2'9" x 21'8" Indian Mahi Tabriz Design Runner Rug | Wool and Silk Pile | Brand New

This 2'9" x 21'8" runner is an unusually long piece, hand-knotted in India in the Mahi Tabriz idiom with a wool and silk pile that shifts in tone as you walk its length. Very few looms attempt a run this long, because a single 21'8" weaving has to hold its width, its border rhythm and its medallion spacing from one end to the other with no seams and no piecing, and this one does. The pile is clipped low and the weave is dense, which is why the tiny herati detail reads as crisp drawing instead of blurring into texture. It is the right proportion for the kind of long corridors and upstairs landings most hallway runner rugs are simply too short to cover. Brand new, never used, in perfect condition, and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The field carries the mahi, or fish, drawing: a fine diamond lattice, each diamond holding a small rosette flanked by 4 curved lanceolate leaves, the sickle shapes that gave the pattern its fish name. Spaced evenly down the 21'8" length are lobed medallions in soft taupe and brown, each outlined in ivory pearl and filled with the same miniature herati units at reduced scale, with quarter medallions answering them at the corners of each repeat. The main border runs ivory, set with 8 petal rosettes and palmettes joined by a meandering vine, and is held between narrow guard stripes of tiny scrolling flowerheads. Nothing in the layout is improvised: the repeat is measured so the medallions land symmetrically whether the runner is seen whole or from one end.

Ivory Ground with Brown, Blue and Rust

The ground is a warm ivory, closer to unbleached cream than to white, and it is what keeps such a densely drawn field from reading as heavy. Over it the lattice is picked out in brown and soft camel, with the diamond centers alternating between deep navy blue, slate blue and dark charcoal so the eye never settles into a single rhythm. Rust and terracotta carry the rosettes and the smaller leaf tips, with clear red dots at the heart of many diamonds and small touches of green in the vinework. The medallions sit in a muted mushroom brown that reads almost lavender under strong light, an effect of the silk in the pile. Fringes and side finish are ivory, matching the field rather than contrasting with it.

Woven in India

India is where most of the world's best contemporary hand-knotted work is now produced, and this runner is a fair example of why. It is built on a cotton foundation with a wool and silk pile, knotted tight enough that the back shows clean, even rows and the pattern is as legible from the reverse as from the face. The mahi drawing associated with the Tabriz weaving tradition is one of the hardest all-over designs to keep honest at speed, since every diamond has to line up with its neighbor across 260 inches, and the weavers here held the count. If you are weighing this against other Oriental rug options for a long hall, the combination of this length, this fineness and a brand new pile is not a common one to find in stock.