Blue Vintage-Pattern Hand-Knotted Wool Rug

Aqua, turquoise, petrol, and a blue that turns toward green: a blue vintage-pattern hand-knotted wool rug, 183 × 274 cm (6'0" × 9'0"), knotted on a cotton warp, carrying motifs that have been in use for centuries in a palette that has not.

The blues are laid side by side rather than blended, so the field changes as the light moves and no two hours of the day give you the same rug. The forms themselves are old, the angular vine and open medallion that rug weavers have carried for centuries, and the surprise is how little they resist contemporary color. The surface is dark and glossy enough to take a tint from whatever stands around it: pale upholstery lightens it, wood deepens it.

Wool is knotted onto a cotton warp with the double knot, packed tightly enough to make the rug thin in the hand and slow to wear. This is one of the more restrained pieces in the house's Retro line, which is its name for old drawing in new color. A blue this saturated behaves differently under an office ceiling light than under lamps, and it is worth seeing it in the light it will live under. Vacuum it; leave the washing to a professional.

• Hand-knotted; a wool pile over a cotton warp.
• Aqua, turquoise, petrol and a green-leaning blue, set side by side.
• Centuries-old motifs redrawn in a modern palette.
• Double-knotted and densely packed, so the rug is thin and hard-wearing.
• 183 × 274 cm (6'0" × 9'0") — large enough for a salon or a meeting room.
• The color reads differently under ceiling light and under lamps.
• Regular vacuuming; professional washing when it is due.

Blue is the color rooms hesitate over, and a blue that is really five blues gives them less to hesitate about.