8'4" x 11'5" Tabriz Mahi Oriental Rug | Black Herati Field | 200 KPSI Wool and Silk

This is a brand new, never used hand-knotted Oriental rug woven in India to the Tabriz Mahi drawing, measuring 8'4" x 11'5". The pile is wool with silk highlights over a cotton foundation, clipped to a low 3/8" so the small repeating motifs stay crisp, and the weave runs at roughly 200 knots per square inch. That density is what lets the tiny 8 petal rosettes and hooked leaves of the fish pattern hold their shape at this scale. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

Mahi means fish, and the name comes from the motif that fills the entire field: a diamond lattice with a small rosette at each intersection, flanked by 4 curved lanceolate leaves that read like fish circling the flower. That herati lattice repeats thousands of times here without a break in the drawing. At the center sits a scalloped ivory medallion outlined in soft pink, its interior filled with the same lattice in miniature, with a lobed pendant reaching out above and below. The 4 corners carry ivory spandrels with stepped, cloud-cut edges that step back into the dark ground. The main border is black, drawn with alternating palmettes, 8 petal rosettes and split leaf scrollwork, and it is framed by a stack of narrow guard stripes: reciprocal trefoils, a running vine and a fine barber-pole stripe at the outer edge.

A Black Ground Worked in Ivory, Rust and Green

The field is black, and on a rug this fine the black behaves like a jeweller's cloth: everything laid over it reads brighter than it would on red or ivory. The lattice itself is picked out in rust and terracotta, the rosettes in chalk ivory, and the small leaves in a deep bottle green that only shows when you stand over it. Soft gold and olive tones run through the spandrels and the guard stripes, with occasional touches of aubergine and a muted salmon pink that outlines the medallion. The medallion and corners are cream to ivory, a full two shades lighter than the spandrel ground, which is what gives the layout its depth. Silk highlights catch the light along the medallion edge and the pendant, so the center shifts slightly as you walk around the rug. Ivory cotton fringe finishes both ends against a black selvage.

Woven in India in the Tabriz Mahi Tradition

India is where most of the world's good contemporary hand-knotted work is now made, and the best Indian ateliers have spent decades mastering the fine city drawings, the Mahi above all. This one was woven on a cotton warp with a tight, even beat, and the back shows a clean, regular knot with no lazy lines or crowding at the medallion edge. At approximately 200 knots per square inch with a 3/8" clip, it sits well above the weight of a standard room rug and holds detail that a coarser weave simply cannot resolve. At 8'4" x 11'5" it covers a standard large room with furniture legs on, and buyers shopping 8x11 Oriental rugs will find few pieces in this size with this knot count and a genuine wool and silk pile.