Rugsville Ziegler Traditional Floral Ivory Wool Carpet 8' x 8' Round

An ivory square carpet has to do two things that pull against each other. It has to read as quietly as ivory does best, and it has to resolve in every direction with the same authority a square demands. The Ziegler workshops handled the contradiction by holding the floral lattice at moderate scale across the entire field rather than building it around a strong central medallion, and the carpet in front of you was drawn against that quieter logic.

Three weavers shared the loom for roughly five and a half months. The wool used here was hand-spun and tied to a cotton foundation, then taken through a slow wash so the ivory pulled toward the bone-warm tone an aged Ziegler is collected for. Vegetable dyes were prepared from walnut hull for the soft browns in the lattice, madder root for the rose accents, indigo for the rare deeper notes, and pomegranate skin for the gentle yellow undercast that warms the field. The wash water was changed three times before drying so the wool settled at the right tension.

The composition

An ivory field carrying a tightly drawn floral lattice in walnut, faded rose, and pale indigo, with a single guard band closing the composition. There is no medallion, which is the reason the design holds equally well from any direction the room asks of it. The colour interaction is subtle; the lattice never breaks contrast against the field. Direct sunlight will warm the ivory toward parchment over five years and the rug will deepen rather than fade.

What you are buying

Vegetable-dyed Ziegler squares of this size and ivory palette sell through Western dealers at the equivalent of three to six lakh. The antique originals from the late nineteenth century clear at multiples of that figure when condition permits. At seventy-nine thousand against a list of three lakh sixteen thousand, this is a working bargain on a carpet woven to the same density and in the same hand-spun wool as the antiques. The piece appreciates with use rather than depreciating.

The piece in a room

8' x 8' (244 x 244 cm) is the working scale for the centre of a square library, a primary foyer, or a sitting room arranged on an orthogonal grid. The ivory ground opens a small room and quietens a large one. Pairs with cream plaster, oak, brass, washed linen, and the lime-painted finishes that the Ziegler design was originally drawn for.

Conservation

Rotate a quarter turn each season so the wear pattern cycles evenly around the field. Vacuum weekly with suction only, beater bar disengaged. Blot any spill on the ivory ground immediately with a clean cotton cloth, working from the outer edge inward. Hand-wash by a wool-trained conservator every five years. Stored rolled with pile facing inward, never folded.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 244 x 244 cm (8' x 8' square)
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3 weavers, ~5.5 months
• Pile: 9 mm hand-spun wool
• Dye: vegetable (walnut, madder, indigo, pomegranate)
• Origin: India

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