9'9" x 13'9" Chinese Oriental Rug | Black Dome Medallion | Wool & Silk Pile

This is a room size hand-knotted piece built around one idea, and it commits to it completely: a single vast dome medallion that fills most of the 9'9" x 13'9" field and radiates outward like the ribbed vault of a ceiling seen from directly below. Everything else in the drawing, the panels, the niches, the diamond lattice and the four layered borders, exists to support that central burst. The pile is wool carried on a cotton foundation, with silk highlights catching the light through the salmon and ivory areas, and the weave is fine enough that the tiny vine work inside the medallion stays crisp rather than blurring. Condition is excellent, the pile is full from edge to edge, and the rug ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The centre is a dome, or gonbad, medallion: a small salmon rosette core ringed by a black band of dense arabesque scroll, then a sawtooth ring of ivory and burgundy diamonds, then a second wider black ring of curling vine and palmettes, closing in a star edge of pointed rays. From that star, long tapering ribs run out to the four corners and to the middle of each side, dividing the field into wedge shaped panels that alternate lavender, ivory and near black. Inside the outer panels sit arched niche cartouches filled with scrolling vine and a paired blossom, while smaller shield forms hold the corners. The border system runs four deep: a narrow burgundy guard of tulip heads, a slim ivory meander, a wide black main border set with ivory and sage cartouches and eight petal rosettes joined by leafy vine, and an outer burgundy stripe repeating the same small flower. Every element mirrors exactly across both axes.

A Black Field Lifted by Lavender, Salmon and Ivory

Black is the anchor colour and it does the structural work, holding the medallion rings, the niche panels and the main border so the lighter tones read as light coming through. Against it the ground shifts between warm ivory, sand and a soft taupe beige, with the wedge panels washed in a dusty lavender mauve that is unusual in a traditional drawing and gives the whole rug a slightly silvered, twilight cast. The medallion core glows salmon pink, repeated in small flower heads out through the field, while burgundy appears in the diamond ring and both guard borders as the one genuinely warm accent. Look closely at the border cartouches and you will find sage green, pale grey blue, cream and a rust brown in the rosette petals. In the corner detail the silk highlighted strands sit brighter than the wool around them, so the palette changes noticeably depending on which direction you walk into the room.

Weaving Quality and Origin

This rug was hand-knotted in China, in the workshop tradition that has produced some of the best classical drawing outside the traditional weaving belt for several decades now. Knot by knot on a cotton warp, the weavers held a curved line through hundreds of tiny vine tips and kept the radiating ribs dead straight across almost 14 feet, which is the real test on a dome design at this scale. The ruler photograph shows the density on the back and the tight, even selvedge and hand-tied fringe. If you are comparing this against other work in the category, our guide on what separates a Oriental rug from its neighbours is worth reading, and you can browse the rest of our 10x14 Oriental rugs alongside it. At 9'9" x 13'9" this covers a full seating group or a 10 seat dining table with chairs pulled back.