Vintage Patchwork Modern Overdyed Hand Knotted Area Carpet-Ribbon Red 11082 12' x 15'

Ribbon red is the carpet colour of celebration. It is the red of a Bukhara wedding flat-weave, the red of a Turkmen hatchli ground, the red of the velvet brocades that lined Mughal pavilions for state occasions. The over-dyed patchwork tradition reaches for that same saturation through a single madder-and-cochineal bath, applied across vintage Turkish and Persian fragments that have already been cut and re-knotted into a new gridded ground.

This 12' x 15' (366 x 457 cm) carpet was assembled by five weavers across close to seven months. About 4.7 million hand-tied knots on a cotton foundation, the panels worked from vintage carpets that had already lived twenty to fifty years before being cut, sorted, and re-knotted into the new field. The over-dye was struck in a copper vat with madder root for the warmth, cochineal for the depth, and an alum mordant to fix the colour without dulling the wool. Six immersions over four days set the red at its final saturation.

The composition

A field of unified ribbon red holds the entire 12 by 15 foot rectangle. Inside the red, a grid of unequal panels carries the ghost of a different older carpet in every cell, a medallion in one, a Heriz spandrel in another, a Caucasian diamond in a third. The over-dye flattens every original palette into a tonal family of the red, so the field reads as a single composition rather than a quilt. Madder over cochineal is one of the most light-stable dye combinations in the workshop. The red will deepen for the first three years and then hold for the next forty.

What you are buying

Over-dyed patchwork carpets in this density and at this scale sell with Western dealers between $9,000 and $14,000 when available. The piece is offered here at clearance pricing well below that figure. The discount reflects inventory turnover rather than any reduction in materials or method. The hand-knotted wool construction means the rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating.

The piece in a room

12' x 15' (366 x 457 cm) is the format for a long living room, an open-plan dining and lounge arrangement, or a library built around a central reading bench. The red asks for quiet around it, plaster walls in bone or warm grey, walnut floors, undyed linen and leather. It will not share the room with strongly patterned upholstery, and that is the point. The carpet is the colour event in the room.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn each spring and autumn so light and traffic age the wool evenly. Vacuum weekly with the beater bar disengaged, suction only. Blot any spill with a dry cotton cloth, never rub. A wool-trained conservator should hand-wash the piece every five to seven years. With this care, the rug holds for eighty to a hundred years.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 366 x 457 cm (12' x 15')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot, vintage panels over-dyed
• Hands: 5 weavers, ~7 months
• Pile: 8 mm
• Dye: vegetable over-dye (madder, cochineal, alum)
• Origin: India

Free shipping across India. Cash on delivery available. 7-day exchange on the piece.