8'8" x 11'6" Serapi Oriental Rug | Ivory Field Geometric Medallion | New Wool Pile, Made in India

This is a brand new, never used 8'8" x 11'6" Serapi rug, hand-knotted in India on a cotton foundation with a 3/8" wool pile. It is a true room-size piece: large enough to carry a full seating group, still drawn tightly enough that the medallion reads as one clear statement rather than a busy field. The handle is firm and even, the pile clips low and uniform, and the back shows the clean, regular knotting you can see in the fold photo. Every rug we ship, including this Oriental rug, leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity confirming it is hand-knotted, the size, the materials and the origin.

Design and Motifs

The Serapi layout is the most recognizable of all geometric medallion rugs, and this weaving follows it faithfully. A navy 8 pointed star medallion sits at dead center, anchored by a single ivory and gold rosette, with stepped rust and brick framing pushing out to blunt points at each side. Inside the medallion, 4 boxed cartouches hold curling gold and cream arabesques, and light blue lancet shapes radiate out along the axes like compass arms. The medallion floats on a rust ground, which in turn sits inside a broad ivory frame cut with sharp angular shoulders at all 4 corners. Those ivory spandrels carry serrated leaves, standing palmettes, little flowering shrubs and the stylized green rosette blocks typical of the tradition. The main border runs a rust ground with alternating palmettes, cloud bands and cream rosettes, flanked by narrow light blue guard stripes with a running vine. All the drawing is straight-line and angular, with no curved cartoon work, exactly as a village-style Heriz drawing should be.

A Closer Look at the Colors

The dominant reading is ivory and rust. The open field is a warm ivory, closer to soft cream than white, and it is what gives this rug its lift in a room with dark floors or heavy wood furniture. Rust carries the main border and the ground around the medallion, running from a deep brick in the shadows to a softer terracotta where the pile catches light. Against that, the medallion core is a true deep navy, almost black at the edges, and a cooler mid blue appears again and again in the lancets, the guard stripes and the small border rosettes, which keeps the warm tones from going heavy. Green is used with restraint: pine green in the corner rosette blocks, the leaf tips and small bands, enough to read clearly without competing. Gold and camel accents light up the cartouches and the center rosette, and there are brief touches of pale pink and cream in the border flowers. The palette is traditional rather than washed or overdyed, so it will sit comfortably with both antique furniture and plain modern upholstery.

Origin and Weaving Quality

The Serapi name comes from the village weaving of the Heriz district, and today India is where most of the world's good contemporary hand-knotted work in that tradition is produced. We say that with confidence: the best Indian workshops weave on proper cotton warps, use strong hand-spun quality wool, and hold their drawing straight across a long rug, which is exactly what you see here across nearly 11 and a half feet of length. The pile is clipped to 3/8", short enough that the angular motifs stay crisp and the rug lies flat without a thick, spongy handle. The back is tight and the knot rows are consistent edge to edge, with flat selvages and even fringe. In practical terms this is a hard-wearing, heavy-traffic weave that takes a dining chair or a sofa leg without crushing, and it belongs in the same conversation as other 9x12 Oriental rugs for a formal living room, a library or a large open-plan space.