9'1" x 12'6" Oriental Rug | Black Floral All Over Field | Fine Wool | Brand New

A ground this dark is rare in fine floral weaving, and it is the whole reason this 9'1" x 12'6" rug reads the way it does: hundreds of coral and rose blossoms sit on an ink black field and appear to hover above it rather than rest in it. The piece is brand new and never used, hand-knotted in Pakistan in fine wool on a cotton foundation, and it belongs to the classical all-over floral family of hand-knotted Oriental rugs rather than to any modern or washed-out look. At 109" by 150" it fills a standard 9x12 room size with a few extra inches of length, so a sofa group or a 8 seat table sits fully on the pile. Every rug leaves our Freeport warehouse with a certificate of authenticity that records size, material, weave and origin.

Design and Motifs

There is no heavy medallion frame here. Instead the drawing is an all over floral design built on strict mirror symmetry, with a small ivory and teal rosette marking the exact center of the field, ringed by 8 cabbage roses and a wreath of serrated leaves. From that point the pattern repeats outward in bouquets of full blown roses, ruffled carnations, tulips, small daisies and blue palmettes, all tied together by thin vines and dark green foliage that vanish into the black ground. Each of the 4 field corners carries a soft sage cartouche filled with its own little bouquet, a quiet detail that only shows up when you stand back from the rug. The border system runs 5 bands deep: a wide crimson main border of leaf scroll and palmette, an ivory rosette chain on either side of it, a cornflower blue band drawn with alternating flower heads, and a plain navy outer edge that finishes the rug cleanly against the floor.

The Black Ground and Its Coral, Rose and Blue Palette

The field is black with the faintest navy cast, the kind of dark that photographs flat but comes alive under lamplight as the wool catches the light at different angles. Against it the weaver ran a warm, high contrast palette: raspberry and coral red roses, salmon and shell pink petal edges, cream and ivory outlines that give every flower a lit rim, cornflower and teal blue rosettes, moss and pine green leaves, and small hits of apricot orange scattered through the field for lift. The main border switches the balance completely, a deep crimson ground carrying pale blue, ivory and rose flowers, so the eye moves from dark center to bright frame. In a room, the black holds furniture in navy, charcoal, walnut or camel, while the coral and blue give you a ready made accent palette for pillows and drapery.

Made in Pakistan: Weaving Town and Weave Quality

Pakistan's workshop towns are one of the few places still turning out hand-knotted floral work at this level of drawing, and this rug shows why. Roses this small, with 3 and 4 tones inside a single blossom, only hold their shape at a high knot count, and the close-up photographs show clean petal outlines with no stair-stepping. The back is tidy and regular, with straight rows on a cotton foundation and no pulling at the sides, and the folded corner shows a firm handle with a level, closely clipped wool pile that has good luster from the fine fleece used. The selvages are overcast in navy and the ends are secured with a full ivory cotton fringe. Nothing about it has been walked on: it is a brand new weave, straight and square, ready to go down and stay down for decades.