17'7" x 18'3" Persian Kerman Rug | Antique Star Medallion, Square Palace Size | Over 100 Years Old

This is a genuine palace piece: 17'7" x 18'3", within 8 inches of a perfect square, hand-knotted in Kerman more than a century ago and still holding a full, even wool pile. Rugs of this footprint were woven to order for a specific room, which is why the drawing is resolved edge to edge rather than a small pattern stretched to fill space. The field runs midnight navy, the corner and side panels break into sky blue and ivory compartments, and a deep crimson main border carries the whole thing. Pieces in the oversize Persian rugs range rarely survive this long in usable condition, and the near square format Persian rugs of this era are scarcer still. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity, and this one ships free anywhere in the 50 states despite its weight.

Design and Motifs

The center is a radiating star rosette: a small red and gold core ringed by a sky blue collar, then ranks of ivory, saffron and navy petals that fan outward like a compass. From there the design opens into a lobed star framework whose arms reach toward all 4 corners, filling the space between with a lattice of diamond and shield-shaped panels, each one drawn separately with its own flowering plant or paired palmette. Between the panels the navy ground is covered in a continuous vine of rosettes, cypress buds, curled leaves and small blossoms, so dense that no area of plain ground is left anywhere in the field. The border system is layered: a crimson main band of alternating palmettes and eight-petal rosettes, a navy secondary band of flowering sprays, and thin ivory and rose guard stripes that keep the whole composition from crowding. The corner spandrels resolve the star into pointed sky blue fans, and the way the panel lines meet the border on every side shows the weaver planned the full cartoon before the first knot went on the loom.

The Color: Midnight Navy Carrying Rose, Sky Blue and Gold

The dominant note is a very dark blue-black navy, close to indigo at full strength, and it does the work of a night sky behind everything drawn on top of it. Against it the weaver ran two distinct blues: a pale, almost turquoise sky blue used for the panels, spandrels and the inner border band, and a mid cornflower blue used for the individual flower heads. Rose pink appears in two weights, a soft dusty pink in the guard stripe and a stronger salmon pink in the palmettes, and both read as warm against the cool field. The main border is a deep crimson red that has mellowed to a slightly brick tone at the edges, which is normal and desirable in a rug of this age. Ivory carries the outlining and gives the drawing its legibility, saffron gold picks out the petal tips and small buds, and a true leaf green appears sparingly in the stems and the occasional flower. Under the full-field haze of the overhead shot the palette can look dusty rose and lavender; up close it is a saturated multi color scheme with real depth in the dye lots.

Kerman: The Weaving City of Southeast Persia

Kerman sits in the southeast of Persia, isolated enough by desert that its workshops developed a drawing style all their own: floral, curvilinear, and unusually painterly compared with the geometric traditions of the northwest. The city's reputation was built on exactly this kind of commission, a room-filling ground with a fully realized medallion and panel scheme, woven on a cotton foundation with the soft local wool that takes dye so cleanly. The best antique Persian Kerman rugs are recognized by their fine single weft drawing and their willingness to use pale blue and pink alongside classic red and navy, a combination few other towns attempted. The wear pattern here, the tight even pile, the natural mellowing of the reds and the cotton fringe all point to a weaving well over 100 years old; if you want to understand what those signals mean, our guide on how to date an antique Oriental rug walks through the same evidence we use on the floor. A square palace Kerman in this state is not something that comes through twice.