6'11" x 9'3" Persian Isfahan Rug | Allover Floral Medallion | 1970s Wool, Excellent Condition

Woven in the 1970s, this 6'11" x 9'3" piece belongs to the family of Persian Isfahan rugs built on drawing rather than volume: a fine wool pile on a cotton foundation, knotted tightly enough to carry curved vine work without the line breaking into steps. Fifty years on it remains in excellent condition, with even pile across the whole field, intact selvedges and clean ivory fringe at both ends, as the close photographs show. It is a size that works as a true room rug without dominating, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The field carries a fully allover floral design, a continuous lattice of thin ivory vine scrolls that loop across the red ground and hang palmettes, lotus blossoms, split-leaf arabesques and small 8 petal rosettes at every turn. At the center sits a round medallion drawn in layers: an ivory and gold rosette core, a ring of wine-red lobes, then a pale blue cartouche frame that lifts the whole motif clear of the busy field around it. Four corner quarters echo the same medallion drawing so the composition reads balanced from any side. The main border is a deep navy band of alternating palmettes and rosettes on a connecting vine, fenced by narrow ivory and red guard stripes, and the drawing stays tight right into the corners where lesser weaving usually falters.

The Red, Blue and Ivory Palette

The ground is a rose-leaning red, warmer and brighter than a brick or oxblood field, and the angled pile photograph shows how it shifts between raspberry and a deeper cherry tone depending on which way the nap is brushed. Against it the weaver worked two separate blues: a dark navy that outlines the palmettes and fills the main border, and a soft powder blue used inside the flower heads and around the medallion frame, which is what keeps the pattern from reading as a flat red and white rug. Ivory and cream do the structural work, carrying the vine scrolls and the medallion core, while small touches of olive green, tan and honey gold appear in the leaves and buds. It is a classic formal palette that sits comfortably with dark wood, brass and warm neutral walls.

Isfahan Weaving and Quality

Isfahan sits in central Persia and its weaving reputation goes back to the Safavid court workshops of the 16th century, when the city set the standard for curved line, flowing vine and precise, repeatable drawing. That standard only survives at a high knot count, which is why Isfahan weavers work in fine wool on a cotton foundation and keep the pile clipped low, as you can see on the reverse of this rug where the pattern reads almost as sharply from the back as from the front. This example is a workshop-quality 1970s piece: the vine work stays consistent from end to end, the wool has the quiet sheen good Persian fleece develops with age, and the low, dense pile is exactly what makes a rug of this type wear slowly and take foot traffic for decades.