10'1" x 13'1" Persian Sarouk Rug | Red Open Field with Navy Medallion | Excellent Condition

This is the drawing that made Persian Sarouk rugs a household name in America: a single lobed medallion floating on a broad, uninterrupted red field, with ivory spandrels pulling the eye back to the center. Hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation, the pile stands a full 3/8" and the handle is heavy and supple, the kind of weight you feel the moment you drag a corner. Because the field is left largely open, the room reads calm even at 10'1" x 13'1", which is one reason this format is the most requested of all 10x13 Persian rugs. Condition is excellent, with even pile from end to end, intact selvages and original fringe. Every rug we ship carries a certificate of authenticity confirming it is genuinely hand-knotted in Persia.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a lobed navy medallion with a scalloped ivory cartouche at its heart, and inside that a small red lozenge carrying an 8 petal rosette. Around the ivory core the weaver has set curling acanthus leaves, slender vases and lavender rosettes, each outlined in gold so the shapes stay legible from standing height. Two pendants drop from the medallion, north and south, each a small navy cusped shield with its own floral bouquet. The 4 corners are filled with ivory spandrels drawn in the same vocabulary, softened by teal leafwork where they meet the field. Between medallion and corners the red ground is left deliberately open, broken only by scattered flowering sprays and tiny birds that reward a closer look. The main border runs navy with alternating palmettes and rosettes on a continuous vine, flanked by olive guard stripes carrying a reciprocal ivory arrow motif, and an outer minor band of turquoise and red triangles finishes the edge.

A Red Field Framed in Navy and Ivory

The field is a clear madder red, warm rather than orange, and it shifts gently between lighter and deeper passages as the light crosses the pile, the natural signature of hand-dyed wool. Against it the medallion and border read as a deep saturated blue, with mid blue and turquoise picked out in the leafwork and in the corner tendrils for contrast. Ivory does the structural work: the spandrels, the medallion cartouche and the reciprocal border motif are all drawn in an unbleached cream that has mellowed to a soft parchment tone. Smaller notes carry the pattern, including olive green in the guard stripes, apricot and gold in the vase forms, rose pink and lavender in the rosettes, and small touches of brick and deep aubergine inside the palmettes. It is a confident, high-contrast palette, red and navy doing the heavy lifting, and it sits naturally against wood floors, cream walls and dark furniture.

Sarouk Weaving in Central Persia

Sarouk is a village in the Arak district of central Persia, and the weaving tradition around it produced the curvilinear medallion carpets that filled American homes through the 20th century. Two things define the type: the drawing, which is fully curved and cartoon-based rather than village geometric, and the build, which is dense, tightly packed and finished with a thick pile that wears for generations. Local wool from the Markazi highlands takes dye well and keeps a low sheen, so colors stay deep instead of going glassy. On the reverse of this piece the knot rows are straight and regular across a cotton warp, with the weft beaten down hard, which is exactly what gives a Sarouk its characteristic stiffness and body when you lay it flat. Pieces at this scale were woven on large village looms by teams working months at a time, and a rug that has come through with pile, ends and sides this sound is worth having.