Rugsville Opera Blue Slik & Wool Carpet 8' x 10'

Blue at this saturation has been the most expensive colour in the carpet world for most of recorded history. Indigo from the leguminous dye plant required fermentation in alkaline pits, repeated dipping, and oxidation in air, and the deepest tones cost more than the wool they coloured. Court workshops reserved indigo for medallion grounds and royal commissions. The piece in front of you uses the same fermented indigo tradition, applied to wool and silk yarn knotted at high density on a contemporary Indian loom.

Two to three weavers shared the loom across about five months. The pile is hand-spun wool combined with silk highlight yarn, knotted against a cotton warp at the density needed to render the tonal shift the design depends on. The blue is built from two dye baths rather than one. The first sets the body, the second adds the depth.

The composition

A central reserve of dusk blue, fading to dawn at the borders. The silk highlights pick up reflected light and pull a faint green shift across the surface at certain angles, the way a glaze sits over an undercoat in oil paint. Pattern is intentionally minimal. A small central medallion, a single guard band at the perimeter, and a field built to behave as colour rather than as figure. The rug functions as a depth field beneath a room.

What you are buying

Indigo-ground transitional carpets in wool and silk sell at international auction in the range of twenty to forty-five thousand dollars when intact. This is a contemporary weaving in the same drawing language, in the same fibre, at the same density. The rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating. The blue deepens as the silk wears in.

The piece in a room

8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) carries a primary living arrangement, a six-seat dining setting, or a primary bedroom with the bed floating off a headboard wall. The blue is happiest against pale plaster, off-white panelling, or warm wood. Mid-tone walls let the blue settle into the architecture; light walls push it forward as a focal field. Brass and walnut suit it best.

Conservation

Rotate one hundred and eighty degrees each spring and autumn. Vacuum twice a week, suction only, beater bar off. Blot any spill with a clean cotton cloth, never rub a silk-blended pile. Hand wash by a wool and silk trained conservator every five years. With this care the rug lasts seventy years and longer.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool and silk on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 244 x 305 cm (8' x 10')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 2-3 weavers, ~5 months
• Pile: 10 mm
• Colour: blue with silk highlights
• Origin: India

Free shipping across India. Cash on delivery available. Seven-day exchange. Crated and insured for transit.