12' x 16' Persian Tabriz Rug | Wool and Silk Allover Floral | 60 Raj, Approx. 400 KPSI

This is a full palace piece, 12' x 16' of hand-knotted wool and silk woven in the workshop tradition of Persian Tabriz rugs, on a cotton foundation at roughly 60 Raj, about 400 knots per square inch. At that count the drawing stays crisp across 192 square feet, which is far harder to hold together than it sounds. The pile is low and even, the silk is used as highlight rather than filler, and the rug lies dead flat with straight sides and full original ends. It is one of the larger pieces in our stock of oversize Persian rugs, sized for a great room, a formal dining room with a 10 seat table, or a long salon. Every rug ships with a certificate of authenticity documenting origin, materials and knot count.

Design and Motifs

The field carries an allover floral composition rather than a single medallion, built from large lobed palmettes, rosettes and serrated leaves linked by a continuous arabesque vine. The drawing mirrors precisely along both axes, so the pattern reads as a set of interlocking star shaped panels rather than a repeating grid, and the eye keeps finding new centers inside it. Small sprays, buds and cloud scrolls fill the negative space between the larger blossoms, which is where the high knot count earns its keep. The border system runs 5 bands deep: a broad burgundy main border of scrolling vine with paired palmettes and navy floral cartouches at the centers of each side, framed on both sides by pale blue guard stripes of running flowerhead, then a narrower sage and gold outer band, and a final navy edge band with cream palmettes. The corners resolve cleanly, with no broken or crowded drawing at the turns.

Color: Deep Navy, Burgundy and Silk-Lit Gold

The ground is a deep indigo navy, close to midnight where the pile is dense and shifting toward a clearer royal blue where the light rakes across it. Over that navy sits a warm palette of ivory, wheat gold, apricot and soft terracotta, with sage green used sparingly inside the palmette hearts and pale sky blue on the vine outlines. The main border is a muted burgundy brown, more oxblood than crimson, which cools the whole composition and keeps the gold from going brassy. Silk is worked into the highlights of the blossoms and the vine tips, so the lighter elements flash and change as you walk around the rug: from one end the field reads mostly cream and gold, from the other the navy dominates. The guard stripes in pale blue and silver green do the quiet work of separating the burgundy border from the navy field so neither muddies the other.

Tabriz Origin and Weaving Quality

Tabriz sits in northwest Persia and has been the country's workshop capital for centuries, working on a Raj system that counts knots per gereh, about 2.75 inches, across the width. 40 Raj is commercial goods, 50 is fine, and 60 Raj, roughly 400 knots per square inch, is where a weave moves into collector territory. That is the grade here, and on a rug this size it means several years of loom time with multiple weavers working shoulder to shoulder from a single cartoon. Tabriz weavers use a hook tool and a Turkish knot on a tight cotton warp, which is why the rug sits flat and square with no waviness along 16 feet of length. The wool is spun fine and clipped low so the outline of each palmette holds its edge, and the silk highlights are knotted in rather than brocaded on. Condition is excellent throughout, with full pile, clean selvages and complete ivory fringe at both ends.