9'10" x 13' Persian Nain Rug | Signed 6La Habibian Wool and Silk | Approx. 500 KPSI, Never Used

This is a signed, workshop-grade Persian Nain rug woven in 6La (shesh la) quality at roughly 500 knots per square inch, with a wool pile lifted by silk in the outlines and highlights. It has never been on a floor: the pile stands full, the ivory ground has not yellowed, and the cotton fringe is still crisp, as the close-up photographs show. At 9'10" x 13' it sits squarely in the 10x13 Persian rug class, large enough to carry a full seating group with the front legs of every piece on the wool. A cartouche signature is woven into the end border, and the piece ships with our certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The drawing is the classic Nain formula executed at unusually high resolution. A large round medallion fills the center, built up in concentric rings of tiny rosettes, serrated leaves and lobed cartouches that radiate outward like a starburst, with a small 8 petal flower at the exact center. Pendant finials extend above and below it, and the 4 corner spandrels repeat the same vocabulary in quarter form. Between them the open field carries an all over arabesque: thin, dark outlined vines that curl into palmettes, split leaves and Shah Abbasi blossoms, every stem drawn as a continuous curve rather than a stepped line, which is only possible at this knot count. Three borders frame the field, a wide main band of alternating palmettes and flowering sprays between two narrow guard stripes of running vine, and the design meets the corners cleanly on all 4 sides.

A Neutral Palette of Beige, Gray and Soft Brown

The ground is a warm beige, closer to undyed ivory wool than to cream, and it reads as light and quiet from across a room. Over it the vinework is drawn in cool gray, taupe and soft chocolate brown, with black used sparingly for outlines so the motifs hold their edges. The medallion shifts the balance toward gray: dove and pewter tones ring the center, with pale sand and charcoal picking out each rosette. Look closely, as in the border and back photographs, and smaller accents appear throughout, deep navy, a muted teal green, burgundy and a faint rose in the flower heads, all at a scale that adds depth without breaking the neutral scheme. Where silk is used, in the outlines and the finer leaf work, it catches the light and gives the surface a subtle sheen that changes as you walk around the rug.

Nain: The Town and the Weave

Nain sits on the edge of the desert in central Persia, east of Isfahan, and its weaving tradition grew out of the fine textile trade there in the 20th century. The town measures quality by La, the number of plies in the pile yarn: 9La and 6La are the recognized grades, and 6La Habibian weaving is the level collectors look for, because a thinner yarn means more knots and a sharper line. The Habibian atelier is the name at the top of that list, and a signed piece from that tradition at approximately 500 knots per square inch is workshop output, not village work. Turn the rug over, as in the last photograph, and the knot count is visible against the ruler: the back is as legible as the front, each motif readable node by node on a cotton foundation.