14'9" x 18'6" Antique Persian Bijar Rug | Open Crimson Field, Navy Medallion | Over 110 Years Old

A rug of this age, this size and this condition is a once-in-a-decade find. Woven in the Kurdish town of Bijar in northwest Persia more than 110 years ago, it measures 14'9" x 18'6" and carries the weight, density and quiet authority that made Bijar rugs, the iron rugs of Persia, legendary among collectors. The composition is deliberately restrained: a vast open crimson field, one navy diamond medallion, four navy corner spandrels and a multi-stripe border, drawn with the confidence of a weaver who did not need to fill space to impress. Most antique pieces at this scale have been reduced, rewoven at the ends or heavily repiled; this one still shows even pile across the whole field. It ships with a certificate of authenticity, and as a true palace format it belongs with the oversize Persian rugs that are almost impossible to source in original condition.

Design and Motifs

The drawing follows the classic Bijar medallion and corner formula. A stepped diamond medallion on a near-black navy ground sits dead center, outlined in a pale celadon line that keeps its silhouette crisp against the red. Inside it, an ivory star-shaped sub-medallion is filled with a fine lattice of small rosettes and leaves, ringed by Herati palmettes, curled saz leaves and eight petal flowers in rose, slate blue, gold, brown and ivory. Slender finials rise from the top and bottom tips, and a lighter blue cloud-band cartouche floats to the left and right of the medallion, each one filled with its own miniature floral spray. The 4 corner spandrels repeat the same navy ground and the same Herati vocabulary in mirror image, their inner edges cut into a stepped, saw-tooth profile. Between medallion and spandrels the field is left entirely open, which is the boldest decision in the design and the reason the eye keeps returning to the center. The border system runs 7 stripes deep: a wide main band of turtle palmettes and vine scroll on a soft brick ground, flanked by ivory and pale blue guard stripes carrying trailing flowerheads.

A Study in Crimson, Navy and Ivory

Color is where this rug separates itself from later production. The field is a deep crimson red that has mellowed toward brick and terracotta at the surface while staying saturated at the knot, the signature look of madder dye that has aged for a century under natural light. Against it, the medallion and spandrels read almost black until you look closely, at which point the navy opens up into indigo, denim and slate tones layered one beside the other. The ivory center is warm rather than white, closer to old parchment, and it is echoed in the guard stripes so the border and medallion answer each other across the open ground. Earthy beige and warm tan carry the vine work in the main border, soft green outlines the medallion and appears in the leaf forms, and black is used sparingly for outlining where the weaver wanted a hard edge. Quiet accents of rose, salmon, gold and ochre appear inside the palmettes, and a few clear yellow flowerheads punctuate the corners. The overall effect is warm and formal at once, and it sits comfortably with mahogany, walnut, brass and stone.

Bijar Weaving and Why These Rugs Survive

Bijar sits in the Garrus district of Kurdistan, and its weavers built their reputation on construction rather than knot count. The warps are kept under extreme tension, the wefts are wetted, and each row is driven down with a heavy metal comb until the structure is packed solid. The result is a rug that is unusually thick, heavy and stiff off the loom and that simply refuses to wear out, which is how a piece woven in the early 1900s can still show full pile across 14'9" x 18'6" of floor. The wool from the surrounding highlands is tough and lanolin-rich, so it takes madder and indigo deeply and polishes rather than dulls with use. Weaving a palace format on a village loom of this kind was a major undertaking and usually a commission, which explains the disciplined drawing and the quality of the dye lots here. If you are comparing pieces from the wider group, the differences between town Bijar and the Zanjan, Tekab and Bukan weavings are set out in our guide to Bijar versus Bijar Zanjan, Tekab and Bukan, and the structural clues behind the age estimate are explained in our notes on how to date an oriental rug.