9'10" x 9'11" Chinese Savonnerie Square Rug | French Acanthus Scroll Design | Perfect Condition

A true square is hard to find and harder to find well drawn, and this 9'10" x 9'11" hand-knotted Savonnerie is both. The design is French in its bones: a large diamond set inside the square, filled with a round rosette medallion, and surrounded by broad acanthus leaves that curl out toward all 4 corners. The pile is thick, dense wool on a cotton foundation, cut a little deeper than most so the gold and ivory drawing stands up in relief against the near-black ground, which is exactly how the original 17th century Savonnerie looms handled their carpets. The rug is in perfect condition with full pile, clean selvages and bright ivory cotton fringe, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it as a genuine hand-knotted piece.

Design and Motifs

The composition is built from the center out. A circular medallion holds a bouquet of open roses and buds, ringed by 2 concentric bands of small blossoms and a scalloped, shell-like outline that reads almost like carved plaster. That medallion sits inside a large diamond, and the diamond is outlined with a fine laurel leaf chain, a slim running motif that gives the whole field a crisp graphic edge. Beyond the diamond, 4 matching corner panels carry heavy scrolling acanthus leaves wrapped around large sunflower rosettes, with smaller leaf sprays and flower heads filling the gaps. Tiny rosette roundels punctuate the inner border at regular intervals, and the outer guard repeats the laurel chain so the eye is carried cleanly to the edge. There is no busy multi-band border here; the restraint is deliberate and it is what makes a square this size feel calm rather than crowded.

Color: Near-Black Espresso With Gold and Ivory

The ground is the darkest note in the rug, a deep espresso that reads black in low light and warms to a coffee brown where the sun hits the pile. Against it the drawing runs through a tight, disciplined range of warm neutrals: antique gold in the leaf bodies, honey and camel in the shading, soft biscuit beige in the transitions, and clean ivory at the highlights and leaf tips. The shading is done in steps rather than blocks, so each acanthus leaf turns from dark bronze at the base through gold to almost white at the curl, which is what gives the field its 3 dimensional look in the close-up photographs. The rose centers pick up a dusty mauve-brown that keeps the flowers from going flat. Fringe and outer selvage are natural ivory cotton, a bright finish line against the dark border.

Origin and Weaving Quality

This is a Chinese workshop piece, made in the tradition of the great Savonnerie and Aubusson looms of France and hand-knotted rather than tufted or machine made, which is the difference buyers should look for and the reason this rug will outlive a factory copy many times over. Chinese ateliers took up the French repertoire decades ago and became the main source of high quality Savonnerie weaving, working with long staple wool, plied cotton warps and a heavier clipped pile that suits the sculptural European drawing. The back shot shows even, straight rows and a tight, regular knot across the full width, and the sides are finished by hand. As an Oriental rug in a genuine square format, it solves a room shape that almost nothing off the shelf fits: a square dining room, a square entry hall, or the open center of a great room under a round table.