9'6" x 13'1" Persian Khorasan Rug | All-Over Floral on Indigo Blue | 1970s Wool Pile

A room-size floral piece from the 1970s, this 9'6" x 13'1" Persian Khorasan rug was hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation in the weaving belt of northeast Persia, the region whose market town gives its name to Persian Mashad rugs. From standing height the field reads as one deep indigo plane; step closer and it resolves into a dense trellis of flowering vine, rosettes and slender lanceolate leaves. A broad antique red border of palmettes and boteh carries the drawing outward, and two ivory guard stripes keep the whole thing from going heavy. The pile is full with no repairs, the ends and selvedges are original, and it sits at one of the most practical proportions in the trade for buyers comparing 10x13 Persian rugs. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

There is no medallion here. The weaver ran an all-over system across the full 13'1" length, a repeating lattice of thin curving vine that loops back on itself and throws off rosettes, fan-shaped palmettes, tulip heads and long serrated leaves at every turn. Look along one column and the repeat is clear; look across the field and it dissolves, which is exactly the effect this drawing is meant to produce. The main border answers with a larger rhythm: big curled boteh alternating with crowned palmettes on antique red, each one outlined in ivory so the shapes stay legible from across a room. Inner and outer ivory guard bands run a small meandering flower vine, and a narrow reciprocal stripe finishes the outermost edge. The 4 corners are resolved cleanly, with the border pattern turning rather than being cut off, a detail that separates a properly drawn loom from a rushed one.

A Palette of Indigo Blue, Antique Red and Ivory

The field is a true indigo blue, cooler and darker than navy in shade and lifting toward a soft teal where the dye lots change. Against it the vinework is drawn in ivory, soft gold and pale celadon green, with small accents of rose and brick red inside the flower heads, so the pattern glows rather than shouts. The wide border is an antique red that has mellowed toward brick and terracotta, warm enough to balance all that blue, and it carries navy boteh, apricot palmettes and dusty rose blossoms. The ivory guard borders are the quiet element that makes the composition work, giving the eye a clean line between the cool centre and the warm frame. In practice this is a forgiving palette: the blue grounds a room with light walls and wood floors, while the red border picks up leather, mahogany and brass without asking the rest of the furnishings to match.

Khorasan Origin and Weaving Quality

Khorasan is the great northeastern province of Persia, and its looms have supplied the court and the bazaar for centuries, with the city workshops of Persian Mashad rugs setting the regional standard for curvilinear floral drawing. The wool of the province is long-stapled and glossy, which is why a Khorasan piece of this age still shows sheen in the pile rather than the dry surface you see on lesser weaves. This one is knotted on a cotton warp and weft with a moderately fine, even weave, tight enough to hold the thin vine lines and the small flower heads without blurring them, and heavy enough in the hand to lie flat under furniture. Handling it, the back is regular, the sides are the original wool-wrapped selvedge and the ends still carry their woven finish and fringe. Fifty years in, it is entering the stage where a good Persian rug simply becomes more attractive, the reds settling, the blues softening, the wool taking on patina.