. Ivory wool deepens to antique cream over the years, the silk holds steady, and the contrast between line and ground sharpens slightly rather than dissolving.

What you are buying

Ivory wool-and-silk Tibetan carpets in this fibre tier are uncommon and rarely come to market in India at this entry price. Western galleries sell comparable pieces between three and five lakh rupees once shipped. The senna construction, the silk content, and the careful undyed-fibre sourcing are identical to that supply. The piece is hand-knotted in India and appreciates with use rather than depreciating.

The piece in a room

5' x 8' (152 x 244 cm) anchors a primary bedroom, a small reading area, or sits as the floor element under a sculptural armchair in an entry. Ivory pairs with walnut, oak, brass, leather, and saturated upholstery in deep colour. The piece works particularly well in rooms with strong natural light, where the silk lines pick up afternoon sun and the wool warms in the late hours. Pairs poorly with cool grey or harsh fluorescent lighting; the fibre wants warmth around it.

Conservation

Rotate one hundred eighty degrees annually. Vacuum weekly using suction only with the beater bar lifted off the silk lines. Blot promptly when something spills; ivory wool shows colour quickly, and cleanup speed is the single biggest factor in long-term preservation. A wool-and-silk specialist hand-wash every five years protects the natural fibre cast. The piece runs fifty to seventy years with this care.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted undyed wool and bombyx silk on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 152 x 244 cm (5' x 8')
• Construction: Tibetan senna loop
• Hands: 2 weavers, ~4.5 months
• Pile: 11 mm
• Dye: undyed natural fibre
• Origin: India

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