8'2" x 10'3" Tabriz Mahi Design Rug | Black Herati Fish Field, Ivory Floral Border | Wool and Silk, New

This is a brand new, never used hand-knotted rug in the Tabriz Mahi design, woven in wool with silk highlights on a cotton foundation. The drawing is the demanding kind: a tiny repeating herati lattice covering the entire black field, a layered scalloped medallion at the center, and matching quarter medallions turning each of the 4 corners. At 8'2" x 10'3" it sits squarely in the most useful room size of all, which is why 8x10 area rugs are the first size most buyers shop for. The pile is even and closely clipped, the selvedges are tight, and the ivory cotton fringe is clean and full at both ends. Every rug we ship carries our certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

Mahi means fish, and the name comes from the herati unit repeated across this field: a small diamond framed by 4 curved leaves, each leaf read as a fish circling a pond, with a rosette at the diamond's heart. That unit repeats thousands of times here on a perfectly ruled diagonal grid, which is the real test of the design because any drift in the lattice shows immediately across an open black ground. The medallion is built in concentric scalloped rings, camel outlined in ivory around a dusty rose inner field, closing on a small ivory cartouche of interlaced vinework at dead center. Slim anchor-shaped pendants extend from the top and bottom of the medallion into the field. The corner spandrels repeat the medallion drawing in quarter form, while the main border carries large palmettes and open rosettes linked by an arabesque scroll, fenced by narrow reciprocal guard stripes and a fine outer meander.

Color Palette

The field is a deep true black, which is what gives this piece its weight and makes it read as a graphic anchor rather than a soft traditional rug. Against that black, the herati lattice is picked out in camel, warm brown, rust, olive green and small ticks of ivory, with occasional slate blue accents in the leaf tips. Silk in the pile catches light along the medallion and the field flowers, so the pattern brightens and dims as you walk around it. The medallion shifts from camel through dusty rose to a soft salmon, with sage green outlining and a pale ivory core. The wide main border is a clean ivory ground carrying brick rust, olive, muted teal and brown blossoms, and that ivory band is what separates the dark field from the black outer edge and keeps the whole rug from going heavy. Overall the palette is dark neutral with warm earth accents, easy to place against oak floors, grey tile, cream walls or leather.

Origin and Weaving Quality

This rug is hand-knotted in India, which is where most of the world's best contemporary hand-knotted work is now produced. The weaving centers around Bhadohi and Jaipur have spent decades building looms, dyeing operations and master weavers capable of executing classical cartoons at a genuinely high standard, and the Tabriz Mahi cartoon is one of the hardest they take on because the herati grid allows no correction. You can judge the result from the back: the knot rows are straight, the lattice holds its rhythm corner to corner, and the tiny ivory highlights stay crisp rather than blurring. This is a true hand-knotted Oriental rug, knot by knot on a cotton warp, with a dense clipped wool and silk pile built to take daily traffic in a living room or under a dining table for generations.