8' x 10' Indian Agra Rug | William Morris All Over Floral | Black & Ivory, Brand New

This 8' x 10' Agra rug was knotted new on Indian looms, and it is one of the cleaner readings of the William Morris repertoire we have had on the floor: a tight all over field of palmettes, serrated leaves and curling stems drawn across a ground so dark it reads almost as ink, then framed by a wide ivory border of standing flowering plants. The pile is natural wool, cut low enough that every outline stays crisp, and the handle is firm and flat rather than shaggy. It has never been laid in a room, so the colors are at full strength and the ends and sides are untouched. As an Oriental rug rather than a Persian one it belongs to the part of the market where India currently does the strongest contemporary hand-knotted work, and it stands out among our 8x10 Oriental rugs for how graphic it looks against pale floors. Every rug we sell, including this one, ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The field is an all over floral design built on a single mirrored vine system: thick cream stems rise from the bottom of the field, split, arch outward and meet again at the top, carrying broad serrated acanthus leaves, half palmettes, small 8 petal rosettes and squared rose buds along the way. At the exact center sits one round rosette, roughly the size of a dinner plate, layered in ivory, burgundy, olive and pale blue, and at the top and bottom of the field a fan shaped palmette in rust and slate blue anchors the composition. A narrow straw gold guard band separates the field from the main border, which is the most charming part of the rug: ivory ground, upright flowering plants in coral and gold rising from small tufts of grass, scattered bud and leaf fillers, and a pale gold shield shaped device centered on each of the 4 sides. A mauve ribbon scroll and a black outer border of small flower heads close the design, and the fringe and selvedges are clean and even.

Color: Deep Black Ground with Ivory, Rust and Sage

The field color is the whole argument for this rug. It is a saturated black that picks up a faint blue cast where the light hits the pile, so the vine work sits on it the way gold leaf sits on lacquer. Against that ground the drawing is carried in cream and ivory wool with a soft sheen, with secondary tones of straw gold, olive and sage green, muted slate blue in the flower centers, dusty rose, rust and a quiet burgundy that outlines the larger blossoms. The main border reverses the balance: a warm ivory to pale wheat ground with coral, apricot and brick red flower heads, black stems and small blue and plum fillers, so the eye reads light outside and dark inside. Linking them is the mauve brown ribbon band and the straw gold inner stripe. For buyers shopping black and ivory rugs, this one is high contrast without being cold, because the warm rust and green accents keep it from tipping gray.

Agra Weaving and Indian Workmanship

Agra has been a weaving center since the Mughal court set up workshops there, and the city's modern looms still work in that tradition: a cotton foundation, a hand-knotted wool pile, and designs drawn tightly enough to hold curved stems and layered petals without the lines breaking. India is where most of the world's good contemporary hand-knotted work is now made, and this piece shows why. The knotting is regular across all 8 feet of width, the vine stems run smooth rather than stepped, the back is even with no pulled or wavy areas, and the wool is a full bodied natural fleece that takes dye deeply and will burnish rather than dull with use. The low shear is deliberate on a design this busy, since it keeps the ivory outlines legible against the dark ground. At 8' x 10' with a firm flat handle, it lies well under a seating group or a dining table and will take years of traffic without the pattern going soft.