9'10" x 17' Persian Kerman Rug | Emerald Green Open Field with Ivory Floral Border | Circa 1980s

Deep emerald green is the rarest ground color a Kerman weaver ever puts on the loom, and at 9'10" x 17' this one covers a room most rugs cannot reach. The field is left almost entirely open, so the eye travels across an unbroken sweep of green before it meets the ivory oval that frames it and the rose and cream medallion at the center. It is hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation, woven in the 1980s, and the pile is still full and even from end to end. Pieces this long belong with the oversize Persian rugs that anchor great rooms, long formal dining rooms and hotel lobbies, and every rug we ship leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The drawing follows the classic Kerman open-field formula. A tall oval of green is enclosed by a narrow rose vine band, and inside it sits a lobed medallion of ivory and dusty rose packed with scrolling acanthus, small roses, palmettes and pale blue buds. Loose bouquets of cabbage roses float above and below the medallion on slender stems, and matching sprays step into the 4 corners of the oval so nothing in the field is repeated mechanically. Around all of it runs a wide ivory main border of flowering vine work, cornflowers in blue, carnations in raspberry and pale olive leafwork, closed on both sides by pink guard stripes and finished with a dark green selvage. It is a garden pattern drawn with a European sense of bouquet, which is exactly what Kerman workshops became famous for.

A Color Palette Built on Emerald and Rose

The field is a true emerald, deep and slightly bottle toned, reading nearly black where the nap turns away and bright jewel green where it catches light. Against it the border is a warm ivory that leans toward soft wheat under the vines, and the two guard stripes are a chalky salmon pink. The flowers do most of the color work: raspberry and old rose in the blossoms, powder blue and a stronger cornflower blue in the small five petal flowers, pale sage and tan in the leaves and stems. The medallion itself pulls the rose and ivory together so the center of the rug glows rather than shouts. Among green Persian rugs this is the palette collectors look for, because the green sits beautifully with dark wood, brass and cream plaster.

Kerman and Its Weaving Tradition

Kerman lies in the high desert of southeast Persia and has produced carpet for court and export longer than almost any other Persian city. Its weavers work on a cotton foundation with a lightly depressed warp, which lets them draw curved line and full floral bouquets cleanly, and the local wool takes dye with the soft chalky tones the city is known for. A rug 17 feet long was not woven on speculation; a loom that wide is set up for a specific commission, and the weaving stays consistent across the whole length with straight sides, even knotting and a level clip. The back, visible in the last photograph, shows a tidy regular knot and the original woven mill label still attached.