9' x 11'11" Serapi Rug | Ivory Field, Navy Border, Green Accents | New, Never Used

This 9' x 11'11" Serapi is a full room size piece, hand-knotted one knot at a time in wool on a cotton foundation and never used. The drawing is the classic Serapi formula: a wide ivory field carrying a single commanding medallion, brick red spandrels pushed out into the 4 corners, and a deep navy main border that frames the whole thing without crowding it. The pile stands at 3/8", short enough to keep every angular line crisp and long enough to give the surface a soft, even sheen under lamplight. It ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming that it is a genuine hand-knotted rug, not a machine-made or tufted reproduction.

Design and Motifs

Everything here is drawn in straight lines and stepped angles, which is what separates Serapi work from curvilinear city patterns and puts it squarely among the best geometric medallion rugs. The center is built in layers: a small dark core, a cross-shaped inner panel, then a broad camel and gold medallion edged with hooked latch shapes, finishing in stepped pendants top and bottom that end in turquoise rosettes. The ivory field around it is not left empty. It is filled with serrated leaves, small cypress and tree forms, star rosettes and tiny stylized animal figures that reward a close look from a few feet away. Out in the red spandrels, curling dragon-like leaf forms and ivory vine scrolls answer the field drawing, while the navy border runs a steady rhythm of anchor palmettes, 8 petal rosettes and hooked stems between narrow guard stripes of rose and green vine.

The Color Story: Ivory, Brick Red, Navy and Green

The field reads as a warm ivory, closer to cream and unbleached wool than to stark white, which is exactly what you want under a strong medallion. Against it the spandrels sit in a brick red that leans toward tomato in direct light and settles into a deeper rust in shade. The border is a near-black navy, dark enough to hold the perimeter and dark enough to make the rose, pale blue and ivory border flowers glow against it. Inside the medallion the palette warms up through camel, olive gold and a soft mustard, with a wine red core and small blocks of denim blue. Green appears twice and both are worth noting: a soft sage green in the outer guard stripe and a clear turquoise green in the pendant rosettes and scattered field blossoms. That turquoise is the accent that lifts the whole piece, and it picks up teal and blue-grey furniture and art with no effort at all.

Made in India: Weaving and Quality

This rug was hand-knotted in India, which is where most of the world's best contemporary hand-knotted work is now produced, and we say that with confidence after decades of buying from both traditions. Indian workshops weaving the Serapi pattern use a heavy, springy wool and a firm cotton warp, and the result is a thick, flat-lying rug that takes daily traffic in stride. The knots are tied by hand across a fixed-width loom, the wefts are beaten down tight, and the selvedges and fringes are finished by hand, all of which you can confirm by turning a corner over and reading the pattern clearly on the back. If you are weighing the difference between this and a city-woven piece, our guide on what an Oriental rug actually is explains the categories in plain terms. Being brand new and never walked on, this one still has its full 3/8" pile and decades of service ahead of it.