8'10" x 12' Chinese Tabriz Rug | Black Wool & Silk All Over Floral | 200 KPSI, Never Used

A black ground this deep is unusual in a room size piece, and it is what makes this 8'10" x 12' rug read the way it does: the floral work seems to float, because there is no competing light in the field behind it. The pile is wool with silk worked into the flower heads and vine, so the drawing changes brightness as you walk around it, and the weave runs at approximately 200 knots per square inch on a cotton foundation, which is what allows the small buds and serrated leaves to hold their shape at this scale. It has never been on a floor, the ends are hand-tied and even, and the back photograph shows the knot grid clearly alongside the authenticity tag. Every rug we ship leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity stating size, materials, weave and origin.

Design and Motifs

This is a classic Tabriz drawing with no central medallion, which is why the pattern works so well in a long room: the eye is not pulled to one point. Paired vine stems climb the field in mirrored rows, carrying full palmettes, 8 petal rosettes, half open buds and small five point blossoms, with narrow serrated leaves and tiny black-on-black leaf silhouettes filling the ground between them. The repeat is symmetrical along both axes, and the weaver kept the scale small enough that the vine never turns clumsy, even across 12 feet. Three borders frame it: a burgundy main band of palmettes and rotating corner cartouches, flanked by ivory guard stripes of running vine and a fine outer minor stripe. Collectors looking for that uninterrupted repeat will find more in our all over floral rugs, though few come on a field this dark.

Color Palette

The field is a true black, closer to ink than charcoal, with faint tonal leaves woven a shade off the ground so the surface never looks flat. Against it the flowers run through a warm range: salmon and dusty rose at the petal tips, apricot and pale gold at the centers, ivory outlines on the vine, and cooler notes of sage green, olive and soft dove blue in the leaves and a few of the smaller blossoms. Deeper garnet reds pick out flower hearts and tie the field to the main border, which is a mellow burgundy rather than a bright red, aged in tone and carrying its own ivory, gold and blue-grey palmettes. The ivory guard stripes and the natural cotton fringe lift the outer edge and keep the whole piece from reading heavy. Practically, a black ground with burgundy and ivory forgives a great deal of household traffic, and it sits well with walnut, mahogany, brass and cream upholstery.

Origin and Weave

This rug was made in China, in the workshop tradition that has spent decades reproducing the great city drawings of the East at a high standard, and it is a genuine hand-knotted Oriental rug, not a tufted or machine made copy. At approximately 200 knots per square inch the density is well above commercial grade, and it shows in the fine outline work around each palmette and in the crisp, straight edges of the guard stripes. The wool takes a clean clip, the silk accents sit slightly proud of the pile and catch light along the vine, and the selvedges are tightly overcast. At 8'10" x 12' it covers a standard dining table with chairs pulled out, or anchors a full seating group, and buyers comparing options at this footprint can browse the rest of our 9x12 rugs alongside it.