7'8" x 10'5" Persian Heriz Rug | Maroon Field, Stepped Geometric Medallion | Semi-Antique Village Weave

This is a semi-antique Persian Heriz in the size most American rooms actually need, hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation with the heavy, tightly packed handle that Heriz weaving is known for. The drawing is pure village: a big stepped medallion set on a maroon field, angular vine work rather than curved, and corner spandrels that fill the field right up to the border. The pile is even across all 92" of width, the ends and sides are intact, and the back reads clean and regular knot by knot, which is what you want to see in a piece of this age. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it is genuinely hand-knotted, along with its origin, materials and measurements.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a stepped diamond medallion built in layers: an ivory core with a small rosette cluster, a serrated rose and red frame around it, then a broad diamond outlined in charcoal and ivory that carries eight hooked cartouches, each filled with a leaf or blossom sprig. Above and below the medallion, tall pendant palmettes reach into the field, flanked by angular cypress and branching vine forms drawn in straight lines and right angles, exactly as Heriz weavers draw them off memory rather than from a cartoon. The 4 corner spandrels repeat the same vocabulary at a larger scale, with big curling leaves and rosettes worked against a darker ground so the corners read as separate panels. The main border runs a chain of hexagonal rosettes and hooked palmettes between two rose-toned guard stripes, and the whole layout is symmetrical on both axes, which is one reason a Heriz sits so calmly under furniture. Buyers drawn to this kind of straight-line drawing will find more of it among our geometric Persian rugs.

Color Palette

The field is maroon, a dark wine red that abrashes gently toward brick and rose as it moves across the width, the natural result of dye lots changing over the months the rug was on the loom. Against it the weaver placed a soft salmon rose that carries most of the spandrel and border ground, an unbleached ivory used for outlines, the medallion core and the smallest highlights, and a dry camel gold in the leaf work and the outer guard stripe. The darkest notes are a near-black charcoal aubergine in the border ground and around the medallion frame, which is what gives the design its snap, and there are quiet touches of sage green and slate blue inside the cartouches that only show up close. It is a warm, low-contrast palette overall, reading as a rich red room rug from standing height and revealing the gold and green detail once you are seated on it. Other pieces in this family are grouped under red and burgundy Persian rugs.

Heriz Origin and Weaving Quality

Heriz is a cluster of villages east of Tabriz in northwest Persia, sitting below Mount Sabalan, and its reputation comes from two things: mineral-rich water that hardens the local fleece, and weavers who draw geometry instead of curves. The wool takes dye deeply and wears slowly, which is why Heriz rugs from the middle of the last century are still in daily service in American houses. This example shows the traditional construction, a thick wool pile knotted on a cotton warp and weft and beaten down hard, so the rug lies flat and heavy without a pad and holds furniture legs without crushing. Village weaving of this type generally sits under 200 knots per square inch by design, since the whole point is durability rather than miniature detail, and the coarser gauge is what lets the bold medallion read from across the room. At 7'8" x 10'5" it works as a primary room rug where a standard 8x10 Persian rug is called for, with enough length to carry a sofa and chairs onto the pile.