Rugsville Traditional Red & Ivory Wool Carpet 9' x 12'

Reversing the red and ivory ratio is what separates this drawing room piece from the more familiar ivory-led version of the same family. Here the red carries the field and the ivory works through the vine and floral motifs, which produces a rug that reads warmer at a distance and more graphic underfoot. The ratio comes out of the village looms of western Iran, where the choice of ground colour was a decision about how a carpet would behave in a low-lit interior.

Three to four weavers worked this loom in India for around six months. Cotton warps run vertical, hand-spun wool wefts run horizontal, and the asymmetric knots stack between them at a density that lets curvilinear motifs read cleanly. The wool was washed before spinning to remove dust and excess lanolin, then dyed in copper vats and hung to dry, which gives the colour the slight vertical striation of vegetable processing.

The composition

A red field crossed by ivory vine work and small floral medallions in walnut, indigo, and pale saffron. The red has the body that small-batch madder gives, neither crimson nor maroon, with a slight rose shift where the wool took dye lightly and a deeper brick where it took dye heavily. Borders mirror the field in reduced scale, the outer edge a slim guard band that contains the composition without competing with it.

What you are buying

A red-ground hand-knotted Indian wool carpet at 9' x 12' (274 x 366 cm) is what every twentieth-century drawing room reached for when it could afford the space. Comparable contemporary work through Sotheby's mid-tier or American gallery channels prices around five to eight lakh. Rugsville sells loom-direct without a re-export markup, and the rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating.

The piece in a room

9' x 12' (274 x 366 cm) carries a ten-seat dining table or a long sectional with margin to spare. The red ground reads warmest against off-white walls and cool stone floors; pair with brass or aged copper rather than chrome, and with hardwood furniture rather than lacquer. Direct sunlight is a friend over the long arc, restoring colour saturation that interior light slowly leaches.

Conservation

Rotate twice a year so the field ages evenly across its length. Vacuum once a week with suction only and the beater bar lifted. Blot stains immediately with cool water and a soft cotton cloth, never scrub. Have the rug professionally hand-washed by a wool conservator every five years; this is the work that keeps a hand-knotted piece running eighty years rather than thirty.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 274 x 366 cm (9' x 12')
• Construction: asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3-4 weavers, ~6 months
• Pile: hand-spun wool
• Origin: India

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