8'8" x 11'6" Persian Mashad Rug | Floral Medallion on Deep Red | 1990s Dense Wool Pile

This is a full room size piece from the workshops of Mashad in northeast Persia, woven in the 1990s and still carrying the thick, springy 3/8" wool pile it left the loom with. The field is a saturated cherry red, the medallion and border a deep inky navy, and the drawing between them is pure Khorasan: open enough to breathe, dense enough to reward a close look. At 8'8" x 11'6" it sits comfortably in the 9x12 Persian rug class, which is the size most American dining and living rooms are actually built for. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it was hand-knotted in Persia.

Design and Motifs

A navy lobed medallion anchors the center, built around a small red cartouche with an 8 petal rosette at its heart and ringed by curling ivory vines. Above and below it, tall pendant finials reach into the field, and the 4 corners answer with scalloped navy spandrels drawn on the same curve. The red ground between them is not left plain: it carries a loose, naturalistic scatter of blossoms, buds and serrated acanthus leaves that curl back on themselves in blue and ivory, a drawing style Mashad weavers handle better than almost anyone. The main border runs alternating palmettes and rounded rosettes on navy, framed by ivory guard stripes of small linked florals and a thin outer band of pink and red buds. The layout is fully symmetrical along both axes, so the rug reads correctly from any seat in the room.

Color Palette

The dominant note is a clear cherry red with a faint blue undertone, closer to ruby than to brick, and it holds that tone evenly from end to end. Against it the navy of the medallion, spandrels and main border reads almost black in low light and resolves into indigo under a lamp. The flowers do the real work: turquoise and mid teal for the leaves and blossoms, a softer sky blue in the vine work, olive and moss green in the smaller stems, warm ivory and cream for the outlines and guard stripes, with occasional rose pink, soft gold and a touch of terracotta in the border rosettes. Ivory outlining around every motif keeps the red and navy from running together, which is why the pattern stays legible across a 9x12 floor. Anyone shopping the red and burgundy Persian rugs range will find this one on the brighter, jewel toned end rather than the muted side.

Mashad Origin and Weave

Mashad is the great weaving city of Khorasan in northeast Persia, a pilgrimage center whose workshops have supplied floral medallion rugs at room size for well over a century. The local wool is long stapled and takes dye deeply, which is why Persian Mashad rugs hold a red that stays rich instead of going orange with age. The back photograph shows a tight, even knot line on a cotton foundation with straight selvedges and original white fringe, and the pile has been left at a generous 3/8", which is what gives this piece its weight underfoot and its slight sheen when you walk across it. The 1990s dating puts it in the period when Mashad workshops were still weaving traditional cartoons with well washed, properly spun wool, and the condition here is perfect: no wear, no repairs, no color run.