11'11" x 18' Persian Tabriz Rug | All-Over Floral Palmette Field | 1970s Oversize

Very few Persian rugs are woven at this scale, and fewer still hold their drawing across it. This 11'11" x 18' Tabriz was knotted in northwest Persia in the 1970s, in one piece, on a loom wide enough to carry 143 inches of warp without a seam. The pile is wool on a cotton foundation, clipped low and even, and the field runs edge to edge in a repeating floral lattice rather than leaning on a central medallion, which is exactly what you want when a room this size gets furnished and half the rug disappears under seating. It sits squarely in the class of oversize 12x18 Persian rugs that buyers search for and rarely find in good condition. The original dealer tag, rug number 6533, is still attached to the back, and every rug leaves us with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The field is drawn as a diagonal lattice of thin vine scroll, and at each crossing the weaver set a different flower head: broad serrated palmettes, curled leaf forms with feathered edges, lotus blossoms, cone shaped boteh and small 8 petal rosettes scattered across the open red ground. No two neighbouring motifs repeat in the same color, which gives the surface the busy, jewel-box quality that good Tabriz all-over floral rugs are known for. Tiny white daisies and paired tulip sprays fill the gaps so that almost nothing of the field is left empty. The main border is a broad ivory band carrying upright flowering plants alternating with soft green cloudband cartouches, and it is framed on both sides by camel gold guard stripes of running vine and a pale blue outline stripe. All 4 corners resolve cleanly, the lattice meeting the border without the crowding or cut-off drawing you often see when a village weaver attempts this length.

A Deep Red Field Framed in Ivory

The ground is a deep madder red, warm rather than orange, with the gentle vertical abrash that hand-dyed wool develops as the dye lots change on the loom. Against it the ivory border reads almost cream in daylight and gives the whole piece its frame and its lift. The motifs are worked in a wide palette: pine and olive green in the leaves, sky blue and deep navy in the palmette centres, saffron and mustard gold, apricot and salmon pink in the smaller blossoms, camel tan in the guard stripes and clean ivory in the flower heads and outlines. The blues and greens carry the most weight after the red, so the rug sits comfortably with navy upholstery, walnut furniture and brass. Close up, the low clipped pile lets each outline stay crisp, and the color reads soft and settled rather than bright, which is what 50 years of gentle mellowing does to good wool.

Tabriz Weaving and the Quality of This Piece

Tabriz sits in East Azerbaijan in the far northwest of Persia and has been the country's most organised weaving city for centuries, working to designs drawn on cartoon paper and measured in Raj, the number of knots counted across a gereh of about 2.75 in of width. That workshop discipline is why Persian Tabriz rugs can be woven at palace length and still keep their proportions straight from end to end. This piece shows the hallmarks: a taut cotton foundation, a firm handle with real body to it, a low even clip that holds fine detail, and secure selvedges and ends. Wool from the flocks of the surrounding highlands takes dye well and wears hard, and the low pile on a dense weave is the combination you want under dining chairs or a long console. At 11'11" x 18' it is a piece for a great room, a formal dining room or a library, and it ships free anywhere in the 50 states despite the freight weight.