Columns Sienna Rug

Earthenware, embers and autumn bracken all come to mind when you first unroll this rug in Sienna. The ground is a deep, warm red, and over it run columns of marsala, rust and taupe, each one raised by a double layered weave so the pattern reads almost like relief. Its palette pays homage to Benita Otte, one of the leading weavers at the Bauhaus.

Lay it in a Cotswold cottage with flagstones and an open fire, or against deep green panelling, and the reds glow like the coals in the grate. A study or bedroom takes 140 x 200 cm comfortably. For a sitting room, look at 170 x 240 cm or 200 x 300 cm, while 250 x 350 cm and 300 x 400 cm give a round dining table and its chairs, a proper footing.

In India, a pair of craftspeople work it on a handloom, no electricity involved, in 80% wool and 20% cotton. Expect a thickness of roughly 15 mm, reduced to 10 mm in 250 x 350 cm and 300 x 400 cm. The double layer is finished by hand and the short ends carry fringes. It is fine over underfloor heating, and handwork means small variations. Please do not wash it. Hoover without a beater bar or spinning brush, press a dry white cloth onto any spill, trim loose threads with scissors instead of pulling, and call in a specialist cleaner when it needs more.