Vintage Patchwork Modern Overdyed Hand Knotted Area Carpet-Ultramarine 11084 12' x 15'

Ultramarine takes its name from the Latin for beyond the sea, the route by which lapis lazuli reached Italian Renaissance workshops from the only mine then known. The pigment was costlier than gold, and Renaissance contracts often specified the painter must use ultramarine for the Virgin's robe at the patron's expense. The over-dyed patchwork tradition reaches that same saturated marine blue through indigo over a synthetic French ultramarine top, applied to a gridded field of vintage Turkish and Persian fragments.

This 12' x 15' (366 x 457 cm) loom required five weavers over close to seven months. Around 4.7 million hand-tied knots on a cotton foundation, with each panel sourced from an older rug, cut to size, and re-knotted into the new ground while still under tension. The over-dye was struck in copper vats with indigo as the base, a French ultramarine top added in two later immersions, and an iron after-bath to settle the depth. Twelve dips spread across five days set the colour at its final saturation.

The composition

A unified ultramarine field holds a grid of unequal rectangular panels. Each cell preserves the ghost of an older composition, a stylised vine in one panel, a medallion fragment in another, a Caucasian eight-pointed star in a third. The over-dye flattens every source palette into a tonal family of the blue. Ultramarine is one of the most stable colours in the workshop, the rug will hold its saturation for thirty to forty years before drifting toward a slightly cooler marine grey.

What you are buying

Over-dyed patchwork carpets at this scale and density list with Western dealers between $9,000 and $13,000 when available. The piece is offered here at clearance pricing well below that figure. The discount reflects stock turnover rather than any reduction in materials or labour. Hand-knotted wool of this construction appreciates with use rather than depreciating, a property no other floor object holds at any tier.

The piece in a room

12' x 15' (366 x 457 cm) carries a long drawing room, an open-plan living and dining arrangement, or a primary bedroom with a generous foot of empty rug at the head and sides of the bed. Ultramarine pairs with walnut, oak, and limestone floors, with brass and aged bronze, with bone-white plaster and natural travertine. It will hold against contemporary art in primaries and against muted art in greys.

Conservation

Rotate a half turn each spring and autumn so light and traffic age the wool evenly. Vacuum weekly on suction only, beater bar disengaged. Blot any spill with a dry cotton cloth and lift moisture with absorbent paper. A wool-trained conservator should hand-wash the piece every five to seven years. Cared for this way, the rug runs 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: indigo and ultramarine over-dye, iron mordant
• Origin: India

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