8' x 9'7" Indian Traditional Rug | Wool | Brown and Beige

This is a rectangular rug measuring 8' x 9'7", hand-knotted in India with a wool pile. At a glance it reads as two tones: a dark field carrying a scrolling floral pattern, and a wide pale border of large flower heads. The scale is a familiar one for a dining table or a seating group, and it falls into the 6x9 to 8x10 range.

Design

The field is laid out as an all-over repeat rather than around a medallion, in the traditional manner: thin vines curve from one side to the other, linking large palmettes, eight-petalled rosettes and small serrated leaves, with little buds and split leaflets filling the ground between them. The drawing is slightly soft at the edges, so the flowers sit in the pile rather than cutting against it. A narrow floral stripe separates the field from the main border, which runs large palmettes alternating with smaller rosettes along all four sides, the corners resolved with a half-palmette rather than a forced join. Outside that are two guard stripes of small four-petal sprigs, and the outer edge is finished in the same dark tone as the field.

Colour

The field is a brown that shifts toward mauve where the light runs along the pile, and the border is a soft beige close to sand. Between them sit old gold in the palmette petals and olive green in the leaves and vines, with small notes of salmon pink, ivory and a deep garnet red at the flower centres. None of the colours is loud; the whole rug stays within a narrow warm range, and the contrast comes from the pale border rather than from the palette.

Making

The rug is hand-knotted, wool on a cotton foundation, with the knots clearly visible on the reverse in the folded-back photograph and plain ivory fringe at both ends. It was woven in India and is new, listed in perfect condition, with full even pile and no wear along the edges or ends.