4'3" x 6'7" Persian Tabriz Rug | Ivory Floral Medallion | Wool & Silk Pile

A small format workshop piece in a size that is genuinely hard to find at this level of drawing, this 4'3" x 6'7" Tabriz was woven in Persia in the 2000's with a wool and silk pile on a cotton foundation. The field is ivory, the medallion and borders are coral, and the silk is used selectively, in the scrolling leaves and the fine outlines, so it catches light as you walk past rather than shining all at once. Condition is perfect: the pile stands full, the ends and sides are intact, and the original cotton fringe is clean. It ships with a certificate of authenticity listing origin, materials and measurements.

Design and Motifs

The layout is the classic curvilinear Tabriz formula, drawn small and tight. A coral lobed medallion sits dead center, holding a pale blue cartouche and a cream 8 petal rosette at its heart, with sprays of burgundy and pink blossom running around the inner contour. From the medallion tips, split leaves and thin arabesque vines reach out across the ivory ground in mirrored pairs, carrying rosettes, lotus heads and tiny forget-me-not clusters all the way into the 4 corners, where salmon spandrels close the field. The main border uses coral as its ground, filled with navy palmettes and cream-outlined lotus heads linked by vine, and it is held in place by narrow ivory guard stripes that repeat the same flowers at a smaller scale. The close-up photographs show how clean the outlining is: every petal and leaf is defined by a dark line only a knot or two wide, which is only possible on a fine, tightly woven ground.

A Palette of Ivory, Coral and Garden Blues

Ivory does most of the work here, an unbleached cream that reads warm in daylight and keeps the rug from feeling heavy in a smaller room. Against it the coral family moves through three tones: a soft salmon rose in the inner frame and spandrels, a deeper terracotta coral in the main border, and a mid coral in the medallion itself. The flowers bring in the contrast, with deep burgundy blossom clusters, olive and sage green leaves, powder blue buds and small touches of true navy in the palmette centers and outlines. The pale blue used inside the medallion is the quietest note in the rug and the one that ties the border blues back to the center. Where the silk is knotted into the vine work, the same coral and cream shift a half tone brighter depending on the angle you view the rug from, which is the easiest way to confirm the wool and silk mix by eye.

Woven in Tabriz, Northwest Persia

Tabriz sits in the northwest corner of Persia and has been the country's most technically disciplined weaving city for centuries. Weavers there work on vertical looms with a hook-ended knife, measure fineness in Raj, and are trained to follow a cartoon exactly, which is why Persian Tabriz rugs hold a curved line so well. On a piece this size the whole design has to be compressed without losing the drawing, so a workshop only attempts it on a fine weave with a short, even pile. That is exactly what you see on the back and in the ruler shot: small, regular knots, straight rows, and a firm handle with no looseness at the selvedges. The result is a rug that behaves like a much larger Tabriz in miniature, suited to a bedside, a study, an entry or anywhere a full size rug will not fit but the quality still has to show.