11'2" x 19'1" Antique Persian Serapi Rug | Oversize Geometric Medallion | Circa 1930s Excellent Condition

This is a genuine palace-scale antique, 11'2" x 19'1" of hand-knotted wool woven in the Heriz district of northwest Persia in the 1930s. Serapi is the name the trade reserves for the best of the old Heriz-district weavings, the ones with looser, more open drawing, softer wool and a clearer palette than the heavier commercial pieces, and this one earns it: a warm orange red field, a stepped navy medallion, and ivory corner spandrels drawn with the straight-line confidence of a village loom. Nearly 90 years on, the pile is intact and the drawing is crisp, which is why we are listing it in excellent condition. It ships with a certificate of authenticity, and oversize Persian rugs of this scale go out free to all 50 states with no freight surcharge.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a large stepped medallion built in concentric rings: a small 8 petal rosette inside a teal octagon, framed by a camel and ivory ground, then a wide navy outline that breaks into hooks and serrated leaves at every step. Long navy pendants run north and south from the medallion, each finished with a salmon cartouche and a fan of angular tendrils. Ivory spandrels fill all 4 corners with big scrolling vines and palmettes, and the open field between them carries free-floating rosettes, split leaves and tiny vases in the sparse village manner. The main border sets ivory palmettes and curling vine against indigo, with sky blue guard stripes of small meandering flowerheads on either side. Every line here is angular rather than curved, which is exactly what makes this geometric medallion design read so cleanly across nearly 20 feet of floor.

A Terracotta and Indigo Palette Only Natural Dyes Give You

The field is an orange red that sits between terracotta and brick, lit from within by gentle abrash where one dye lot met the next, so the ground shifts slightly lighter toward the ends and never looks flat or printed. Against it, the medallion and the main border are a deep indigo navy that photographs almost black in low light and opens into true blue in daylight. The relief comes from ivory and warm camel in the spandrels and border ground, a clear mid sky blue in the leaves and guard stripes, muted teal green in the medallion core and scattered leaf tips, and soft salmon peach in the cartouches and palmettes. A few small notes of old gold and dull rose appear in the guard stripes. These are the mellowed, slightly uneven tones that only decades of natural dye and light exposure produce, and they are the reason the rug reads warm in a room rather than loud.

Heriz District Weaving and Why Serapi Pieces Are Sought After

Heriz sits east of Tabriz in the mountains below Mount Sabalan, and the district's reputation rests on two things: mineral-rich water that sets dye beautifully, and local wool famous for being tough and high in lanolin. Village looms there work from memory rather than a full cartoon, which is why the drawing is angular, the corners step instead of curve, and no two antiques repeat exactly. Knot counts in this tradition are modest by city standards, and that is the point, since the value lies in the wool, the dyes and the boldness of the drawing rather than in fineness. Oversize pieces like this one were woven on purpose-built wide looms for large European and American houses, which makes a surviving 1930s example at this length genuinely scarce. If you want to understand how pieces like this are dated, our guide on how to date an oriental rug walks through what we look at, and you can see other pieces at this scale on our oversize antique Persian rugs page.