10'2" x 14'2" Persian Sarough Rug | Ivory Field Floral Medallion | Vintage, Excellent Condition

This is a vintage piece in the classic formal tradition of Persian Sarough rugs, hand-knotted in 100% wool on a cotton foundation and left with a wide expanse of undecorated ivory that very few weavers have the confidence to attempt. The drawing gathers into a single diamond medallion at center and into four heavy floral corner clusters, so the eye reads open space first and detail second. At 10'2" x 14'2" it covers a full formal room with furniture sitting comfortably on the pile, and the 3/8" wool has held its body and luster with no thin areas across the field. Every rug we ship carries a certificate of authenticity documenting origin, materials and hand-knotted construction.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a diamond medallion built in layers: a small sage green rosette at the core, then a lobed wine red cartouche filled with blossoms, then a navy outline, then a spray of roses, buds and curling vine leaves that dissolves outward into the open ground. Pendants run off the top and bottom points and small dark finials mark the 4 side tips. The corners answer the medallion with large quarter clusters of the same vocabulary, palmettes, serrated leaves, rosettes and scrolling arabesque, drawn on an ivory sub-ground and shaded with blue so they read as clouds of flowers rather than solid blocks. The main border carries an alternating rhythm of ivory palmettes and blue rosettes on wine red, and it is framed on both sides by narrow guard stripes of small green and pink flower heads with a fine reciprocal edge at the very outside. Everything is curvilinear: the vines bend, the leaves turn, and the line never breaks into the angular drawing you see in village work.

Ivory, Wine Red and Blue in the Palette

The field is a warm ivory, closer to unbleached cream than to bright white, and it has taken on the faint honeyed patina that wool of this age develops. Against it the border reads as a deep wine red with a brick undertone, softened rather than saturated, which is exactly what makes the rug easy to live with in a light room. Blue carries most of the interior drawing: medium slate blue in the corner spandrels, a deeper indigo in the medallion outline and in the flower centers, and small pinpoints of near black navy at the tips. Rose pink and salmon supply the blossoms, with sage green and a soft olive in the leaves and in the guard stripes. Light beige and pure ivory highlights lift the palmettes out of the red border. The overall effect sits with other ivory and beige Persian rugs, bright and open at a distance, richly colored the moment you stand over it.

Sarough Weaving and Persian Origin

Sarough weaving comes out of west central Persia, in the villages around Arak, and the name has stood for heavy, city-quality floral work since the trade first reached American homes in the early 20th century. Two things define the type: a dense, tightly packed knot on a cotton foundation that gives the rug real weight underfoot, and a curvilinear floral vocabulary drawn from cartoon rather than from memory, which is why the medallion and the 4 corners on this piece match one another so precisely. The wool is the other half of the story. Sarough fleece is springy and takes dye with depth, and after decades of settling this pile has the quiet sheen that new production cannot fake. Clean selvedges, an even handle from end to end and original ivory fringe confirm a sound, well kept weave. Among 10x14 Persian rugs this is a room-defining size, and the open ivory ground makes it far lighter in a space than the dimensions suggest.