9' x 12' Chinese Aubusson Rug | Gold Floral Medallion | Silky Viscose Pile

Hand-knotted in China to a French Aubusson drawing, this 9' x 12' rug reads like a single length of antique gold satin until the light shifts across it. The pile is viscose, chosen for exactly that mirror sheen, clipped short and level so every rose, leaf and scroll sits up off the field with an almost carved edge. Condition is perfect, the weave is recent, the ends and sides are sound, and the ivory cotton web at the back is clean and tight, as the tag photo shows. Every rug we sell leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity recording the size, construction, pile material and origin for insurance and resale.

Design and Motifs

The layout is pure Aubusson salon drawing. A single oval medallion sits dead center on an ivory ground, ringed by a lavender grey Greek key band, and filled with a bouquet of 2 full roses, a yellow rose and a green peony on dark jade foliage. Scrolling acanthus, small rosettes and palmette clasps break out of the oval at the 4 compass points, and the open gold field around it is left almost bare on purpose so the eye travels to the 4 corner garlands and the 4 half-garlands along the sides, each one a loose spray of roses, camellias, pear-shaped buds and long narrow leaves. A thin gold inner frame picks up fretwork brackets at the corners with a standing urn motif below each one, then the main ivory border runs continuous scrolling vine, lotus rosettes, small heart devices and cloud-scroll leaves between 2 Greek key guard stripes, finishing in a plain gold outer band.

The Gold, Ivory, Green and Rose Palette

The field is a deep golden brown, closer to warm camel and antique bronze than to yellow, and because the viscose reflects, it shifts between honey and dark toffee depending on where you stand. Against it the border and medallion grounds are a soft clotted ivory, almost cream, which keeps the whole piece from going heavy. The flowers are drawn in dusty rose and old pink with white highlights, 2 shades of yellow from butter to saffron, pale celadon and deeper jade green in the leaves, and a scattering of taupe and mushroom in the lotus rosettes. The Greek key stripes are a cool lavender grey, the one genuinely cool note in the rug, outlined in chocolate brown that also traces the petals and gives the pastels their definition. If you are shopping the warmer end of the spectrum, this sits naturally with our gold and yellow rugs.

Woven in China: Aubusson Drawing, Oriental Weaving

Chinese workshops have been weaving European floral cartoons for the Western market since the Art Deco years, and the Aubusson and Savonnerie patterns are the ones they do best, because the style asks for open ground, precise curves and flat pastel shading rather than dense all-over tribal geometry. This piece is knot-by-knot hand work on a cotton foundation, finished with the carved-look clip that separates each flower from the field, which is why the garlands read almost like relief plasterwork in the close photos. It is a true Oriental rug by construction and a French parlor rug by drawing, and at 9 by 12 feet it covers a formal room the way the design intends, with the medallion under the center of the seating and the garlands running clear of the furniture legs. Compare it against the rest of our 9x12 area rugs before you decide.