8'8" x 11'5" Chinese Oriental Rug | Black Tabriz Design Floral Medallion | Fine Wool Pile, Never Used

This is a finely drawn, densely knotted Oriental rug worked in the classic Tabriz manner: a black ground, a syrup brown main border, and a layered star medallion holding the exact center of the field. It has never been on a floor, the 3/8" wool pile still stands full and even, and the surface carries the low silky sheen that only comes from tightly packed, well spun wool. At 8'8" x 11'5" it lands in the most useful room size there is, so if you have been shopping 8x11 area rugs and finding nothing with real drawing behind the pattern, this one rewards a close look. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming that it is hand-knotted, along with its size, materials and origin.

Design and Motifs

The composition is built in rings. At the core sits an 8 point star filled with tiny blossoms, ringed by a blush and ivory cartouche band, then by a syrup brown medallion field crowded with curled acanthus leaves, paisley boteh and small birds worked into the vine. Beyond that the black field opens into an all over garden of palmettes, vases, rosettes and feathered leaves that mirror perfectly across both axes, so the left half answers the right exactly. All 4 corners carry spandrels in a lighter, smokier tone that frame the medallion without interrupting it. The main border runs a deep brown ground with alternating palmettes and rosettes, flanked by ivory and salmon guard stripes that give the whole layout a crisp edge. It is a formal, fully resolved drawing of the type that only works when the knot count is high enough to turn a curve cleanly, and here the curves stay smooth even in the smallest leaf tips.

A Black Field with Syrup Brown and Jewel Tone Accents

The ground reads as a true black, deep enough that the pattern seems to float rather than sit on it, and it shifts slightly toward charcoal where the light catches the nap. Against it the palette is warm and restrained: syrup brown in the border and medallion field, ivory and soft cream in the vine work and guard stripes, blush and salmon in the petals, and small, well placed hits of teal and turquoise that keep the whole surface from going monochrome. Sage and olive greens appear in the leaves, and a dull gold turns up in the spandrels and in the outer border ground. Because the darkest and lightest values are set right next to one another, the rug holds its detail under lamplight instead of flattening out, and the black base makes it forgiving in a busy room. The ivory fringe and the fine black overcast selvedge finish it cleanly at both ends.

Origin and Weaving Quality

This piece was hand-knotted in China on a cotton foundation, following the Tabriz drawing tradition that workshop weavers there have reproduced at a high standard for decades. The knotting is tight and regular, the wool is spun fine and takes dye evenly, and the short 3/8" pile is what lets the design stay legible at this level of detail: a longer pile would blur the small blossoms and the fine outlines around each leaf. The back shows straight, even rows with no pull or waviness, the ends are hand finished, and the rug lies flat without help. Among hand-knotted Oriental rugs in this size, a never used example with this much fine drawing and a genuinely dark, saturated field is not a common find.