12' x 15' Aubusson Flat Weave Rug | Rose Bouquet Medallion | Brand New, Never Used

This is a full 180 square feet of hand-woven Aubusson drawing, worked as a flat weave with no pile at all, so the roses, ribbons and acanthus leaves read across the floor the way they would in a wall tapestry. The field is a soft wheat beige, the outer band a warm camel, and the whole surface stays low, smooth and quiet, which is exactly why designers reach for this style when a room already has patterned upholstery or heavy drapery. At 12 feet by 15 feet it is genuinely room-size, wide enough to carry a 10 foot dining table with chairs pulled out or to float a large seating group with the sofa legs fully on the rug, and it sits among our oversize 12x15 rugs as one of the easiest to live with. It is brand new, never walked on, and ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The center holds an oval cartouche framed by a beaded ring and a rocaille scroll surround, and inside it sits a woven basket spilling full-blown roses, star-shaped blossoms, buds and a curled horn, with a length of ribbon trailing to one side. Four large scrolled frames reach out from the medallion toward the corners, each carrying its own spray of roses and foliage, while smaller bouquets drop at the midpoints of all 4 sides. Look closely at the ground between the scrolls and you will find pale ivory rosettes woven a shade lighter than the field, a subtle secondary layer that only shows when light rakes across the surface. The inner border is a ribbon of cream tulip and heart forms over a tan band, and the whole composition closes with a plain camel outer band that frames the drawing the way a mat frames a print. The drawing is symmetrical and formal, but the flowers are loosely rendered rather than stiff, which keeps it from feeling like a reproduction exercise.

A Palette of Wheat Beige, Sage and Antique Rose

Color is the whole argument for this piece. The field is a warm wheat beige that shifts toward ivory in the medallion and deepens to camel and walnut brown at the borders and in the outlines of the acanthus leaves. The flowers are antique rose and blush pink, shaded from a deep rose heart out to nearly white petal edges, with a scatter of small soft blue-gray blossoms for contrast. Leaves run through sage green, olive and tan, and the scrollwork is drawn in gold and cream with rust-red contour lines that give the acanthus its definition at the corners. Nothing here is saturated, which is precisely the appeal: this belongs with the beige and ivory rugs that anchor a pale room without dictating it, and it works as easily over wide-plank oak as it does over dark walnut or limestone.

Aubusson Weaving and Where This One Was Made

The Aubusson design belongs to the French tapestry workshops of the Creuse valley, where 18th century weavers built floral medallion floor coverings in slit tapestry technique for chateau and salon interiors. Today the finest hand-woven work in that tradition comes out of the workshops of China, where the flat tapestry weave is done entirely by hand on vertical looms, a weft-faced structure with no knots and no pile, which is why the back reads almost as clearly as the front and why the rug lies dead flat under furniture. The wool is tightly beaten, the color joins are clean, and the outlines hold their curve across a 15 foot span, which takes a disciplined weaver. It is an honest Made in China piece, new and unused, and if you are weighing this style against a knotted alternative, our guide to Oriental rug types explains how the two constructions differ in feel, weight and wear.