Madder red, indigo blue, walnut brown and pomegranate gold — the four natural dyes behind almost every traditional Awadh carpet.
Madder root gives the warm brick red that anchors most traditional Awadhi fields. Left longer in the vat it deepens towards maroon; pulled early it comes out closer to terracotta.
Indigo is the only true blue in the natural palette. The yarn goes into the vat yellow-green and turns blue in the air as it oxidises — one of the few genuinely theatrical moments in the whole process.
Walnut husk covers the browns and warm greys, and it is the gentlest of the four on the fibre. Much of our tonal, modern collection sits on a walnut base.
Pomegranate rind, often over-dyed with a little iron, gives the soft antique gold in the borders. It shifts slightly across a carpet, which is exactly what we want.
None of these colours is loud on the day it is finished. They are chosen for what they look like in ten years, in afternoon light, on a floor that gets used.
