Dark Brown Vintage-Pattern Handwoven Wool Rug, Retro Series

Look at it once and it is a brown rug; look again and the pattern comes up in layers, one drawing beneath another. Retro Series Dark Brown Handwoven Wool Rug, 167 × 231 cm (5'6" × 7'7"), wool knotted over a cotton warp in Afghanistan, using the double knot. The brown is the dark, slightly bitter tone of strong coffee, and the classical motifs are worked in shades so near it that they separate only on inspection. Nothing is ornate and nothing is bare.

01Which tone on the ground

The surface sits on the line between shine and matt, so it takes in the colors of a room instead of imposing one, and a piece this quiet is easier to live with over years than a loud one. It will not swallow a space; it breathes along with it. Craftsmen knot it by hand over a cotton warp, doubling each knot, and that doubling is where the strength of a thin rug comes from; a trace of recycled synthetic yarn is worked into the skeleton for the same reason.

02Which furniture, which room

At 167 × 231 cm it fits a smaller sitting room, a study, or the side of a bed. Centuries-old drawing has been re-colored for contemporary rooms — that is the whole idea of the series, and it is stated rather than implied. It sheds almost nothing.

03What the yarn is

Give it to a rug washer rather than trying anything at home. Handwoven in Afghanistan, double-knotted for strength. Wool over a cotton warp: thin, dense and durable. A trace of recycled synthetic yarn in the skeleton, for strength. 167 × 231 cm (5'6" × 7'7") — a study, a small sitting room, a bedside. Dark coffee brown, with classical motifs worked in close tones. Between matt and lustrous, depending on where the light comes from. Traditional drawing, deliberately re-colored for modern rooms. Very low shedding. One piece.

04The rule of care

Washing through a rug specialist. It is the rug that gets noticed in the second year rather than the first week, and that is usually the better order.