3'7" x 18'5" Persian Sarouk Runner Rug | Black Field Floral Medallion | 1980s, Perfect Condition

Runners this long are woven to order, not by accident, and at 3'7" x 18'5" this one is both longer and wider than the standard 2'6" hall size, which makes it genuinely hard to replace. It dates to the 1980s, is hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation, and the pile is still full and even from end to end with no wear, no repair and no fading. Among Persian Sarouk rugs the black ground is the least common version of the floral formula, and it reads far more dramatic in a room than the usual red. It ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The long field is organized around a single lobed medallion set roughly one third of the way down, its center an 8 petal rosette in sage and ivory on a red ground, with pendant finials above and below. The remaining field is filled with the classic Sarouk vocabulary drawn in a loose, confident village hand: red vases issuing flowering branches, upright bouquets of roses and carnations, curling serrated leaves, and detached blossoms scattered across the open ground so no section of the 18'5" length repeats exactly. The main border alternates rosette clusters with small vertical vase panels, framed inside and out by narrow vine and rosette guard stripes, and the 4 corners are resolved by hand rather than by a printed cartoon, which is exactly what you want to see in a piece of this length.

A Black Ground Lit by Red, Ivory and Green

The field is a true black with a faint blue cast where the light catches the wool, and it does the work of a dark backdrop: every flower on top of it gains contrast. The main border is a deep tomato red, warmer and brighter than the field, with an inner guard of the same red so the runner is edged twice. Inside the drawing, the palette runs through ivory and cream, soft rose and salmon pink, sage and forest green in the leaves, slate blue in the flower centers, and small hits of apricot and burnt orange that keep the whole thing from reading heavy. The medallion pulls the red and green up into the center of the composition, and the ivory fringe at both ends closes it cleanly.

Sarouk Weaving in the Villages Around Arak

Sarouk is a village in the Markazi region of central Persia, north of Arak, and the name covers a weaving tradition known for heavy, densely packed wool pile on a cotton foundation, floral drawing rather than geometry, and a pile that wears for generations rather than years. The Persian knot is pulled tight and beaten down hard, which is why the handle here feels substantial rather than floppy despite the narrow width, and why the wool still stands up after 40 years. Weaving a runner 18'5" long on a village loom demands a weaver who can hold the drawing steady over that distance, and the slight shifts in the field flowers are the signature of that work. It suits a long entry or gallery, and it belongs in the same conversation as the best long hallway runners we import.