Vintage Patchwork Modern Overdyed Hand Knotted Area Carpet-Autumn 11067 5' x 8'

Autumn as a colour name in the overdye vocabulary refers to a register of warm rust and ochre, the tone of late October light on dried oak leaf. The shade is one of the harder dye chemistries because warmth in wool flattens easily under a single-pigment bath; this carpet uses madder in combination with walnut hull and a small proportion of pomegranate to keep the field active rather than reading as a single flat brown. The patchwork construction provides the under-pattern variation that prevents the warm wash from going monolithic.

Source carpets at least four decades old were cut into rectangular registers and joined on a cotton scrim by three artisans, then washed back to uniform pile. The whole field was lowered into a sun-cured bath built from madder, walnut, and pomegranate skin. The cure happened in air rather than in heat, which is why the surface holds the slight chromatic unevenness of plant dye rather than the flat saturation of industrial colour. Each patch retains its original wear, which adds to the depth of the finished surface.

The composition

A warm rust field broken into rectangles, each holding the under-pattern of its source carpet; floral palmette repeats here, geometric tribal forms there, occasional fragments of border running through two or three of the larger registers. The autumn note shifts across the day; morning light pulls the ochre forward and evening pushes the rust register deeper. From across a room the carpet reads as a single warm plane. From close range it opens into many small histories layered beneath the wash.

What you are buying

Antique carpets of equivalent fibre and pile age trade with European dealers at four to seven lakh rupees in working condition. The patchwork carries the same wool maturity into a single coherent field that no single antique source could provide. The carpet appreciates with use rather than depreciating. The rust continues to settle for the first two years and warms slightly as the wool oxidises into its final register.

The piece in a room

5' x 8' (152 x 244 cm) sits in a sitting room arranged around a low table, a study floor, or a primary bedroom under the foot of a bed. Autumn rust holds against pale plaster walls, against bone linen, and against natural walnut. The colour pairs especially well with brass, with raw leather upholstery, and with the cooler greens of plants. Whitewashed walls let the field expand; warmer plaster sets the rust into the architecture.

Conservation

Rotate every six months for even light and traffic exposure. Vacuum on suction setting only, beater bar disengaged, so the seams are not stressed. Blot spills downward with a clean cotton cloth, never wipe. Engage a patchwork-trained wool conservator every four years for cleaning. Under those terms the carpet runs decades and the rust continues to develop across most of that span.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted antique wool patches joined on cotton scrim, autumn rust overdye
• Dimensions: 152 x 244 cm (5' x 8')
• Construction: original Persian and Turkish knots, varied across patches
• Hands: 3 artisans, assembly and finishing
• Pile: 6-9 mm, varies by patch
• Dye: madder, walnut hull, pomegranate full-immersion overdye on vegetable-dyed antique base
• Origin: India

Free shipping across India. Cash on delivery available. 7-day exchange. The carpet ships in a sealed crate suitable for re-use during storage or relocation.