9' x 13'8" Oriental Area Rug | Charcoal All-Over Floral | Hand-Knotted Wool, Excellent Condition

This is a big, quiet, confident room rug: 9' x 13'8" of hand-knotted wool on a cotton foundation, with a deep charcoal field framed by a wide ivory border. It is the kind of Oriental rug that reads almost as a solid dark ground from across the room, then opens up into dozens of gold, pale blue and brown blossoms once you stand over it. The pile is dense and low enough to take dining chairs and traffic, the wool is hand spun and takes light beautifully, and the piece has never been used. It ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming the hand-knotted construction, wool content and dimensions, and it sits squarely in the large 9 by 14 area rug range that most great rooms and formal dining rooms need.

Design and Motifs

The field is a classic all-over floral repeat rather than a single medallion, so the pattern continues under furniture without a center that has to be kept clear. Rows of rounded palmettes and 8 petal rosettes alternate with serrated lotus heads and small cypress-like leaf forms, all connected by fine scrolling vines and scattered with tiny 4 petal blossoms. The rhythm is built on a repeating grid, with larger cartouche-shaped rosettes set roughly every third row to give the eye a place to rest. The wide main border carries a linked chain of palmettes and split-leaf arabesques on ivory, flanked by two narrow guard stripes of running vine, and the corners are resolved cleanly so the drawing turns without breaking. The ends are finished with plain woven kilim and hand-knotted fringe, and the sides are tightly bound in charcoal.

A Charcoal Field With Ivory, Gold and Soft Blue

The ground is a true charcoal, closer to wet slate than to black, with the faint horizontal variation in tone that only hand spun, vegetable dyed wool gives. Against it the drawing is worked in warm ivory and antique cream, a soft wheat gold that carries most of the larger blossoms, and a chalky light blue that cools the palette down. Cinnamon and walnut brown outline the palmettes and give the design its definition, while a few deep indigo accents sit inside the larger rosettes. The main border reverses the scheme, putting the same gold, blue and brown palmettes on a pale ivory ground, which is what makes the charcoal field look darker and deeper than it actually is. In daylight the rug photographs grey and gold; under lamplight the blues recede and the gold warms. It is an easy palette to live with alongside grey upholstery, walnut, brass and white walls.

Hand-Knotted in Pakistan

Pakistan's weaving centers around Lahore and Peshawar have spent decades refining exactly this type of production: hand spun wool, natural and vegetable based dyes, and traditional cartoons drawn from the classical Oriental repertoire, knotted at a weight and density built for daily use. The back of this rug tells the story, with small, even, clearly legible knots, straight rows and no bulges or waisting across a 13'8" length, which is harder to hold than it sounds on a loom this wide. The wool is the other half of the value: long staple, hand spun, with enough natural lanolin left in it that the pile has a soft sheen rather than a synthetic glare, and enough spring that footprints and vacuum marks fall out on their own. A rug woven this way, at this size, is a 30 year floor covering rather than a seasonal purchase.