12' x 18' Jaipur Oriental Rug | Black Field with Ivory Floral Border | Oversize, New

This is a big, serious floor piece: 216 square feet of hand-knotted wool, woven in Jaipur on a cotton foundation, with a deep black field carrying an all-over floral design and a wide camel ivory border. Rugs at this scale are made on purpose-built looms by a team of weavers, which is why genuine oversize rugs of this quality are far less common than 9x12 pieces, and why the drawing has to hold its rhythm across nearly 18 feet without drifting. It has never been used, the pile is full, the ends and sides are original and tight, and the photographs of the back show a clean, even knot. Every rug we ship carries a certificate of authenticity confirming it is hand-knotted, along with its size, materials and origin.

Design and Motifs

The field is an all-over floral repeat rather than a medallion layout, so the pattern reads the same from every seat in the room. Staggered rows of large 8 petal rosettes anchor the composition, each one drawn with a small cusped center, curled inner tendrils and a serrated outline. Between them sit paired arabesque leaves, split palmettes and fine vine scroll that ties the whole field into a continuous lattice. The ends are finished with upright blossoming stems and tall serrated leaves that give the design a clear top and bottom. The main border is a classic turtle palmette and rosette meander on ivory, alternating a broad leafy palmette with a round flowerhead, framed by narrow guard stripes of running leaf and tiny star flowers. A plain black outer band and ivory cotton fringe close the rug at both ends.

The Black Field and Its Ivory, Olive and Rust Palette

Black is the hardest ground color to weave well, because every motif has to be lit from within rather than outlined against a light field. Here the black is dense and slightly inky, with wool that takes the light differently as you walk around it. Against it the weaver has set antique gold and olive green rosettes, ivory and cream vinework, rust and terracotta outlines, and small touches of deep red at the flower centers. Several of the larger rosettes are shaded with soft rose and a muted grey blue in the petals, which keeps the repeat from looking mechanical. The border shifts the balance completely: a warm camel ivory ground with olive leaves, rust palmettes and red flowerheads, so the rug frames itself in light and holds the dark field in the middle. Black, ivory, olive green and rust give it a wide range with wood tones, brass and leather.

Jaipur Weaving and the Quality of the Knot

Jaipur, in Rajasthan, is one of the great living centers of hand-knotted weaving, and India is where most of the world's best contemporary hand-knotted work is now produced. This is a fully hand-knotted Oriental rug, knot by knot on a cotton warp and weft, not tufted and not machine made: the reverse photographs show the pattern coming through cleanly on the back, which is the honest test. The wool is well spun and lustrous, the pile is cut low enough to hold the fine vine detail, and the selvages are firmly overcast in black. For buyers shopping 12x18 rugs, that combination of scale, sound construction and unused condition is the part worth paying attention to, and it will only improve as the wool burnishes with use.