A Rum Fellow’s latest rug design is set to be seen by more than three million people a year.
The retailer and supplier has been commissioned to create a unique design for the newly renovated Sainsbury Wing at The National Gallery, London.
The custom hand-knotted rug sits in Crivelli’s Bookshop on the new mezzanine floor of the gallery’s contemporary refurbishment, bridging modern design with historic detail, with Caroline Lindsell, A Rum Fellow co-founder and creative director taking inspiration from the National Gallery’s original historic building.
She was drawn to the intricacy of the traditional tiled flooring throughout the original galleries: in particular, the geometry, scale and natural formations within the marble and the juxtaposition of decorative craftsmanship with architectural ironwork details.
‘It was a privilege to create a design for such an iconic institution. Spending time in the gallery and drawing from its architecture and history allowed the design to grow naturally from the space itself,’ she says.
The colour palette draws from a nearby landmark within the gallery: Paula Rego’s monumental mural Crivelli’s Garden, commissioned especially for the Sainsbury Wing. The artwork’s rich contrast of copper and blue is subtly woven into the rug design, adding a visual thread of continuity within the space.
