9' x 12'5" Indian Jaipur Rug | William Morris Damask | Brand New Hand-Knotted Wool

This is a brand new, never used hand-knotted wool rug from Jaipur, measuring 9' x 12'5", drawn in the damask manner that Western designers have borrowed from Victorian textile work since William Morris put acanthus leaves on the wall. The weaver has put a deep black field under a wide burgundy border and filled both with scrolling leaves, palmettes and shield shaped cartouches, so the rug reads as one continuous pattern rather than a medallion composition. The wool is heavy and lustrous, the pile stands up crisply where the colors change, and the knotting is even enough that the long diagonal leaf tips stay clean from one end of the 12'5" length to the other. This is a true room size piece at a standard 9x12 footprint, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it is hand-knotted, all wool and made in India.

Design and Motifs

The field is built on an all-over damask pattern of large serrated acanthus leaves that curl into one another and create ogival compartments across the whole surface. Inside each compartment sits an ivory cartouche holding a small bouquet of roses and carnations, and between them rise fan shaped palmettes edged with tiny pearl beading, visible clearly in the close-up detail. The drawing is symmetrical along the long axis, with 3 columns of cartouches repeating up the field and half motifs carried into the corners so the pattern looks cut from a larger cloth. The main border repeats a green and ivory urn flanked by the same feathered leaves, held between 2 narrow guard bands of alternating leaf and blossom heads, and a plain dark selvage finishes the edge above thick ivory cotton fringe. It is a formal, dense, high Victorian layout translated into knotted wool, and the sheer scale of the leafwork is what makes it work at 9 feet wide.

A Black Field With Burgundy, Gold and Olive

The ground color is black, reading as a very dark navy-black under direct light, and it does the same job a lacquered background does behind a still life: it pushes everything else forward. Against it the leaves run in soft salmon and blush, shading through peach to ivory at the tips, with olive and apple green picking out the curling stems and the smaller leaf clusters. Gold and antique amber appear in the palmette crowns and around the beaded edges of the cartouches, while the rose sprays inside them are worked in raspberry pink, rust and a touch of teal. The wide main border is a deep burgundy wine red, cooler and darker than the pinks it carries, and the ivory guard bands separate the 2 dark zones so the border does not swallow the field. The overall effect is rich and evening toned, and it sits well with dark woods, brass, cream upholstery and deep green or oxblood walls.

Woven in Jaipur, India

Jaipur and the surrounding workshops of Rajasthan are where most of the world's good contemporary hand-knotted work is now made, and this piece shows why: a cotton foundation pulled straight and tight, a full wool pile with real weight to it, and finishing work on the selvage and fringe that matches the quality of the knotting. The looms there have carried this European influenced damask and acanthus vocabulary for well over a century, which is why an Oriental rug from Jaipur can look at home in a room furnished around Victorian or English country pieces. Being brand new and never used, the pile is at full height with no traffic patterns anywhere, and it is priced well below the Persian city weaves that share its formality. For buyers shopping the standard 9x12 area rugs footprint, the extra 5 inches of length here is useful under a long dining table or a full seating group.