11'2" x 17'4" Persian Tabriz Rug | Green Field, Wool & Silk on Silk Foundation | 1980s, Never Used

A rug this size in a green field is something you see once every few years, and almost never unused. This 11'2" x 17'4" Tabriz was woven in the 1980s, hand-knotted in wool and silk on a silk foundation at roughly 500 knots per square inch, and it has been stored rather than walked on since the day it left the loom. The pile still stands up in the photographs, the pink and turquoise accents in the border are unfaded, and the fringe is original and full. Among oversize Persian rugs at this weave quality, condition like this is what separates a decorative piece from a collectible one. It ships with a certificate of authenticity documenting origin, materials, knot count and age.

Design and Motifs

The drawing is classic Tabriz workshop work: a large lobed medallion sits dead center on a deep coral red ground, built out in layers from an ivory rosette core through a navy ring of scrolling vine to a scalloped outer edge finished with ivory cloud band tracery. Above and below it hang matching red pendants, and to either side float slim ivory cartouches. The open green field is then filled with a measured all over scheme of curved boteh and free standing floral bouquets, each one drawn separately with its own palette of lilies, carnations, rosettes and feathered leaves, so no two clusters read the same at close range. The four corners carry broad gold spandrels of split palmette and arabesque. The main border runs coral red with alternating pink cartouche panels at the corners and midpoints, framed by navy guard bands of white stemmed flowers, a red rosette minor stripe, and an outer green band of turquoise palmettes that ties the border back to the field.

A Pistachio Green Field With Coral, Gold and Navy

The field is a soft pistachio or chartreuse green, warm rather than cool, and the silk content in the pile makes it shift as you walk around it, reading almost celadon from one end and closer to olive gold from the other. Against it the medallion and main border carry a true coral red, brighter and more orange than the brick reds usual in Persian weaving, with dense navy blue guard borders providing the dark frame that keeps the whole thing from floating. Gold runs through the corner spandrels and the larger field bouquets. The detail work is where the palette gets interesting: dusty pink cartouches, turquoise and teal leaves, lilac, apricot, ivory and moss green picked out flower by flower. Buyers searching green Persian rugs in a large format usually find sage or muted olive; this one is clear and saturated, and it sets off walnut, cherry and dark oak furniture particularly well.

Tabriz Weaving and the Silk Foundation

Tabriz, in the far northwest of Persia, is the workshop city that supplies the country's most technically ambitious floral weaving, and the whole Tabriz standard is built around holding a curved line cleanly at high knot counts. That standard is why this rug works. A silk foundation gives thinner, stronger warps and wefts than cotton, which lets the weavers pack more knots across the width and keeps a rug of this length dimensionally true, with straight sides and square corners you can see in the floor photographs. Wool carries the field and the body of the pile, while silk is used in the highlights, so the flowers catch light against a matte ground. At roughly 500 knots per square inch across nearly 194 square feet, this is a multi-year piece for a full workshop team, and the close-up images show the payoff: individual flower stamens, outlined petals and clean color changes with no blurring.