Handmade Camel and Ivory Grass Rug
The Wheat Field rug is a camel and ivory grass rug, handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk and measuring 307 x 249 cm. It covers 7.6 square metres.
The design up close
A warm camel ground carries the whole design in ivory. Fine broken lines, small checks and diamonds sit in narrow stripes that run side by side across the rug, with calmer, plainer stretches between them. Seen from above, the surface looks soft and almost plain. Lower down, at the angle you meet it when you walk into a room, the pattern comes up.
Look closely at one stripe and you can pick out the parts. There are chevron bands, where short ivory lines meet in a V and repeat like a herringbone. There are rows of tiny checks, a lattice of small diamonds, and a band of upright dashes that stand like fence posts. Each keeps to its own stripe, so the rug reads as a quiet sequence of textures.
The ivory is soft and a little warm, close to cream, which keeps the contrast gentle against the camel. The sheen shifts with the light, so one end of a stripe can look pale and the next tan as you walk past. The ends finish in a white fringe.
Indian weaving and this rug
India has a long rug weaving tradition, with centres including Agra and the Bhadohi and Mirzapur area of Uttar Pradesh. Indian workshops weave many modern and abstract designs, often to order, in a wide range of colours and sizes. Wool is the most common pile, and some rugs mix wool with bamboo silk, as this one does. The quiet stripes of this rug belong with the contemporary designs.
How this camel and ivory grass rug is made
This camel and ivory grass rug is handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk. Bamboo silk is a viscose (rayon) fibre made from bamboo cellulose, with a silk-like sheen. It is softer and less resilient than wool, so a rug with bamboo silk suits rooms with lighter foot traffic. The wool gives the pile its body and a matte finish. Matte wool sits next to shinier fibre in the pattern, so the stripes glow from one angle and fade from another.
Sizing it for your room
At 307 x 249 cm, this camel and ivory grass rug is a large rug, 3.07 by 2.49 metres. In a living room, a three-seat sofa about 2.2 m wide, centred along the long side, leaves 43.5 cm of rug on each side of it.
Under a six-seat dining table of 180 x 90 cm, the rug extends 63.5 cm past each end of the table and 79.5 cm past each side, a generous margin around the chairs. Under a queen bed 153 cm wide, set across the width, you get 48 cm on each side.
Looking after your camel and ivory grass rug
Vacuum it on a suction-only setting, or with the beater bar switched off, so the brush does not pull at the pile. Turn it around every six to twelve months so sun and foot traffic wear it evenly. Blot spills with a clean white cloth and cold water rather than rubbing them in. When it needs a full clean, choose a cleaner who washes handmade rugs by hand.
Put a good underlay beneath it. It stops the rug sliding on timber or tiles, adds cushioning and takes some of the wear off the pile. Moths like wool in dark, quiet spots, such as the part of a rug under a sofa, so vacuum those areas often and lift the furniture now and then.
Rubbing spills can dull bamboo silk, so this rug needs a cleaner who handles that fibre by hand.
See it before you buy
Visit our showroom at 307 Penshurst St, North Willoughby, open every day from 11 am to 4:30 pm, to see this camel and ivory grass rug in person. If you would rather judge it in your own room, with your own light and furniture, book a home trial and we will bring a selection to you.
You can see this camel and ivory grass rug in our showroom or at home. Browse more Contemporary rugs, or ask about a custom made rug in your own size and colour. Read more about bamboo silk and viscose.
