7'2" x 10'8" Persian Heriz Rug | All Over Geometric Design | Red Field, Ivory Border

Most Heriz rugs put a big stepped medallion in the middle of the field. This one does not, and that is the first thing a dealer notices about it. The whole 7'2" x 10'8" field is given over to a repeating lattice of palmettes, serrated leaves and hooked vines running corner to corner, which is a harder drawing to keep honest over that much surface than a single centred medallion. The wool is hand-knotted on a cotton foundation, the pile is dense and even underfoot, and the sides and ends are sound. It ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming origin, materials and hand-knotted construction.

Design and Motifs

The field is built on a mirrored vertical axis, with 3 columns of large 8 pointed floral rosettes marching up the length and angular palmettes, cypress forms and serrated leaves filling every space between them. Because the pattern repeats rather than resolving to a centre, the rug reads well from any direction, which is one of the practical arguments for all over Persian rug designs in a room with furniture in it. The ivory main border carries alternating medallions and stiff little vases separated by rosette clusters, framed by narrow navy guard stripes with a running vine. Every line is drawn straight or on a clean diagonal, the hallmark of geometric Persian rugs from this district.

A Madder Red Field Against Ivory and Navy

The ground is a warm madder red that shifts between brick and tomato depending on the light and the direction of the pile, exactly as good wool dyed in this range should. Against it the weavers set deep navy for the palmette cores and the guard stripes, a clear sky blue for the vine tracery and the smaller rosettes, and a soft rose pink that does a lot of quiet work lifting the leaf forms off the red. Ivory outlines every major motif and then takes over completely in the main border, which is what keeps the design legible. Touches of mustard gold and dark brown appear in the rosette centres. Buyers comparing red and burgundy Persian rugs will find this one on the warmer, brighter side rather than the cool burgundy end.

Heriz: Village Weaving East of Tabriz

Heriz is a group of villages east of Tabriz, in the hill country below Mount Sabalan. The water there is mineral rich, the sheep grow a famously tough fleece, and the combination produces a wool that resists crushing and takes dye with real depth. Weavers work from memory and from village drawing conventions rather than from a fully cartooned master plan, which is why the angular drawing, straight lines and stepped corners look confident rather than mechanical. Village knotting here generally sits below 200 knots per square inch, and the back of this rug shows that firm, chunky handle clearly. At 7'2" x 10'8" it sits in the same footprint as most 7 x 10 Persian rugs, and if you want to read the weave and wear the way a dealer does, our guide on how to date an Oriental rug walks through the tells.