7'10" x 8'8" Chinese Art Deco Rug | Carved Green Field, Floral Sprays | Signed AL-B

At 7'10" x 8'8" this hand-knotted piece sits only 10 inches off a true square, a proportion that solves rooms most rectangles fight with. It is a classic Art Deco Chinese Oriental rug: a deep green field carrying 5 loosely scattered flower sprays, a jet black outer band, and a pile that has been hand carved so the drawing stands up in relief rather than lying flat. The wool is thick and glossy at a 3/8" pile, knotted on a cotton foundation with heavy ivory fringe at both ends. Two initials, "AL-B", are woven into the lower field in rust, the sort of monogram that points to a commissioned order rather than open stock. Condition is excellent, with full even pile and clean, straight sides. Every rug we ship carries our certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The field is not empty, it is quietly filled. A continuous lattice of small squares, each holding a 4 petal rosette, runs corner to corner in a tone barely darker than the ground, so it reads as texture from standing height and as pattern from a chair. Over that ground float 5 naturalistic sprays, a central bouquet of open peonies with a second flower behind it, and 4 smaller camellia and blossom groups set toward the corners, each with curling gold and olive leaves. The border is pure Deco geometric fretwork: a broad band of interlocking angular keys framed by narrow ivory guard stripes, with a running meander on the inner guard and a plain black band closing the outside. Where the two vocabularies meet, the shearer has carved a groove around every petal, leaf and fret line, which is what gives the whole surface its low relief sculpted look, clearest in the close-up photographs.

A Deep Green Field with Black, Ivory and Blush Accents

The dominant color is a deep sea green that leans emerald in bright light and closer to teal in shade, with the lattice and fret drawing laid in charcoal black on top of it, so the palette works almost as a two tone study before any flower appears. The blossoms supply the warmth: soft blush pink shading to coral in the peony centers, cream at the petal tips, and leaves worked in butter gold, tan and a muted olive that keeps them from shouting. Ivory guard stripes separate field from border and border from the black outer band, and the same ivory returns in the cotton fringe. The initials in the lower field are picked out in rust. Buyers hunting for saturated green rugs rarely find one this deep with a black frame this clean, and the combination sits well against warm wood floors, brass and dark lacquer.

Chinese Workshop Weaving and the Carved Pile Tradition

This is honest Chinese workshop production in the Art Deco manner that made Chinese rugs famous in the West: open fields, borrowed Deco geometry, naturalistic flowers, and a thick wool pile finished by hand with shears. The carving step is what separates a good Chinese rug from a plain one, since every outline is cut by eye after the weaving comes off the loom, and a shaky hand shows immediately. Here the grooves are even and the flower edges are crisp. The knotting is done on a cotton warp and weft, giving the rug the weight and lie-flat body you can feel in the back photograph, and the wool takes dye with the sheen that Chinese flocks are known for. If you are weighing this against a village or city piece from elsewhere, our guide to the difference between Persian and Oriental rugs lays out how the two traditions diverge in knot, drawing and finish.