Woven to your measurements in Malwa and sent to you direct. Delivery included in the price.
The views above are drawings of this carpet, in its own colours, to the measurements shown. Photographs of the finished piece follow on request.
No 03 · Olive green, cream and black
The carpet that makes the room, woven to your measurements in about a fortnight
The court medallion in olive green, cream and black, made for your floor — without the dealer's five thousand pounds, without settling for a size that nearly fits, and without a rug anyone else on your street owns.
- Woven to the size you choose, after you order
- The medallion layout of the 1500s court workshops, unchanged
- Delivered to your door with no delivery charge
- Made by a weaving household in Malwa, paid for this carpet
- 24 hours to change your mind, free
Questions before you commit? Write to us — we answer within a working day.
Why it costs what it costs
The pattern is five hundred years old.
The loom is new.
from a dealer in Pimlico
to the size of your room
The central medallion, the quarter medallions in the corners, the pendants above and below: that arrangement was settled in the court workshops of the 1500s and has not changed. What you are paying for in a dealer’s shop is the age. We are not selling age. We are selling the design, and we say so.
How yours is made
Nobody weaves it until you ask
You give the size
A carpet that is nearly right is a carpet you stop seeing. You pick from four standard sizes or send us the measurements of the room, and that is what goes on the loom.
A household takes the work
The order goes to a weaving family in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, who are paid for that carpet. Our warehouse is in the same district. There is no agent between us.
It comes to you direct
Finished, bound, rolled in tissue and tied, and put on an express aircraft from India to your address. No importer, no showroom, no century of merchants in between.
| Saracen Threads | A high-street rug | An antique dealer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Woven to your measurements | Whatever is in stock | Whatever survived |
| Pattern | The court layout, unchanged | A print of it | The court layout |
| Price | £299 to £899 | £150–£400 | £3,000–£8,000 |
| Who is paid | The weaving household | A factory | The dealer |
| Wait | 14 days | Next day | Immediate |
Prices for the other two columns are typical UK retail at the time of writing and are given for comparison only.
The facts, without the romance
Specification
| Piece | The Olive Court, No 03 |
|---|---|
| Construction | Machine-woven pile, hand-bound and hand-finished |
| Colour | Olive green, cream and black |
| Sizes made | 122 × 183 cm, 152 × 213 cm, 183 × 274 cm, 244 × 305 cm, or to your measurements |
| Country of origin | India |
| Made | To order, after purchase. About 14 days to a UK address. |
| Care | Vacuum with the beater bar off. Blot spills, never rub. Professional clean every few years. |
Dimensions are as measured on the finished piece and may vary by up to two centimetres, as they do on anything made by hand. Composition is stated as verified with the workshop. We make no claim about the age of the carpet, because it has none: yours will be woven this season.
What buyers say
We have none yet, and we will not invent any
This carpet is new to the shop. Writing reviews we did not receive is against the law in the United Kingdom, and it is also the fastest way to lose someone like you. So this space stays empty until a real buyer fills it.
What we can offer instead: 24 hours to cancel free of charge before anything is cut, a full refund if it arrives damaged or unlike its description, and a named person at the other end of orders@saracenthreads.com who will answer you.
Before you order
Questions people actually ask
How long will it take to arrive?
About a fortnight. Nothing sits in a warehouse waiting for you: your carpet goes on the loom after you order, in the size you chose. Allow roughly ten days for the weaving and finishing, two to four days in the air, and a day at the border.
Will I have to pay anything when it arrives?
Yes, and we would rather you knew now. The parcel comes to you direct from India, which makes you the importer. On delivery the carrier collects UK import VAT of 20% of the value of the goods — about £80 on a £399 carpet — plus a handling fee of around £12. Neither goes to us, and we cannot waive them. There is no customs duty on Indian home textiles entering the UK.
Why is delivery free?
It is not free, it is included. There is one price on the page and that is the whole of what you pay us: no delivery line, no booking fee, nothing added at the checkout.
Is it wool?
We will tell you the exact composition on the product page, and only once we have it in writing from the workshop. Suppliers in this trade write "woollen" on things that are not wool, and we would rather leave the line blank than print something we cannot stand behind.
Is this an antique?
No, and we never claim otherwise. The pattern is five hundred years old; the carpet is woven this season. That is the entire reason it costs what it does instead of five thousand pounds.
Can I have a size that is not listed?
Yes. Send us the measurements of the room before you order and we will quote. Because it is woven to your measurements, the same cancellation terms apply as for the standard sizes.
What if it does not suit the room?
You have 24 hours from payment to cancel for any reason and be refunded in full. After that the carpet is on the loom and, because it is made to your size, the usual fourteen-day cooling-off period does not apply. If it arrives faulty, damaged or unlike its description, none of that matters — you are covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and we will replace or refund it.
Do I have to send it back to get a refund?
Almost never. Return carriage from Britain to central India costs more than the carpet, so if something is wrong we refund or replace and you keep it. Send us photographs and we will sort it.
Who actually makes them?
Weaving households in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. Our warehouse is in the same district and it is a family business. When you order, the work goes to a household who are paid for that carpet. There is no agent in the middle and no importer between us and you.
Do you deliver outside the United Kingdom?
Not yet. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland only. Write to us if you are elsewhere and we will tell you honestly whether we can manage it.
Why are there no reviews?
Because nobody has written one yet, and inventing them is against the law in the United Kingdom as well as being the fastest way to lose a customer with any judgement. When real buyers send them, they appear here with their purchase verified.
How do I clean it?
Vacuum with the beater bar switched off. Blot spills straight away rather than rubbing them. A professional clean every few years is plenty.
One more time
The Olive Court
£399
5 × 7 ft · delivered · import VAT of about £80 payable to the carrier
Put it on the loom 24 hours to change your mind, free