It sounds like acontradiction in terms – a bespoke, made-to-order rag rug. This is not theusual kind of rag rug – made from strips of worn-out cloths in various fabrics.All of the fabrics used in this rug were chosen specifically for their colorsand textures and woven into a rug by a Norwegian artisan.
In 1968, my In-laws builta second home in the mountains of central Norway and furnished it withScandinavian modern design. By the late 1960s, the term “Scandinavian modern”was well-known, and all the furnishings in the lodge represented that style.Why cotton/mixed blend woven rugs instead of rya shag rugs, which were theheight of modernity back then? This lodge was in the middle of ski country, andmy mother-in-law chose this kind of rug because it was practical. With many people going in and out withskis and snowy boots, she felt that flat rugs without pile would be the better choice – easy to clean, quick to dry. She commissioned severalrugs from Husfliden, which was established in 1892 to promote Norwegian homecrafts. Eventually, Husfliden concentrated on design and sold the works of individual talented artisans from all over the country and developed into a venue featuring the best of Norwegian design. It stillexists and still makes things to order (mostly national costumes, butoccasionally both rya and rag rugs), but now it mostly sells glassware,ceramics and textile by Norwegian artists.
This particular rugfeatures a selection of robust hand-woven fabrics, which include variousthicknesses of thread/yarn and the occasional bit of thinner woven fabric. So faras I can tell, all fabrics that were ripped into rags were hand-woven. Thecolors are many shades of golds and browns (often in the same strip of cloth)with a little avocado green, accented with brilliant turquoise and teal blue.This rug has a subtle design of five stripes, formed from twisting the rags in the appropriate places. Thisparticular rug measures 140 by 347 cm (55 by 136.5 inches or 4.5 by 11.4 feet) and is in “like new”condition with no visible signs of wear at all, because basically, it didn\'t get any wear. They didn\'t use the lodge that often (it was over a 5-hour drive from Oslo), and a few years later, she bought new rugs, so this one has been in storage for many years (but it doesn\'t have any smells). It is the larger of two rugsin this color combination. See my other sale for the smaller rug.
This rug can be shipped from either Norway or Sweden. Postage is lower from Norway, but if the rug is going to a country in the European Union, it may still be better to send it from Sweden, which is a member, so then there are no customs (or delays while the package waits to be cleared) and vat charges.Please note that shipping from Europe to the US takes 2-3 weeks, and it is not unusual for an international package to be delayed in customs for another 2-3 weeks. Postage from Norway to anywhere in Europe is $90 and to the rest of the world is $160.If you think that the cost of postage sounds scary, just think of it this way:If this rug were sent from Tampa to Long Beach, CA, postage would cost $95.75 (with insurance and packing), so another $64.25 for those extra 4000 miles isn\'t all that bad! And you won’t find a rug like this one in Tampa! Please disregard the postage calculator. It does not give the correct shipping cost for this item. Shipping is as stated above. If the postage is less than estimated, I will refund the difference. Please do not pay until I have sent an invoice. I have only estimated the dimensions of the boxes, and there could be a snag. Once I have boxed your rug, I will send an invoice for the exact amount.
