4' x 6' Silk Oriental Rug | Dome of Esfahan Medallion | Signed and Brand New

Hold this one at an angle and the whole surface changes: silk pile catches light from one direction and goes velvet dark from the other, which is exactly why the Dome of Esfahan drawing was chosen for it. The design copies the painted underside of a mosque dome, seen from directly below, and the weaver has used a silk pile on a silk foundation so that the radiating ribs appear to lift off the field. A woven cartouche signs the end border above the pale silk fringe. This is a small, dense, tightly drawn Oriental rug in brand new condition, never walked on, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming that every knot was tied by hand.

Design and Motifs

The center is a full circle rather than the usual lobed medallion, filled with hundreds of pointed cartouches that shrink as they converge on a small 8 petal rosette at the crown. Each cartouche carries its own flower head, so the ribs of the dome are drawn entirely in blossoms. Above and below the circle sit arched panels supported on slender columns, with hanging mosque lamps and a flowering urn in the center arch, the architectural framing that gives the Gonbad design its depth. The 4 corners of the field are filled with vases of roses and curling vine, and blue cornerpieces carry their own small stepped medallions. The main border runs a serpentine ribbon of plum and blue lobes packed with roses and palmettes, fenced by ivory guard stripes of meandering flower heads and a narrow gold chain stripe at the outer edge.

Plum, Sapphire and Ivory: The Color Story

The dominant reading is plum and aubergine. The dome ground is a near black aubergine that lets the flower heads glow, while the surrounding field and the outer selvage band settle into a clearer grape purple that photographs almost lilac where the silk turns to the light. Against that, the cornerpieces and the main border open into a bright sapphire and navy blue, the single strongest contrast on the rug. Ivory does the structural work, outlining the dome ring, the arches and every guard stripe. Inside those frames the small flowers run through coral, rose pink, peach, lilac, teal and pale sky blue, with sage and forest green leaves and warm gold tendrils holding the whole palette together. It is a saturated, jewel toned scheme, regal rather than soft, and it reads richest in a room with lamplight rather than flat overhead light.

Weaving Quality and Where It Was Made

This rug was made in China, in the silk weaving workshops that have spent the last several decades perfecting classical dome and medallion drawing at very high knot counts. A design like this cannot be faked at a coarse gauge: the converging ribs of the dome and the single row outlines around each cartouche only resolve if the knot is small enough to draw a curve, and the reverse shown in the photographs is correspondingly fine and even. Silk warps let the weaver pack more knots across the width and also account for the thin, supple handle and the crisp, low clipped pile. At 4 x 6 Oriental rug scale, a piece of this fineness is as often hung on a wall or laid where it will be looked at closely as it is used underfoot, and in brand new condition it has its full sheen intact.