9'2" x 12'7" Persian Qum Rug | Blue Field with Birds & Animals | All-Over Floral Design

A blue-ground Qum in a true room size is an unusual thing to find, and this one measures 9'2" x 12'7" with a full, even 3/8" wool pile and crisp ivory selvages. The field is drawn as one continuous garden rather than around a medallion, so the design reads as a single sweep of vine work populated by birds, gazelles and small predators. Workshop drawing of this kind is what puts Persian Qum rugs in a class of their own, and at this footprint the piece sits comfortably among our large Persian rugs. Condition is excellent with no repairs or restoration, and the rug ships with our certificate of authenticity documenting origin, materials and hand-knotted construction.

Design and Motifs

The field is an all-over Persian rug design built on a vertical mirror axis: thin vine stems climb from the bottom of the field and split into pairs of curling saz leaves, each pair cradling a cream palmette or a serrated red and ivory blossom. Small cartouche-shaped rosettes and 8 petal flowerheads mark the centerline, so the eye still finds an anchor point without a medallion being drawn. Between the vines the weaver has placed a full hunting cast: long-tailed pheasants and white cranes in flight, camel-gold gazelles mid-stride, and a spotted feline stalking near the lower left corner, all rendered at the small scale that only a fine weave allows. The main border is ivory, filled with a scrolling vine that alternates navy split-leaf palmettes with pale flowerheads, and it is flanked on both sides by narrow guard stripes carrying a reciprocal chain of tiny blossoms. All 4 corners resolve the border pattern cleanly, which is the mark of a cartoon followed properly from the first knot to the last.

Color Palette

The dominant color is a mid blue with a slight teal cast, the kind of tone that shifts from a clear sky blue in daylight to a deeper denim in lamplight, and it is exactly why blue Persian rugs read as cool and quiet next to warm wood floors. Against that ground the drawing is carried mostly in cream and soft ivory, with camel gold used for the animals and for the outer edges of the larger leaves. Burgundy and a brighter brick red supply the accents: the serrated petals of the big blossoms, the clusters of small berries along the stems, and the outlining of several palmettes. Pale pink appears in the smaller carnations, and navy is reserved for the palmettes of the ivory main border and for the fine outlines that keep each motif separate from its neighbor. The border itself runs a warm sand ivory that has mellowed slightly, giving the rug a light frame that stops the blue field from feeling heavy. Nothing in the palette is harsh, and there is no abrash streaking across the field.

Qum Origin and Weaving Quality

Qum sits in central Persia, south of Tehran, and is the youngest of the great weaving cities: its workshops were established in the 20th century and immediately set out to compete with Kashan and Isfahan on drawing and fineness rather than on volume. Qum weavers work only with the finest materials they can source, and the constant rivalry between neighboring ateliers is what pushed the city's standard so high so quickly. That discipline is visible on the reverse of this rug, where the knot nodes sit in tight, regular rows and the cotton foundation warps stay perfectly straight across the full 110" width. The wool has been clipped low at 3/8", which is deliberate on a piece like this: a short pile keeps the thin vine stems and the outlines of the birds legible instead of letting a deep nap blur them. Handled from the back, the rug is supple and even, with no slack areas, and the side cords and both end finishes are original and intact.