20' x 31'7" Persian Kerman Rug | Antique Palace Size, All-Over Floral Field | Excellent Condition

This is a true palace piece, 20 feet wide and nearly 32 feet long, and it takes four people to roll it out. Antique Persian Kerman weaving at this scale is uncommon, because a loom this wide had to be built for one commission and then kept warped for years while the weavers worked their way up the field. The whole surface is covered in small floral sprays on an ivory ground that has mellowed toward soft camel, with a wide salmon border framing it on all 4 sides. The pile is wool on a cotton foundation, the handle is supple rather than stiff, and the drawing stays crisp right into the corners. Pieces of this footprint belong with our other oversized Persian rugs, and this one ships with a certificate of authenticity documenting its origin, construction and materials.

Design and Motifs

There is no central medallion here. Instead the weavers filled the entire ground with an all-over floral design: loose bouquets, single roses, small buds and feathery leaf sprays scattered in a repeating rhythm, with slender curved vines linking them. Look closely at the field detail and you can pick out full open roses, carnation heads, tiny five-petal blossoms and curling serrated leaves, each outlined in a darker shade so the drawing reads clearly from standing height. The composition is drawn on a curvilinear grid, which is what separates a workshop Kerman from village weaving, and the repeat is large enough that you rarely see the same cluster twice in a single glance. Framing it are 5 bands: a broad main border carrying a turtle palmette and scrolling vine, flanked by narrow guard stripes of running floral meander in lighter tones, with plain outer bands closing the edge. The corners resolve cleanly, the border turns without the pattern breaking, and the flat-woven selvedge and short kilim ends are intact.

A Multi Color Pastel Palette on an Ivory Ground

The field is ivory shading into warm camel and sand, and that pale ground is exactly what makes the color work. Against it sit rose pink and dusty raspberry blossoms, salmon and apricot palmettes, copper and old gold vine work, soft teal and deep pine green leaves, and small touches of sky blue and lilac in the smaller buds. Nothing shouts. The whole scheme is built from half tones, which is characteristic of Kerman dyeing and of the madder, indigo and weld-based colors used in these workshops. The main border pulls the salmon and rose forward at full strength, so the frame is warmer and deeper than the interior, and the guard stripes drop back to ivory and pale gold. Under daylight the ground reads cream; under lamplight it warms to honey. On a dark hardwood or stone floor the rug will lift a large room considerably, and it sits comfortably with off-white plaster, walnut furniture, brass and muted upholstery rather than fighting them.

Kerman Weaving and the Scale of This Piece

Kerman sits in southeast Persia, at the edge of the desert, and its workshops have been weaving for the export and court trade since the Safavid period. The city built its reputation on drawing: floral repeats, garden and pictorial borders, and curved line work executed at a knot count fine enough to hold the curve. Weavers there use the asymmetric knot on a cotton foundation, clipped low so the pattern stays sharp, and the local wool takes the softer dye shades without going chalky. A 20' x 31'7" commission would have been a workshop project, drawn on a full cartoon and woven by a team, and the consistency of the repeat across almost 32 feet tells you the cartoon was followed exactly. If you want to understand how age is read in a piece like this, our guide on how to date an Oriental rug walks through the same signals we use: dye behavior, pile wear, back structure and finishing. This one is in excellent condition, with even pile and clean edges, and it ships free anywhere in the 50 states despite its weight.