Rugsville Kazak Red Ivory Wool Carpet 16518

New Zealand wool is the only fibre that takes vegetable dye to the saturation a Caucasian-revival Kazak demands without losing the slight irregularity that gives wool its patina. The fleece runs longer in staple than Indian or Chinese stock, with a finer micron count, which means the spinner can twist a yarn that holds dye into its core rather than only on its surface. That depth of pigment is what allows a red and ivory Kazak to read as a saturated object from across a room and as a softly drifting field on closer inspection.

This carpet was hand-knotted in India by three weavers over roughly four months. Wool was prepared in copper vats of madder root for the field red, with the ivory ground colour left undyed and washed only in spring water with mild olive-oil soap. Knots are Turkish symmetric, tied across two warps, at roughly 100 to 130 per square inch. The cotton foundation gives the pile its dimensional stability. Selvedges are hand-wrapped in goat hair, fringes are integral warp ends.

The composition

An ivory field carries a column of red hooked medallions running along the long axis. Smaller geometric ornaments in indigo and madder pink fill the space around the medallions in the Caucasian tradition of densely populated negative space. The border is a narrow band of reciprocal trefoils in ivory and red. The wool's natural sheen catches light unevenly along the spin axis, so the rug appears slightly more luminous when viewed along the warp than across it.

What you are buying

Comparable nineteenth-century red-and-ivory Caucasian Kazaks of this size have closed at Skinner, Christie's, and Rippon Boswell in the $8,000 to $22,000 range. This is a current hand-knotted weaving in the same tradition, in vegetable-bath wool on cotton, made in India over four months. The carpet appreciates with careful use; the dyes settle, the wool gains hand, and the rug becomes more itself with each year on the floor.

The piece in a room

The 8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) format suits a primary living area, a dining room under a six-seater table, or a generous bedroom. An ivory and red Kazak settles into rooms with white or off-white walls, dark stained or oiled timber floors, and quiet upholstery. Pair with brass, walnut, and worn leather. Avoid pairing with strongly patterned curtains; the medallions need flat textile around them to read clearly.

Conservation

Rotate the rug end to end twice a year. Vacuum weekly on suction-only with the beater bar disengaged. Spills lift with a dry white cotton cloth pressed straight down, lifted, repeated. Schedule a professional hand wash by a wool conservator every five to seven years to maintain the dye depth and the wool's lanolin.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 244 x 305 cm (8' x 10')
• Construction: Turkish symmetric knot
• Knot density: ~100-130 KPSI
• Hands: 3 weavers, ~4 months
• Dye: vegetable (madder, indigo, undyed wool)
• Origin: India

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