9'11" x 13'6" Persian Sarouk Rug | Sheikh Safi Star Medallion | Red Orange & Ivory Wool

This is a room size Persian Sarouk in the classic west central Persian formula: a rust red orange field drawn edge to edge with curling vine, crowned by an ivory and indigo star medallion that the weavers of the Arak villages know as the Sheikh Safi layout. At 9'11" x 13'6" it sits squarely in the 10x14 Persian rugs bracket, which means it covers a full seating group or a 10 seat dining table with the chairs pulled out. The pile is 3/8" hand-spun wool on a cotton foundation, still dense and even underfoot, with the original selvages and cotton fringe intact as shown in the corner and back photographs. Buyers who want the background on this weaving group can read our guide to Persian Sarouk rugs before deciding. Every rug we ship leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity stating origin, materials, knotting and measurements.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a layered star medallion: an ivory core carrying an 8 petal rosette, set inside a deep indigo cartouche filled with scrolling arabesque, then ringed by pale celadon and taupe points that radiate outward like a sunburst. Around it the field never rests. Curved vines loop continuously from one end to the other, hanging palmettes, serrated saz leaves, small cypress forms and clusters of blossoms in ivory, apricot and blue, all drawn in the fluid curvilinear hand that separates workshop Sarouk from village geometric work. The 4 corners carry ivory spandrels with their own split-leaf scroll, which frames the medallion and keeps the dense field from reading as busy. The main border runs on a soft mauve brown ground with alternating palmettes and reversing vine, flanked inside and out by indigo guard stripes and a fine ivory meander, then finished with a plain red outer band and a narrow striped kilim at each end.

A Study in Rust Red, Ivory and Indigo

The field is a warm red orange with a brick undertone, the kind of madder-based red that photographs hot and lives much calmer on a floor next to wood or stone. Against it the ivory drawing does the heavy lifting, outlining every vine and blossom so the pattern stays legible from standing height. Indigo blue is the third voice: saturated and near navy inside the medallion and the guard stripes, lighter and more slate in the leaves and border scroll. Between those three there is a quieter supporting range visible in the close-ups, soft mauve brown through the main border, pale celadon green in the medallion points, apricot and peach in the smaller blossoms, and small accents of aubergine and charcoal that give the floral heads depth. Gentle abrash, the natural variation of hand-dyed wool, moves across the open red, which is a signature of genuine hand-knotted work rather than a flaw.

Sarouk Weaving in West Central Persia

Sarouk is a village in the Arak district of west central Persia, the old Sultanabad weaving region, and for more than a century its looms have supplied the American market with heavy, floral, long-wearing room size rugs. The local wool is coarse enough to take a beating and oily enough to keep its luster, which is exactly why Sarouks from this region are still in service in houses two and three generations after they were bought. This piece is a workshop-grade example: cotton warp and weft, a firm handle, single-weft knotting pulled tight so the curved drawing of the medallion and the vine scroll holds its shape rather than stepping into angles. At 9'11" x 13'6" it was woven on a large loom by more than one weaver working from a cartoon, and the symmetry across the long axis shows it. The pile stands at a full 3/8" with no low spots, the sides and ends are original, and the back is clean and even.