8'7" x 12' Wool and Silk Oriental Rug | Dom Isfahan Dome Design | Like New Condition

This is the Dom Isfahan drawing, the pattern that copies the inside of a tiled dome looking straight up, and it is one of the hardest layouts a weaver can attempt because every arch, every rib and every panel has to meet the central star at exactly the right angle. Hand-knotted in wool with silk worked into the highlights, the pile has that quiet two-tone shimmer that changes as you walk around it, and the drawing stays crisp all the way into the smallest vine. At 8'7" x 12" of finished floor coverage it settles into the usual 9x12 area rug footprint, and the piece is in perfect, like-new condition with full pile, straight sides and clean ivory fringe. It ships with our certificate of authenticity confirming it is genuine hand-knotted work.

Design and Motifs

Everything radiates from a 12 point star medallion at the center, drawn in camel gold with a tiny burgundy rosette at its heart. Around that star sits a ring of dark burgundy and deep green kite-shaped compartments, each holding a single blossom, and beyond those the field opens into tall arched bays that read exactly like the ribs and squinches of a dome seen from below. Each bay is filled with scrolling arabesque vine, split-leaf palmettes and small teardrop cartouches, and the four corners carry long boteh-shaped arches that stretch toward the border. The main border alternates elongated panels of burgundy medallions with square rosette tiles, framed by narrow candy-stripe guard stripes that give the whole layout the look of a tiled architectural frieze.

Color: Ivory, Green, Blue and Burgundy

The base is ivory, warm and slightly creamy rather than white, and it fills the arched bays so the drawing reads clearly from standing height. Over that runs a soft sage and gray green that carries the spandrels, the border ground and the ribbing between the arches, giving the rug its overall muted, dusty tone. Blue appears in two registers: a pale powder blue in the corner panels and the dome ribs, and small dots of deep navy that outline the flower heads. Burgundy is the accent that holds it all together, used in the star compartments, the border medallions and the fine outlining stripes. The central star shifts to camel gold, and the silk highlights lift the roses and vines a half shade brighter than the wool around them.

Origin and Weaving Quality

This rug was hand-knotted in Pakistan, where workshops weaving in the classical tradition still produce some of the most disciplined fine-count work available today. If you are weighing the difference between this and a city-woven Persian piece, our guide on Persian rugs vs Oriental rugs explains exactly how the terms are used in the trade. The back photograph shows the tell: small, even, tightly packed knots on a cotton foundation, with the pattern legible from the reverse, which is what allows the dome ribs to curve without stepping. The pile is short and firm, the selvedges are tight and the fringe is original warp. Compared with most hand-knotted Oriental rugs in this size class, the drawing here is unusually ambitious and it has been executed cleanly, corner to corner.