9'7" x 12'9" Persian Mashad Rug | Burgundy Field, Navy Floral Medallion | 1980s Wool Pile

This 9'7" x 12'9" rug was knotted in the 1980s in Khorasan, and it shows exactly why Persian Mashad rugs remain the sensible choice for a buyer who wants a formal, fully drawn floor at a realistic number. The burgundy field carries an unbroken floral tracery around a navy lobed medallion, the Khorasan wool has the soft sheen the region is known for, and the pile stands full and even from edge to edge with clean selvages and original fringe. It ships with a certificate of authenticity. At roughly 122 square feet it sits comfortably in the 10x13 Persian rugs range, enough floor for a dining table with the chairs pulled all the way back, or for a seating group that sits entirely on the rug rather than perching on the border.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a 16 lobed navy medallion built in concentric rings, an ivory inner cartouche and a small 8 petal rosette at the dead center, with cypress-shaped pendants reaching north and south along the long axis. Four navy spandrels close off the corners of the field, each filled with curling palmettes and serrated leaves that mirror the medallion quarter for quarter. Between medallion and corners the red ground is never left empty: vine stems swing out into split palmettes, boteh forms, rounded rosettes and small bird-like leaf tips, all drawn in the flowing curvilinear line that workshop weavers in Khorasan handle so well. The border system runs five bands, a wide navy main border of alternating rosettes and arched palmettes, two ivory guard stripes carrying a running vine of pink and green blossoms, and a narrow red outer edge that frames the whole piece and keeps the dark border from reading heavy.

Color: Deep Burgundy, Indigo Navy and Soft Green

The field is a true burgundy, a cool madder red that photographs closer to crimson under direct light and settles into a deeper wine tone in a lamp-lit room, with a gentle variation across the width that is the honest mark of small-batch dyed wool. Against it the borders, medallion and spandrels are a dark indigo navy that reads almost black at a distance and opens up into blue when you stand over it. The drawing itself is where the palette gets interesting: ivory and cream outlines separate every motif, sage and bottle green appear in the leaves, rose pink and magenta carry the rosettes, and small hits of burnt orange and apricot light up the border flowers and the center of the medallion. Touches of walnut brown, pale sky blue and near-black complete the range, so the rug sits happily with warm woods, brass and cream walls without needing anything else in the room to match it.

Mashad Weaving and Khorasan Quality

Mashad sits in Khorasan in the northeast of Persia, a pilgrimage city with a long workshop tradition and access to some of the best fleece in the country, long-staple wool that takes dye deeply and wears for generations. This piece is classic Mashad production work: a cotton warp and weft, a symmetrical knot pulled tight enough to hold the curved drawing of the medallion and the fine vine of the guard borders, and a medium pile clipped evenly so the pattern stays crisp without losing body underfoot. The back photograph shows regular, well-packed rows and no repairs or reweaves. The 1980s dating is consistent with the dye palette, the cotton foundation and the condition of the pile, and if you want to understand what the wool, the fringe and the back tell you about age, our guide on how to date an Oriental rug walks through the same signals a dealer checks by hand.