ANCIENT SUN Wool warp, hand-dyed wool weft 30 by 50 inches, $1,350 (shown) 42 by 70 inches,$2,500 This rug originates in a sensation rather than an image: the smell of dusty dry earth and ripe golden grass and feeling dazed with well-being in the warmth of the sun. Curiously, the design that finally embodied this feeling for me was the traditional layout of a carpet with a center field surrounded by a figured border. BACK