10' x 13'6" Persian Isfahan Rug | Signed Wool & Silk on Silk Foundation | All-Over Floral

A signed room-size piece from the workshop tradition of central Persia, this Persian Isfahan rug carries its maker's cartouche in the lower guard border, woven in Farsi to read "Iran Isfahan Afshari" beside the small flag panel. The pile is wool with silk, knotted on a silk foundation, which is why the drawing holds its curves cleanly at this scale and why the fringe at either end is fine, even and slightly glossy rather than cotton-dull. It dates to the 2000's and has never been walked on hard: no wear lines, no sun fade, no repairs, with the pile still standing full across all 10' x 13'6". Every rug we ship carries a certificate of authenticity listing origin, materials and dimensions.

Design and Motifs

There is no central medallion here. Instead the ivory field runs as a continuous all-over lattice of Shah Abbasi palmettes, 8 petal rosettes and split leaf arabesques, linked by two sets of vine scrolls that cross one another and mirror on both the long and short axes. Look closely at the field detail and you can count the layers: a dark maroon vine that draws the structure, a pale blue vine that softens it, and small cloud band curls filling the spaces between blossoms. The main tan border repeats a large palmette and serrated leaf sequence with its own reciprocal rhythm, framed by an ivory guard stripe of paired leaves and a narrow blue vine ribbon on either side. The 4 corners resolve the border pattern exactly, which is a drawing test that only cartoon-based workshop weaving passes cleanly.

A Quiet Ivory Field With Blue and Green Accents

The field reads as warm ivory, closer to unbleached cream than white, and the silk-blend pile shifts it a half tone lighter or darker depending on which way you stand. Against it the palmette heads are drawn in soft camel, dove grey and pale sky blue, with cobalt and deep navy used only for outlines and flower centers so the pattern stays legible without turning heavy. The main border is a muted tan that photographs as light camel under showroom light, carrying the same blue and ivory vocabulary plus small strikes of brick red, old rose and a cool sage green in the leaf tips. Green appears sparingly, which is exactly how this palette should work: it is an accent in the foliage rather than a field color. The overall effect is neutral enough for pale oak or grey floors while still delivering real color up close.

Isfahan: The Town and the Weave

Isfahan sits in central Persia and has been the reference point for court-quality weaving since the Safavid workshops of the 16th century. The reputation rests on drawing rather than decoration: a true curved line, a vine that flows without breaking, precise mirroring, and that only works at a high knot count on a foundation that will not stretch. That is the reason the best Isfahan looms use a silk foundation, as this one does, with silk also worked into the pile to lift the highlights. A signed piece means a named workshop stood behind it, and the Afshari cartouche here places it in that group. At 10 feet wide it is a genuine room-size format, and among 10x14 Persian rugs a signed wool and silk Isfahan in perfect condition is a rarer find than the same design in a 6x9.