8'3" x 11'5" Mahi Tabriz Oriental Rug | Black All Over Herati | Wool and Silk, Brand New

This is a brand new, never used hand-knotted Oriental rug in the classic Mahi Tabriz drawing, woven in wool with silk through the highlights on a cotton foundation. At 8'3" x 11'5" it is a true room size piece, large enough to seat a full sofa group on the pile rather than floating furniture at the edges, and the weave is fine enough that the tiny fish leaves and 4 petal rosettes stay crisp across the whole field. The pile is dense, low and lustrous, so the silk catches light as you walk around it and the black ground shifts between deep charcoal and near brown depending on where you stand. Every rug we ship carries a certificate of authenticity confirming it is hand-knotted, and this one ships free with free returns to all 50 states.

Design and Motifs

The field carries a full all over Herati pattern with no medallion, which is why the design reads so calmly at this scale. A fine diamond lattice runs corner to corner, each diamond centered on a small rosette and flanked by the curved lanceolate leaves that give the pattern its other name: mahi, meaning fish. Between the diamonds sit 4 petal ivory blossoms and tiny sprays that punctuate the repeat and stop it from turning into texture. The border system is generous for a rug of this size, with a wide ivory main band of alternating palmettes and rosettes joined by scrolling vinework, framed by paired brown and ivory guard stripes carrying a running flowerhead and a tiny reciprocal sawtooth along the black outer edge. The corners are resolved properly, with the palmette turning cleanly into each of the 4 corners rather than being cut off, which is a reliable tell of a well drawn cartoon and a disciplined weaver.

Black Ground with Ivory, Olive and Rust

The ground is a deep saturated black that photographs as espresso brown from a distance and reads almost blue black in raking light. Against it, the lattice is drawn in a dusty olive green, the rosettes in rust and deep burgundy, and the small blossoms and fish leaves in ivory and cream, with occasional flecks of pale sky blue that only appear when you get close to the pile. The main border flips the balance completely: a warm ivory ground, olive gray palmettes with gold centers, burgundy cartouches and rust vine, so the rug frames itself in light and holds the dark field in the center. Camel and soft brown run through the guard stripes and tie the border back to the field. It is a genuinely versatile palette, warm enough for oak and walnut floors, dark enough to sit under a pale sofa without disappearing, and it hides traffic better than any ivory ground rug of comparable size.

Woven in India in the Mahi Tradition

India is where most of the world's best contemporary hand-knotted work is now produced, and this piece shows why: the knot count is high enough to carry the small scale Mahi repeat without blurring, the wool is well spun and takes dye evenly, and the silk highlights are placed rather than scattered. The back, shown in the photographs, is tight and legible, with every motif reading clearly through the cotton foundation and the selvedges finished by hand in black. The weaver kept the drawing consistent from one end to the other, which is difficult across nearly 11 and a half feet of continuous lattice. If you are working within an 8x11 Oriental rug footprint and want a dark, formal, low pile piece that will take decades of use, this is a straightforward buy.