6'10" x 10'7" Persian Ardebil Rug | Red Field Geometric Medallion | Bird and Vase Motifs

Measuring 6'10" x 10'7", this Persian Ardebil is a true room-size piece that sits comfortably under a sofa group or a table for 6. The drawing is confident northwest Persian geometry: a clear red field, a navy and ivory stepped medallion flanked above and below by star diamonds, and broad sky blue corner pieces that frame the field like a second border. It is hand-knotted by hand on a cotton foundation with a dense wool pile, the surface even and full from end to end with no thin areas, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity. Among 7x10 Persian rugs this one stands out for how much life the weaver packed into the open ground, with birds, small animals, vases and flowering sprays filling nearly every space around the medallion.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a rectangular navy cartouche with an ivory inner panel and an 8 petal rosette at its heart, wrapped in a toothed ivory outline that bristles outward like a comb. Above and below, two stepped star diamonds climb the vertical axis on narrow stems, and beyond them sit paired navy vases, one holding a stylised cypress and the other a single rose. At the top and bottom of the field, large navy palmettes are attended by pairs of ivory birds facing one another, and small dogs, birds and leaf sprays scatter through the red ground, each one drawn slightly differently by hand. Four black hooked brackets anchor the middle of the field, a detail collectors look for in this style of geometric rug design. The main border is a row of alternating red and ivory squares, each centered on a small rosette and bracketed by hooked devices, set between narrow vine and reciprocal trefoil guard stripes that keep the whole frame crisp.

A Clear Red Field Against Navy, Sky Blue and Ivory

The field reads as a clean, slightly tomato-leaning red, bright without turning orange, and it holds that tone evenly across the full 10'7" length rather than drifting lighter at one end. Against it the weaver worked two separate blues: a deep ink navy for the medallion panel, the vases and the palmettes, and a soft powder sky blue for the spandrels, the drinking-bird details and many of the small leaves, so the pattern reads in layers instead of flattening out. Ivory does the structural work, outlining the medallion, carrying the bird figures and lighting up every other square in the main border. Charcoal black appears only where it counts, in the hooked brackets and in fine outlines, and small touches of soft sage green and rust warm the guard stripes. It is a classic choice among red Persian rugs, warm enough for a formal room and graphic enough to carry a plainer modern interior.

Ardebil: Weaving in the Far Northwest of Persia

Ardebil sits on a high, cold plateau in the far northwest corner of Persia, close to the Caucasus, and that geography shows in the work. The design vocabulary leans on its northern neighbours, with square panel borders and hooked brackets of the kind seen in Caucasian village weaving, while the structure is firmly Persian: a cotton warp and weft, a double-wefted body and a short, tightly packed wool pile. The wool from flocks in that climate carries high lanolin, which is why Ardebil rugs keep a quiet sheen and resist crushing under furniture for decades. The close-up of the reverse shows knotting that stays regular row after row, with the design elements holding their shape at the corners instead of wandering, which is the mark of an experienced weaver working from a well-set loom. Condition is excellent, the pile full and the ends and sides sound.