8'10" x 12' Chinese Needlepoint Rug | French Aubusson Floral Medallion | Flat Weave Wool, Perfect Condition

This is a hand-woven wool needlepoint in the French Aubusson manner, drawn as one large oval floral medallion on an ecru ground and framed by a dusty red border of acanthus scrolls and rose bouquets. There is no pile at all: the wool is stitched flat over a cotton canvas foundation, so the rug sits low, shows the drawing with unusual clarity, and reads more like a woven tapestry than a knotted rug. At 8'10" x 12" wide by 12 feet long it falls into the standard 9x12 rugs footprint that most formal rooms are built around, and the condition is perfect. Every piece we ship leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity describing the weave, the materials and the origin.

Design and Motifs

The composition is pure 18th century French salon. At the center sits a round posy of roses, buds and small blossoms, ringed by a scalloped cartouche and then by a wide oval wreath of leafy vines that swing out into 4 corners. Ribbon bands cross under the wreath and tie it off with loops and bow knots, a device lifted straight from period Aubusson and Savonnerie cartoons. Beyond the oval, the ecru field opens into deep lobed arches outlined in pale gold, each one filled with trailing garlands and single rose sprays. The border does the heavy work: broad curling acanthus leaves, C scrolls and shells carry more rose bouquets around all 4 sides, with a small floral cresting at each midpoint and a plain outer band that finishes the rug cleanly without fringe. Because the surface is flat stitched, the shading inside each petal and leaf stays sharp, and the scrollwork keeps its drawn line rather than blurring into a pile.

Color: Ecru Ground With Dusty Rose and Soft Red

The field is ecru, a warm oatmeal cream that lightens to near ivory inside the medallion wreath and warms toward a pale tan in the open spandrels. Against it the border reads as a soft brick red gone slightly dusty, closer to old rose than to a bright scarlet, with a muted brown cast where the shading deepens along the outer band. The flowers work in the same quiet register: rose pink, mauve, blush and pale apricot petals, each shaded in 3 or 4 tones, with small accents of cream and a few darker wine buds for contrast. Foliage is sage and olive green with lighter tips, warm enough to sit comfortably beside the rose border instead of fighting it. The scrolls and cartouche outlines are carried in pale gold and sand, which is what keeps the whole design legible on such a light ground. It is a restrained, faded looking palette by design, easy under cream upholstery, dark wood and gilt, and it stays calm in rooms with a lot of natural light.

Origin and Weaving Quality: Chinese Needlepoint in the French Tradition

Needlepoint of this kind is made in China, where workshops took over the French floral repertoire and have produced it by hand for decades to a standard the European ateliers no longer match on price. The work is done stitch by stitch in wool over a cotton canvas, so quality is judged by stitch count, evenness of tension and how faithfully the shading follows the cartoon rather than by knots. Here the tension is consistent across all 12 feet of length, the lobed outlines stay true without waver, and the folded corner photograph shows the reverse and the cotton binding tape that finishes the edges. Practically speaking, a flat woven surface with no pile means chairs slide easily and nothing crushes, which is why this style has always been a favorite as a dining room rug. If you are weighing this against a knotted piece, our guide on Persian and Oriental rugs explains where needlepoint sits among handmade floor coverings.