13'1" x 17'10" Peshawar Oriental Rug | Soltanabad All-Over Floral | Black Field, Brand New

This is a room-defining floor piece: 13'1" x 17'10" of hand-knotted wool on a cotton foundation, drawn in the Soltanabad manner with a black field carrying an unbroken all-over vine from one end to the other. The wool has that soft, slightly waxy luster that comes from hand spinning and a proper wash rather than a chemical shortcut, and the pile is even and full across all 214 inches of length. It is brand new, never walked on, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity. Anyone shopping oversize Oriental rugs at 13 feet of width is normally solving one problem, a great room or a long dining table where chairs need to stay on the rug when pulled back, and this one covers that span in a single handmade piece.

Design and Motifs

The field is a classic all-over floral design built on a slow, large-scale vine rather than a central medallion. Running up the center axis are broad shield-shaped palmettes filled with small scrolling devices, each one anchored by a thin diamond vine that links it to the next, so the eye travels the full length of the rug instead of stopping in the middle. Between them sit serrated lotus palmettes in rust and burgundy, 8 petal star rosettes drawn in ivory with fine red pencilling, and long acanthus leaves that curl back on themselves in the Soltanabad tradition. The scale is deliberately generous: individual blossoms measure a foot or more across, which is exactly how a design at this size should be handled, since a small repeat would look busy over 13 feet of width. The main border is burgundy, filled with alternating ivory palmettes and heavy black serrated leaves, and it is framed inside and out by narrow guard stripes in gold and ivory that keep the border from crowding the field.

A Black Ground with Burgundy, Ivory and Sage

Black is the hardest ground colour to get right in a handmade rug, and here it is soft rather than flat, with a faint warm depth where the light catches the pile and a subtle abrash that keeps the field alive over such a large expanse. Against it, the large palmettes read as antique gold and pale honey, aged down so nothing looks bright or new, with the lighter rosettes closer to true ivory and cream. Burgundy does the structural work: it fills the main border, outlines the big lotus flowers and pencils in the small details inside each palmette, and it shifts between a deep wine and a lighter brick tone depending on the wool. Sage green appears in the leaves and in the thin outlining of the vine work, cooling down the gold so the palette never tips into orange. The overall effect is high contrast but quiet, the sort of colouring that anchors a dark wood floor and sits comfortably with both traditional upholstery and cleaner modern furniture.

Peshawar Weaving and Quality

Peshawar in northwest Pakistan is one of the most serious hand-knotting centres working today, and its weavers built their reputation on reviving 19th century Soltanabad and Ziegler drawing at a scale most workshops will not attempt. A piece this large sits on the loom for well over a year, and you can read the discipline of the weaving on the back: straight, even rows, tight selvedges, and a firm handle with no waviness along either 17'10" side, which is what keeps an Oriental rug of this size lying flat once it is in the room. The wool is hand spun, which is why the colour breathes slightly from row to row instead of looking printed, and the pile is clipped medium so the large leaf forms keep their crisp outlines. Free shipping applies to all 50 states on this piece despite its weight, and the rug is delivered rolled and hand carried in, not left at the curb.