8'8" x 11'8" Needlepoint Oriental Rug | English Floral Acanthus on Black | New, Never Used

This is a needlepoint, which means the whole surface was built stitch by stitch over a cotton canvas rather than tied in pile, and you can see the result in the detail photographs: a flat, tapestry-like face with drawing as clean and as shaded as a painted still life. The ground is a true black, covered corner to corner with gold acanthus scrolls, blush and peach fruit, red and powder blue berry clusters and small five petal blossoms, then framed by a garland border of fruit and flowers on the same black ground. It measures 8'8" x 11'8", which puts it squarely in the 9x12 rug bracket most American living and dining rooms are planned around. The piece is brand new, has never been on a floor, and ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

There is no medallion here. The drawing is an all over floral layout in the English manner: broad curling acanthus leaves rise on gold stems, split, curl back on themselves and carry fruit and flowers at every turn. Look closely at image 4 and you can count the vocabulary the designer worked with, peaches and plums shaded from apricot to deep rose, clusters of red currants, hanging bunches of pale blue berries drawn like grapes, single 5 petal blossoms in rose and sky blue with a gold eye, and slim olive leaves filling the gaps. A thin gold line runs as an inner guard, and a second gold outline traces the main border, where the same fruit repeats as a continuous garland with large acanthus palmettes anchoring the 4 corners. The composition is dense but never confused, because the black ground separates every element cleanly.

A Black Ground Read in Gold, Rose and Green

Black grounds are difficult to do well, and this one works because the palette on top of it is warm rather than bright. The gold runs through at least 4 values, from a pale straw at the tip of a leaf down through honey and amber to a deep tobacco brown at the outer band, which is what gives the acanthus its rolled, three dimensional look. The pinks move from an almost white blush at the top of each fruit into coral and then into a clear rose red on the berries. Greens are quiet and slightly grey, olive and sage, so they read as foliage instead of competing with the flowers. Soft powder blue appears throughout as an accent, in the small blossoms and in the hanging berry clusters, and it is the one cool note that keeps the whole thing from turning entirely golden. Against a dark floor the rug reads as gold on black; in a room with pale walls or oak flooring the rose and blush tones come forward.

Chinese Needlepoint Weaving and Stitch Quality

Made in China, in the workshop tradition that has carried European floral needlepoint forward for decades, working from English and French cartoons with wool yarn on cotton canvas. The quality test on any needlepoint is the stitch count and the shading, and the folded corner in image 6 shows even, tightly packed tencil work with no gapping at the colour changes, which is why the fruit can be graded through 4 or 5 tones without looking blocky. Because the surface has almost no height, this kind of Oriental rug sits flat, clears low door swings and lets dining chairs slide without catching. It is also light enough in hand to be stretched and hung on a wall, which is how a good deal of antique needlepoint of this pattern ends up displayed.