6'10" x 10'8" Persian Bijar Rug | All Over Floral Field | Silky Fine Wool, 1980s

This is a 1980s hand-knotted Bijar from Kurdish northwest Persia, woven in soft, silky wool over a cotton foundation and finished with a dense 3/8" pile that stands up straight the moment you set it down. What separates it from most Persian Bijar rugs of this period is the drawing: instead of the usual Herati lattice, the weaver filled the entire field with naturalistic roses, tulips and flowering branches, then anchored the bottom with a footed vase. At 6'10" x 10'8" it sits right in the most useful range of 7 x 10 Persian rugs, large enough to carry a full seating group without crowding the walls. The pile is even from end to end with no wear, the ends and sides are original, and the rug ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The field is a mirrored all over garden rather than a medallion layout. A small rosette disc marks the center, and from it the drawing repeats outward in both directions with open roses, carnations, morning glories, tulip buds and broad serrated leaves carried on thin vines. Each quadrant balances its opposite, which is the mark of a carefully cartooned workshop piece rather than a memory weave. At the bottom of the field a ribbed vase sits under a tall spray of blossoms and spiked leaves, giving the rug a clear top and bottom. The main border runs on a near-black ground with alternating large rosettes and paired blossom heads, framed on both sides by a rose and vine guard stripe and then by narrow beige and blue ribbon stripes. Corners are resolved cleanly, with the border pattern turning the corner instead of breaking off, another sign of a well-drawn Bijar.

Color: Coral Red Ground Against Near-Black Borders

The ground is a warm coral red, lighter and pinker than the brick reds usually associated with Kurdish weaving, and the silky wool gives it a visible sheen that shifts as you walk around the rug. Against that field the flowers are drawn in ivory and soft beige, dusty rose and salmon, deep burgundy and aubergine, powder blue and a stronger cornflower blue, with olive and sage green leaves tying the palette together. The main border is a near-black midnight navy, which reads as black in low light and as deep blue in daylight, and that dark frame is what makes the coral field glow the way it does. Small touches of pale gold and cream appear in the guard stripes and the outer ribbon, and the ivory fringe at both ends finishes the rug cleanly. It is a red rug that behaves like a light one, warm without being heavy.

Bijar: The Iron Rug of Persia

Bijar sits in the Kurdish highlands of northwest Persia, and its weavers earned the nickname the iron rug of Persia by beating each row of knots down with a heavy metal comb while the warps are held under extreme tension. The result is a fabric so compact that the rug feels like a board when you roll it, resists crushing under furniture and simply refuses to wear out. That density is exactly what you can see in the close photograph of the back, where the knot rows sit tight and square. The weaving villages around the town differ in handle and palette, and a buyer comparing pieces should understand the distinctions between Bijar, Bijar Zanjan, Bijar Tekab and Bijar Bukan weaving. This example belongs to the finer, softer end of the group, a town-woven 1980s piece with workshop drawing, glossy highland wool and the structure that makes a Bijar a lifetime rug.