Tolkien drew some of these on scraps of paper with coloured pencils. As Aelfwine has already pointed out, nobody looking at book reproductions of any artwork are necessarily looking at true colour rendering. This is just one interpretation of Tolkien's work; colour choice may have been forced (thread choice), chosen to deviate deliberately, or been matched to inaccurate reproductions. I understand we all like focusing on minutiae, but these observations are bordering on vague criticism here, which seems pretty unfair.

I have no real interest in tapestries but these are spectacular.

The correct term (whether true or not) is "oversaturated" (not "overexposed", which in fact would tend to bleach out colors).

I think this and the others produced so far are absolutely stunning. Like any Tolkien 'adaptation' I take them with a pinch of salt and just enjoy them as they are.

It would, imo be very cool if these were somehow reproduced and used as props in the upcoming Amazon series where we could see them in use in some way. Of course even that would invite some criticism from some readers but I think it would be a cool touch all the same. I think they call that sort of thing Easter Eggs nowadays.

With regards to the saturated colours and whether those match the original illustration, people should remember that the original is also limited by the medium it was drawn in. If Tolkien had used felt-tip pens, it would likely have been more saturated. We can only guess as to what Tolkien's internal vision was, because it was in his head and his art was simply the best he could to at expressing it. Some interpretation on behalf of the weavers seems fair enough to me. They know a lot more about weaving than Tolkien did.

The originals are actually much more brightly coloured than most of the reproductions which have been published, as was clearly shown at the Oxford and Paris exhibitions. They actually enabled us to compare directly the originals with the photos on the catalogues and the difference was obvious. On some of these the paper was badly yellowed, which affected the tint, but the underlying colour was still clearly visible.

Incidentally, both carpets are not sketches, but fully drawn on proper paper. They are preserved in a separate folder from the Númenórean doodles. They were drawn between the 4th and 9th of December 1960 and preliminary sketches of some elements were drawn the previous month. (See H&S Chronology).
Like the Tile, alongside which they appear in Pictures, they would have required a substantial amount of time and forethought.
The woven one was the first to be drawn. (see Pictures 46, bottom left).

After having been to the museum and one of the reveals I would like to say - as an utter amateur, of course - that the weavers in that small town in the middle of French nowhere know their craft like almost no other in the world.

So, if they go for these colours I am about 111% sure they have spent a lot of time, a lot of preparation and bring in a massive amount of knowledge into what constitutes the colours Tolkien used or would have chosen.

In 90% of all cases people are looking at images on their monitors - and THAT is 100% giving you the wrong impression.

That I know as a former avid editor and publisher.

An article about the latest Moria Gate tapestry. They are getting very close to finishing the project with the final tapestry being unveiled in two years time.

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/pa ... x-de-tolkien_4855815.html