8'9" x 11'9" Needlepoint Aubusson Rug | Ivory & Rose Floral Medallion | Flat Weave, Perfect Condition

This is a handmade needlepoint rug in the Aubusson taste, measuring 8'9" x 11'9", woven in wool on a cotton foundation with no pile at all. The surface is a fine flat stitch, smooth to the hand and only a few millimeters thick, which is why decorators reach for pieces like this under dining tables and on landings where a thick rug would fight the door. The field is ivory, the wide framing border is rose, and the drawing is entirely floral: a round bouquet medallion at center, ribbon garlands of small roses, and long acanthus scrolls reaching into the corners. It arrives in perfect condition, never used, and ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it as a genuine handmade rug. In practical terms it works as a 9x12 area rug, the size most formal rooms are built around.

Design and Motifs

The layout is strictly symmetrical and architectural, drawn the way an 18th century French floor panel would be drawn. At the center sits a round medallion ringed by a beaded band, filled with a tied bouquet of open roses, buds and leaves. Around it runs an oval wreath of small flower clusters, and out of that wreath grow 4 large acanthus scrolls, each one curling back on itself with a rosette at the eye of the coil. Top and bottom, a tall palmette anchor rises on the long axis, so the design reads correctly from either end of the room. The inner field is closed by a shaped cartouche outline with clipped shoulders, then an egg and dart band, then the broad plain border with a leaf swag at the center of each side and a full flower spray in each of the 4 corners. Because there is no pile to soften the edges, every curve, ribbon and leaf tip stays crisp, which is the entire point of needlepoint drawing.

Ivory Ground With Rose and Soft Green

The ground is a warm ivory, closer to unbleached cream than to white, and it carries the whole design without glare. Against it the roses are worked in graded pinks, from pale blush at the petal edges to a deeper rose and a few small notes of raspberry at the flower hearts. Leaves and stems are soft sage and olive green, dropping into a cool taupe and cocoa brown for the shaded sides of the scrolls, which is what gives the flat surface its sense of relief. A handful of tiny light blue flower clusters sit inside the garlands and in the corner sprays, just enough to lift the pinks. The framing border is the strongest color in the rug, a dusty rose that photographs slightly deeper and more brick toned under warm light than it appears in daylight, separated from the field by narrow pale pink, ivory and brown guard stripes. It is a pale, quiet palette overall, easy with white paneling, gilt wood, mahogany and cool grey stone alike.

Aubusson Design, Made in China

Aubusson is a French town whose workshops gave their name to flat woven and needlepoint floor panels built on floral medallions and scrollwork rather than on knotted pile. This piece is a modern hand-stitched interpretation of that tradition, made in China, where the best contemporary needlepoint work is produced today by weavers who handle this style at volume and at a consistently high standard. Quality in a needlepoint rug is judged differently from a knotted one: look for stitch count, straight selvedges, even tension across a large panel and clean shading transitions, and this rug holds all 4 across nearly 12 feet of length with no drawn edges or puckering. If you are weighing how a piece like this compares with a knotted piece, our guide on Persian rugs vs Oriental rugs explains where each construction earns its keep. The low profile also means chairs slide easily and the rug lies dead flat, with a wool surface that cleans well and shows footprints far less than pile.