8'10" x 11'11" Serapi Design Oriental Rug | Coral Red Geometric Medallion | New Hand-Knotted Wool, Made in India

This 8'10" x 11'11" Serapi is brand new, hand-knotted in 100% wool on a cotton foundation, and drawn in the big, confident geometry that made the Serapi name. The back tag, photographed here, reads 100% wool pile and Made in India, and the rug ships with our certificate of authenticity. Its footprint sits in the 9x12 rug class that most American living rooms and dining rooms are planned around, so a sofa group sits fully on the pile or a 10 seat table clears with room for the chairs. If you are weighing a hand-knotted Oriental rug against a tufted or machine-made lookalike, this is the real thing: knot by knot, wool weft, hand-finished selvedges and fringe that is an extension of the warp.

Design and Motifs

The layout is the classic Serapi formula from the Heriz district: one large stepped medallion holding the center, anchor-shaped pendants running north and south, and broad ivory corner spandrels that cut the field into a strong octagonal shape. Inside the medallion sits a gold ground carrying 4 dark rectangular panels, 4 salmon cartouches with small floral boxes, and a tiny red and green square at the exact center, all outlined with serrated teal sawtooth edging. The coral field around it is filled with angular palmettes, serrated leaves, hooked rosettes and stemmed blossoms, each drawn in straight lines rather than curves, which is exactly how a village-scale geometric rug should read. The dark main border carries a repeating vine with palmettes and 8 petal rosettes, framed on both sides by narrow guard stripes of small 4 petal flowers, and the ivory spandrels are drawn with large curling vines and stylized blossoms that give the corners their own composition.

A Coral Red Field Against Gold, Teal and Chocolate Brown

The field is a warm coral red, closer to brick and terracotta than to cherry, and it shifts slightly from panel to panel the way hand-dyed wool does, giving the ground depth rather than a flat printed look. Against that red the medallion reads in soft saffron gold with salmon and apricot inner panels and a near-black brown core, so the center of the rug carries the strongest contrast. Teal blue is the connective color: it outlines the medallion, fills the large palmettes at the top and bottom of the field, and reappears in the rosettes of the border. Ivory runs through the spandrels, the guard stripes and the small leaf tips, cooling the whole composition down, while sage and pine green show in the serrated leaves and in the small border flowers. The main border is a deep chocolate brown, dark enough at a distance to read almost black, which is what makes the red and gold interior jump. It is a warm, multi-colored palette that lives comfortably with oak, walnut, leather and brass.

Made in India: Where the Best Hand-Knotted Serapi Weaving Happens Now

India is where most of the world's good contemporary hand-knotted work is now made, and we say that with confidence after handling both sides of the market for decades. The weaving here is honest: a tight, even cotton foundation, a full-bodied wool pile with real luster in the raking light of the showroom photos, straight sides, square corners, and a knot count generous enough to hold the sawtooth outlines and the small floral boxes inside the medallion without the drawing breaking down. Serapi weaving is meant to be lived on. The wool is dense and springy underfoot, the geometric drawing forgives the traffic of a dining room or a busy family room, and the darker border takes the wear at the edges where a rug usually shows it first. This one has never been on a floor, so the pile is at full height and the colors are at their opening strength, which is the best possible starting point for a rug you intend to keep for 30 years.