Rugsville Oxidye Floral Black Wool Silk Designer Persian Carpet 6' x 9'

A classical Persian floral on a black ground is a difficult thing to pull off. The traditional iron-mordant blacks corrode the pile faster than other dyes, so most antique pieces show heavier wear in the dark field than in the surrounding pattern. The Oxidye line solves the problem by combining stable contemporary dyes for the dark tones with an oxidising wash that pulls the rug back to the lived-in quality of antique work without the structural weakness that the original dye recipes carried.

Three weavers worked this piece on a single vertical loom in India for around seven months, knotting Persian asymmetric knots over a cotton foundation. The pile is hand-spun wool with bamboo silk woven through the floral highlights, where the silk catches raking light against the dark ground and the surrounding wool absorbs it. After the rug came off the loom it was washed in two passes, the second oxidising bath softening the surface to its working tonality.

The composition

A deep, slightly mottled charcoal-black holds a classical floral cartoon worked in muted browns, ivories, and a single oxidised rose. The silk threads sit just proud of the wool pile, so the floral lifts forward at certain angles and lies flat at others. The eye reads the composition slowly, which is the quality that separates a traditional Persian cartoon from a graphic statement piece. The wash will continue to settle through the first six months of use.

What you are buying

Persian wool-and-silk floral carpets on a dark ground in the 6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm) class trade at $4,500 to $9,000 through international dealers. This is the same construction made in India to the same standards on a hand loom, sold direct without the dealer chain in between. A hand-knotted piece of this kind is among the few household objects that appreciates with use rather than depreciating, because the wool patina deepens and the cartoon settles into the foundation across the first decade.

The piece in a room

6' x 9' (183 x 274 cm) is the canonical living-room scale, sized for a three-seater sofa flanked by chairs around a low coffee table, with the front legs of the seating planted on the field. The dark ground works as graphic counterweight to pale walls and pale upholstery, or settles into the architecture against deeper walls. Walnut, brass, leather, and linen are natural companions.

Conservation

Rotate twice a year so traffic and light age the rug evenly. Vacuum on suction only with the beater bar disengaged. Blot spills with clean cotton, never rub. A professional wool-and-silk hand-wash every six to eight years keeps the dark ground honest without flattening the silk highlights. With this care, the rug runs eighty years.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool and bamboo silk on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 183 × 274 cm (6' × 9')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3 weavers, ~7 months
• Dye: oxidised wash on a black ground
• Origin: India

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