10'5" x 13' Persian Heriz Rug | Geometric Stepped Medallion | Antique Red & Navy Wool

This is the Heriz that decorators keep asking for and rarely find in the right proportion: a true room-size piece at 10'5" x 13', hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation, with a mellowed antique red field, a navy black stepped medallion and ivory corners that lift the whole drawing. The pile is even end to end, the wool has the dry, glassy handle that Heriz fleece develops with age, and the rug lies flat with straight sides and sound selvedges. It sits comfortably in the family of 10x13 Persian rugs that float a full seating group without crowding the walls. Every rug we ship carries a certificate of authenticity confirming it is hand-knotted and Persian.

Design and Motifs

The layout is the classic Heriz formula drawn with unusual confidence. A large navy black medallion holds the center, its outline stepped rather than curved, with an 8 point rosette at the core built from pale rose and brick red bars. North and south of it, anchor pendants reach into the field carrying serrated leaves and small cypress-like sprays. Four corner spandrels in ivory close the composition, each filled with angular vine scrolls, hooked leaves and palmettes that mirror the medallion without copying it. The open red ground between them is not empty: it is scattered with curled leaf branches, small flowerheads, 4 petal rosettes and abstract animal-adjacent hooks, all drawn on the diagonal so the eye keeps moving. The main border runs a navy black ground with alternating palmette and rosette heads, framed by narrow guard stripes of running vine. This is the angular, straight-line drawing that separates village Heriz work from the curvilinear city workshops, and it is why Heriz sits so naturally with both antique and modern furniture. Buyers who want that same bold, straight-edged vocabulary across other origins can browse our geometric Persian rugs.

Antique Red, Ivory and Navy Black Coloring

The field is an antique red that has softened toward brick and terracotta, warmer in raking light and deeper where the pile lies against you, which is the natural abrash of a wool-dyed village rug rather than any fault. Against it, the navy black of the medallion and main border reads almost as charcoal at a distance and opens into true indigo blue in the closer detail, where sky blue outlines trace the medallion frame and fill small floral cells. Ivory does the heavy lifting in the 4 corners and in the fine outlining throughout, keeping the red from going heavy. Olive green appears in the serrated leaves and palmette hearts, a muted sage that cools the whole palette, and there is a soft salmon rose running through the vine scrolls and the medallion bars. Small touches of camel and warm brown show in the border rosettes. The overall effect in a room is warm and grounded: it will sit against cream plaster, oak floors, walnut furniture and leather without fighting any of them, and it is forgiving of everyday traffic in a way that lighter ivory-ground rugs never are.

Heriz Weaving in Northwest Persia

Heriz is a cluster of villages east of Tabriz, on the slopes below Mount Sabalan in northwest Persia. The water there is mineral-rich, and local weavers have always credited it with the toughness of the wool and the stability of the dyes. The fleece is coarser and springier than the silky kork of the central Persian workshops, and that is exactly the point: a Heriz is built to be walked on for generations. Weavers work from memory and from a village drawing rather than a fully painted cartoon, which is why the medallion here is drawn in straight lines and steps instead of true curves. Heriz village weaving generally runs under 200 knots per square inch, a density chosen for durability rather than miniature detail, and the back of this rug, shown against a ruler in the last photograph, confirms the even hand-knotting and the cotton foundation. Pieces at this scale required a wide loom and two or three weavers working side by side across the width, which is one reason genuine room-size Heriz rugs in honest condition have become steadily harder to source.