8'1" x 11'6" Indian Oriental Rug | Mahi Tabriz Fish Design | Wool and Silk, Brand New

This 8'1" x 11'6" hand-knotted rug carries the Mahi Tabriz drawing, the fish pattern that has anchored formal medallion rugs for well over a century, worked here in a wool and silk pile on a cotton foundation. The silk sits in the small rosettes and along the medallion outline, so the burgundy field stays matte and deep while the cream center and ivory border catch light and shift as you walk past it. The pile is clipped low and even, the knotting is tight enough to hold every 8 petal rosette cleanly, and the rug is brand new with no wear anywhere on it. It ships with our certificate of authenticity, and at this footprint it belongs with our other 8x11 hand-knotted rugs that sit under a full sofa and chair arrangement.

Design and Motifs

The field is a full Herati lattice, the pattern dealers call mahi or fish: a fine diamond trellis where every compartment holds a small rosette flanked by 4 curling lanceolate leaves, the leaves that gave the fish its name. Set on top of that grid is a scalloped cream medallion with a dark lobed core rosette at its heart, a slim pendant reaching toward each end of the rug and a small lobed ornament pinned to each side. The 4 corner spandrels are drawn in a blackened tone and filled with the same lattice, so the cream medallion and pale spandrels frame the red field rather than interrupting it. The main border runs ivory with alternating round palmettes and boteh paisley heads linked by a brick red vine, and it is fenced by several narrow guard bands of taupe, camel and navy, including a reciprocal trefoil stripe against the claret selvage.

Color Story: Burgundy, Cream and Soft Beige

The ground is a deep burgundy, closer to wine than to fire red, and the lattice over it is picked out in ivory, pale sky blue, olive green, rust and a dull gold, which is what keeps a dense allover field from reading flat. The medallion ground is a warm cream edged in a pinkish mauve outline, and its core rosette is a near black charcoal that repeats in the corner spandrels for balance. The ivory main border carries sage green and soft beige palmettes with brick red drawing and small crimson buds, while the guard stripes step through mocha, camel and a chalky blue. Brown and beige do most of the transitional work between the red field and the ivory frame, so the rug sits comfortably with walnut furniture, cognac leather and warm white walls. Ends are bound in claret with an ivory fringe.

Origin and Weaving Quality: Made in India

This is an honest Made in India piece, and that is a compliment. India is where most of the world's good contemporary hand-knotted work is now produced, with looms run at knot counts and finishing standards that older production centers rarely match today, which is exactly why a traditional Oriental rug in the Mahi Tabriz drawing can be woven this crisply. The drawing itself belongs to the Tabriz workshop tradition, and reproducing it properly is a test of the loom: the diamond trellis has to stay square across 8 feet of width, the medallion scallops have to curve without stepping, and the border palmettes have to repeat on the same rhythm around all 4 corners. Look at the corner resolutions in the photographs and the lattice behind the fringe, and you can see the weavers held the graph. The wool takes the dyes evenly, the silk highlights are clipped flush with the wool, and the back is tight and regular with no lazy lines.