Tribal weavings stand outside the city-workshop tradition. The drawing is direct, the geometry slightly irregular, the colour what the village indigo and madder pots could produce in a given week. The piece below carries that village-loom vocabulary forward.

The piece was hand-tufted in India by a team of 3 tufters and one finisher over 6 weeks. New Zealand wool was pushed through a stretched cotton canvas one row at a time with a tufting tool, then sealed at the back with natural latex and a cotton scrim that lets the rug lie flat without slipping. The last pass was carving by hand with long shears to relieve the pattern above the field by one or two millimetres. That carving is the difference between a tufted rug that reads as a piece of design and one that reads as a flat surface with paint on it. The piece reads at 8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) in rust and blue, finished in India.

The composition

Stepped geometry in rust and blue sits across the field at a reading scale built for distance. The colour blocks are slightly irregular at their edges, the way village-loom dyeing always produces, and that irregularity is the rug's signature. Nothing about it reads as printed. The eye reads the composition as a whole, then walks closer and finds that no two field motifs are quite identical, which is the point of a hand-drawn carpet.

The piece in a room

8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) is the working scale for medium living rooms and primary bedrooms. The rust and blue register pairs with linen upholstery, walnut, brass, and unframed canvases. It does not pair well with strongly patterned upholstery. The rug expects to be the only graphic element in the composition. Mid-tone walls let the field carry the room, and a single statement light source overhead reveals the slight pile relief that screen photographs always flatten out.

Care

Vacuum on suction only for the first month, then with the beater bar off thereafter. Light shedding settles in four to six weeks. Spot-clean spills with cold water and mild detergent, blotting outward from the centre. Professional dry-cleaning every two to three years keeps the pile bright.

Reference

• Medium: hand-tufted 13-to-16 micron wool, latex bonded, cotton scrim
• Dimensions: 244 x 305 cm (8' x 10')
• Pile: 12 mm
• Hands: 3 tufters and 1 finisher, ~6 weeks
• Origin: India

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