10' x 12'10" Persian Kerman Rug | Navy Blue Floral Medallion | Signed Workshop Piece

A signed Kerman is a workshop rug, and this one shows it in the drawing: the curves stay true the whole way around a 10' x 12'10" field, the medallion sits dead center, and the two ends of the border match motif for motif. The pile is 3/8" wool on a cotton foundation, still full and even across the surface, with the fringe intact at both ends and no thinning through the traffic lanes. At this footprint it belongs in the family of 10x13 Persian rugs that anchor a full seating group or a 10 seat dining table with chairs pulled clear of the edge. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it is hand-knotted in Persia.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a large rounded starburst medallion built in concentric rings: a small rose and ivory boss at the core, a serrated red frame around it, then a band of sky blue lancet leaves, then an ivory ring packed with tiny rose and cornflower blossoms, all finished with a scalloped outline of some 24 points. Above and below the medallion the weaver set tall floral crowns of curling serrated leaves and cusped palmettes, so the composition reads as one continuous axis from end to end rather than a medallion dropped onto a plain ground. The open navy field between is filled with arching vines, buds, and small rosettes worked in the classic Kerman curvilinear manner. Corner spandrels in pale sky blue carry a finer, tighter vine and are separated from the field by a drawn outline rather than a hard edge. The main border runs a dense procession of flowering sprays and rosettes on navy, framed on both sides by ivory guard stripes of connected blossoms, and one of those ivory stripes carries the woven signature cartouche shown in the close-up photograph.

A Navy Blue and Ivory Palette

The field is a deep midnight navy, saturated enough to read almost black in shadow and clearly blue in daylight, and it is that depth that lets the ivory medallion sit forward the way it does. Against it the weaver worked a second, much lighter blue, closer to a soft sky or powder tone, used for the spandrels, the larger leaves and many of the smaller blossoms, so the rug has cool contrast built in rather than relying on the border alone. The warm notes are rose, raspberry and a paler salmon pink in the flower heads, with small touches of sage and apple green in the leaf stems and a little camel gold in the vine work. The medallion ground and the guard stripes are a creamy ivory with a slight warmth to it. Overall the rug reads blue and ivory from across a room, and the pink and green detail only comes forward as you stand over it, which makes it easy to place with both cool grey and warm wood interiors.

Kerman Weaving in Southeast Persia

Kerman sits in the southeast of Persia, far from the northwest weaving belt, and it developed its own vocabulary: flowing curvilinear drawing, pictorial and garden style borders, and a soft, slightly lustrous local wool that takes dye in the rose and sky tones this rug depends on. Kerman weavers work on a cotton foundation with a fine enough knot to carry a true curve, which is why the medallion outline here turns smoothly instead of stepping, and the design was drawn on cartoon by a naghsheh designer before a single knot was tied. The signature in the border is the part collectors care about most. A workshop that puts its name in the guard stripe is standing behind the piece, and signed Kerman rugs in room size with an even 3/8" pile and clean, unrestored ends are harder to find each year. Laid flat, this one lies true, with straight sides and squared corners across all 4 edges.