6'7" x 9'8" Persian Tabriz Rug | Wool | Red and Navy

A hand-knotted Persian carpet measuring 6'7" x 9'8", woven in wool with a 3/8" pile. The field is a clear red, carrying a dark medallion at the centre and a double border in ivory and indigo that frames the whole rectangular piece. Seen from across a room it reads as red and dark blue; up close the field turns out to be full of small drawing in a dozen quieter shades.

The design

This is a Tabriz medallion layout. The centre holds an elongated navy medallion with an ivory lobed cartouche at its heart, flanked by two hooked side pieces and finished top and bottom with fan-shaped pendants in cream and soft rose. Above and below the medallion sit matching navy anchor motifs, and the open red ground between them is filled with angular floral work: palmettes, eight-petalled rosettes, serrated leaves, cypress-like sprays and small cloud bands, each outlined in ivory so the pattern stays legible against the red. The borders run in two wide bands. The outer one is navy with reciprocal bracket forms and large rosettes; the inner is ivory with upright columnar devices and blossoms, and a narrow floral meander separates them on either side.

The colour

The field is a saturated red, closer to crimson than to brick, and it is held flat and even across the whole ground. Against it the medallion and outer border are a dark indigo that reads almost black in low light. The drawing works in ivory and cream, which carry most of the outlines, with olive green, camel tan, a chalky sky blue and occasional rose and rust worked into the leaves and rosettes. Nothing in the palette is bright enough to fight the red; the paler blues and tans lift the field rather than break it.

The making

Hand-knotted in Persia in wool, with a 3/8" pile, finished with plain selvedges and short fringes at both ends. The condition is excellent, with even pile across the field and no visible wear at the corners or along the borders. At 6'7" x 9'8" it falls in the medium range between 6x9 and 8x10, a size that covers a seating group or a six-seat dining table, and it sits among the Persian pieces in our full collection.