Earth-Tone Patchwork Handwoven Wool Rug, Anadolu Şal Series

Patchwork here is a drawing, not a construction: this rug was woven as one piece, with every panel knotted in place rather than cut and sewn. Anadolu Şal Series Earth-Tone Patchwork Handwoven Wool Rug, 250 × 341 cm (8'2" × 11'2"), made by hand in Anatolia in earth tones, with navy and orange running through them.

Each panel carries a different traditional figure — some from the classical rug repertoire, others from the shawl weaving that gives the series its name — so the field is a sequence rather than a repeat. Warm browns and ochres hold most of the surface, navy gives it its weight, orange its energy. At eight and a half square meters there is room for every panel to be seen on its own, which a smaller patchwork cannot offer.

It is the work of women weaving in Anatolia over months, in first-grade wool with the softness and the natural luster that grade brings with it. A rug this large is heavy and will not be moved casually once it is down. Put it under plainly colored furniture and it holds the traditional and the modern in one room without either winning. Cleaning is a job for a rug specialist.

• Woven as a single piece in Anatolia — the patchwork is knotted, not stitched.
• First-grade wool, soft with a natural shine.
• 250 × 341 cm (8'2" × 11'2"), about eight and a half square meters.
• Earth tones with navy and orange, each panel a different traditional figure.
• Months of weaving, by women working at Anatolian looms.
• Best under plain, simply colored furniture.
• Heavy; not a rug to be shifted around a room.
• A single piece. Cleaning by a rug specialist.

Large patchworks are rarely calm, and this one is, because the browns underneath everything are doing the holding.