8' x 11'3" Persian Heriz Rug | Red Field, Ivory Star Medallion | Excellent Condition

Heriz weaving is built for real rooms, and this one is a textbook example of why the type has stayed in demand for a century. The 3/8" wool pile is full and even edge to edge, the cotton foundation is tight, and the selvedges and ivory fringe are intact on both ends, as the back photograph with the ruler shows. At 8' x 11'3" it covers a standard seating group or a table for eight without crowding the walls, which is exactly the proportion buyers look for when they shop 8x11 Persian rugs. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it is hand-knotted in Persia.

Design and Motifs

The drawing is pure village Heriz: a large 8 point star medallion in ivory, outlined in navy, filled with a lattice of small squared compartments each holding a hooked leaf or blossom. A stepped pendant drops from the top and bottom of the medallion, and 4 corner spandrels in ivory carry angular vines, serrated leaves and stylized birds. The open red field between them is not empty at all, it is scattered with small palmettes, hooked vinework and zigzag tendrils drawn in straight lines rather than curves, which is the hallmark of these geometric Persian rugs. The main border runs a navy ground with alternating rosettes, octagonal medallions and turtle palmettes, framed by camel guard stripes and a fine reciprocal minor band.

The Color Palette

The field is a deep madder red that reads brick in daylight and closer to true crimson under lamps, with a faint natural abrash moving across the width that only handspun, plant-dyed wool produces. Against it, the ivory of the medallion and spandrels is a soft cream rather than a bleached white, which keeps the contrast warm. Navy blue does the structural work, outlining the medallion, the pendants and the main border, while camel and olive brown in the guard stripes and the outer band give the whole rug a slightly antique, sun-warmed tone. Smaller touches of rose pink, wine burgundy, pale blue and chocolate brown appear inside the compartment lattice and the border rosettes, visible in the close-up photographs. It is a red and ivory rug at a glance, and a much more layered palette up close.

Heriz Origin and Weaving Quality

Heriz is a cluster of villages east of Tabriz in northwest Persia, spread below Mount Sabalan, where mineral-rich water and high pasture produce wool that is famously tough and high in lanolin. Weavers there work from memory on a cotton warp rather than from a full cartoon, which is why the medallion here is drawn in angular steps and why no two Heriz rugs of the same design are ever identical. Knot counts in these villages are typically modest by workshop standards, but that is the point: a heavier knot and a thick pile make a rug that takes decades of foot traffic and only polishes as it ages. The back of this piece shows clean, regular knotting with no repairs, holes or reweaves, and the pile stands full across the entire 8' x 11'3" surface.