9'10" x 12'9" Kazak Afghan Rug | Shirvan All Over Design | Soft Silky Wool, Brand New

This is a brand new, never used Afghan Kazak measuring 9'10" x 12'9", hand-knotted in soft silky highland wool on a cotton foundation and drawn in the old Shirvan manner. Pick up a corner and the weight tells you what you are holding: a heavy, tightly packed village weave with a substantial pile that stands up straight and springs back under the hand. The drawing is confident and angular, the palette is deep and slightly smoky, and the finishing is clean, with flat selvedges and evenly knotted grey fringe at both ends. At just under 10 feet by 13 feet it is a true room-size Oriental rug, and it sits comfortably alongside our other 10x13 hand-knotted rugs. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming that it is genuinely hand-knotted, along with its origin, materials and measurements.

Design and Motifs

The field carries an all over repeat rather than a central medallion, which is what makes a rug this size so easy to furnish around: the pattern reads the same no matter where the sofa lands. Rows of large 8 petal rosettes march across the ground in alternating cream and near-black outline, each one set inside a pair of broad scrolling leaves that curl back on themselves like ram horns. Between the rows sit slender flowering stems with small paired blossoms, and scattered star florets fill the open ground. Every line is angular and stepped, drawn from the weaver's memory rather than a curved cartoon, which is the hallmark of geometric tribal rugs of this tradition. The wide cream main border is the showpiece, filled with hooked leaf forms, serrated palmettes and quartered rosettes, and it is framed on both sides by a narrow guard stripe of diamonds that runs the full perimeter. All 4 corners resolve cleanly, with no awkward truncation of the border drawing.

Color Palette

The ground is a rustic red that shifts between brick and terracotta depending on how the light crosses the pile, with the natural abrash of hand-spun, hand-dyed wool giving it a living, slightly mottled surface instead of a flat printed tone. Against that field the rosettes alternate between pale cream, warm golden wheat and a deep near-black navy that reads almost as ink until you look closely and catch the blue. Dark olive green does the quiet work, filling the scrolling leaves and the diamond guard stripes so the reds and creams have something to push against. Softer accents of coral and rust appear in the smaller florets, and the wide main border glows a golden cream that lifts the whole rug and keeps the dense red field from feeling heavy. It is a warm, grounded, autumnal palette that sits well with wood floors, leather, brass and cream upholstery, and it hides everyday traffic far better than a light rug ever will.

Origin and Weaving Quality

This rug was made in Afghanistan by weavers working the Kazak and Kargahi tradition, reinterpreting the classic Shirvan drawing of the Caucasus on their own looms. Afghan highland wool is the reason these rugs have the reputation they do: a long-staple fleece with a high lanolin content that takes dye deeply, resists soiling and develops a soft sheen with use rather than dulling. The back, shown in the detail photo, is even and well packed, with clear knot definition row to row and no loose or skipped areas, and the pile is beaten down hard enough to give the rug real body underfoot. The selvedges are tightly wrapped and the ends are secured with flat woven kilim bands before the grey fringe, which is how a rug this size survives decades of furniture and foot traffic. Woven new and never laid, it arrives with its full pile height intact.