Vintage Patchwork Modern Overdyed Hand Knotted Area Carpet-After Dark 11062 8' x 10'

Patchwork as a carpet idea began with antique Anatolian and Persian rugs that had aged past full restoration. Rather than discard the surviving sections, dealers and weavers in the late twentieth century began assembling the strongest panels into single fields, often over-dyeing the lot in one bath to bring the disparate palettes into a unified tone. The result was a new object that carried the patina of every contributing piece. The rug in front of you continues that idea as a single hand-knotted weaving rather than a literal cut and pieced assembly.

The carpet was woven in India over roughly six months by three weavers sharing a vertical loom. Hand-spun wool on a cotton warp and weft, tied row by row in the Persian asymmetric knot. The cartoon was drawn as a grid of distinct panels each carrying a different antique pattern fragment, then unified by a single deep over-dye that pulled the field together into the after-dark palette. The dye sequence used indigo, walnut hull, and a touch of madder to build the deep, slightly violet ground.

The composition

The field reads as a grid of small antique fragments, each in a different drawing, all pulled together by an over-dye that settles into deep indigo-violet tones. Look closely and the panels separate into distinct motifs, geometric, floral, medallion fragments. Step back and they read as a single composed field with the slight tonal abrash of a real over-dyed antique. The piece will continue to deepen and unify as the indigo matures with light.

What you are buying

Genuine cut and pieced antique patchwork carpets in this scale, assembled from period Anatolian or Persian fragments, sell at European auction in the $15,000 to $35,000 range. The piece in front of you is a single woven object in hand-spun wool that draws on the same compositional idea without depending on the survival of antique source material. It appreciates with use; that is the underlying property that justifies the labour.

The piece in a room

8' x 10' (244 x 305 cm) anchors a contemporary living room or a primary bedroom with cleanly modern furniture. The over-dyed field reads as a single tone from across the room and reveals the panel structure on close approach, which makes it work in spaces where you sit close to the floor. Pairs naturally with mid-century walnut, with leather, with brass, and with bleached oak floors.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn each spring and autumn so the surface ages evenly. Vacuum weekly with suction only and the beater bar disengaged. Blot spills with a clean cotton cloth, working from the edge inward. A hand wash by a wool-trained conservator every five years keeps the cotton foundation supple and the over-dye true. With this care, the rug runs eighty years.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted hand-spun wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 244 x 305 cm (8' x 10')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 3 weavers, 6 months
• Pile: 9 mm
• Dye: vegetable over-dye (indigo, walnut, madder)
• Origin: India

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