7' x 10' Persian Bijar Rug | Herati Fish All Over Design | Coral Red Field | 1990s | Excellent, Never Used

A coral red field covered end to end in the Herati lattice, framed by a cream border of curling boteh vines: this is the Bijar formula drawn at a size that actually fits a real room. The rug measures 7' x 10', one of the most useful proportions we sell and a natural fit for shoppers browsing 7x10 Persian rugs. It is hand-knotted on a cotton foundation with a dense 3/8" wool pile, dates to the 1990's, and has never been put down in a home, so the pile still stands full and even corner to corner. Every rug we ship leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity naming origin, materials, size and weave.

Design and Motifs

The field is a true Herati, known in the weaving towns as mahi, the fish pattern: a diamond lattice with a small rosette at each center and 4 curved sickle leaves turning outward from every diamond, repeated in strict register across the whole surface. Between the diamonds sit tiny 8 petal stars and cross blossoms in cream, gold and light blue, which keeps a repeating pattern from reading flat. Four navy indented spandrels cut into the corners and carry the same lattice in a darker key, a quiet way of implying a central medallion without drawing one. The main border is cream with a procession of reclining boteh, each shaded in navy and teal, and it is bracketed by narrow coral stripes of alternating zigzag and 4 petal flowers, then by a navy running wave guard at both edges. The outermost selvage is plain coral, which frames the whole composition cleanly. Buyers who want this kind of repeating drawing rather than a single medallion can see more in our all over pattern Persian rugs.

The Coral Red and Navy Color Scheme

The dominant color is coral red, warm and slightly salmon toned rather than the deep brick red of most northwest Persian weaving, and it is this unusual ground that gives the rug its personality. Against it the lattice is drawn in deep navy blue, with the finer outlines and rosette hearts picked out in light blue and a soft sea green that reads almost turquoise in raking light. Beige and cream carry the main border and the small blossoms inside the field, giving the eye places to rest, and scattered brown and olive accents in the boteh keep the ivory from looking bleached. The navy corner spandrels anchor the four corners and pull the darker tones of the border inward. Because the field is light and warm rather than dark, the rug brightens a room with oak or walnut floors instead of weighing it down, and it sits comfortably with cream upholstery, faded denim blue, brass and aged leather. Shoppers working a warmer palette will find comparable pieces among our red and burgundy Persian rugs.

Bijar Weaving and Build Quality

Bijar is Kurdish country in northwest Persia, and its rugs earned the nickname the iron rug of Persia for one reason: the weaver packs each row of knots down with a heavy metal comb, forcing wefts so tightly between the warps that the finished fabric is stiff, heavy and close to indestructible. That compacted structure is what you feel in the hand here, together with the tough local wool that takes dye well and burnishes rather than dulls underfoot. The Herati lattice and the boteh border are the classic Bijar vocabulary, drawn in a semi geometric line that is precise but never mechanical, and the small irregularities where one row of diamonds shifts against its neighbor are the honest signature of a village loom rather than a machine. If you want the full background on how these rugs are built and why they outlast almost everything else on a floor, read our complete guide to Bijar rugs. At 30 years old, unused and with a full 3/8" pile, this one has not yet started its working life.