10' x 14' Sheikh Safi Oriental Rug | Ivory Field & Navy Medallion | Hand-Knotted in India, New

The Sheikh Safi pattern is one of the most demanding drawings a weaver can take on, and this 10' x 14' piece handles it at full room scale without a single lazy passage. The field is ivory, filled edge to edge with fine scrolling vinework, and it is anchored by a black-blue star medallion with a pale blue rosette at its center. Every knot is tied by hand in fine wool on a cotton foundation, the pile is full and unwalked, and the piece has never been used. This is a genuine hand-knotted Oriental rug, not a machine product, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity documenting its size, materials and construction.

Design and Motifs

The layout follows the classical Sheikh Safi formula drawn in the Tabriz manner: a large 16 point medallion in black-blue, surrounded by a ring of small lobed cartouches and satellite rosettes that radiate outward like a sunburst. Inside the medallion sits a soft blue disc holding an 8 petal rosette and curling arabesque tendrils in burgundy, olive and gold. Above and below the center hang two pendant vase motifs, each one drawn with a stepped neck, a round navy body and small paired rosettes, the detail you can see clearly in the close-up photograph. The ivory ground between all of this is never left empty: it carries a continuous lattice of palmettes, split leaves, rosettes and fine vine scroll, with 4 corner spandrels repeating the medallion vocabulary at reduced scale. The surround is a 5 band border system, a wide indigo main band of connected palmettes and leafy vines flanked by rust and tan reciprocal guards and narrow slate blue minor stripes, which frames the field and keeps the eye moving back toward the center.

A Study in Ivory, Black Blue, Olive and Rust

The dominant color is a warm ivory, closer to unbleached cream than to stark white, and the wool takes light so well that the field reads paler in the open areas and slightly deeper where the pile lies against the nap. Against that ground the palette runs dark and rich: black-blue in the medallion, the spandrels and the main border, deep rust and oxblood in the palmettes and the inner guard, olive and moss green through the leaves, and a soft dusty blue in the minor stripes and the medallion core. Small quantities of old gold, caramel, pale rose and a chalky celadon are scattered through the flowerheads, and it is these minor colors that keep such a dark border from turning flat. The overall effect is a formal, low-glare color scheme that sits comfortably with walnut and mahogany furniture, cream upholstery and warm brass, and it is forgiving in a room that sees real traffic because the mid-tone rust and olive hide footfall.

Made in India: Where This Weaving Quality Comes From

This rug was hand-knotted in India, which is where most of the world's best contemporary hand-knotted work is now produced, and we say that with confidence rather than apology. The northern Indian weaving centers took on the classical Tabriz repertoire decades ago and the workshops that survived are the ones that kept the knot count and the drawing honest. You can see it on the reverse: a clean, even grid with no loose rows, crisp outlines where one color meets the next, and curved lines in the arabesques that hold their shape instead of stepping. The pile is fine wool with good body and a clear sheen, the selvages are tight and the cotton fringe is original. At 10 by 14 it is a true room-size piece for a formal living room, a large dining table or a great room, and you can compare it against our other 10 x 14 rugs and the wider selection of hand-knotted Oriental rugs before you decide.