9'8" x 12'1" Persian Heriz Rug | Geometric Medallion with Ivory Corners | Excellent Condition

This is a classic room-size Heriz, hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation and built the way the villages east of Tabriz have built them for generations. The field is a deep warm red, the central medallion is drawn in black and navy with a small ivory-outlined core, and two broad ivory spandrels open the top and bottom corners. At 9'8" x 12'1" it covers a full seating group with room to spare under the furniture legs, which is exactly what buyers want from 9x12 Persian rugs in a living or family room. The pile is even from end to end with no low spots, the sides and ends are sound, and the back photograph shows the tight, regular knotting that tells you this was woven by hand and never by machine. It ships with a certificate of authenticity documenting origin, materials and construction.

Design and Motifs

The drawing is entirely angular, the hallmark of geometric Persian rugs from this group. A large stepped diamond medallion sits dead center, notched along every edge and finished with an ivory outline that makes it read from across the room. Inside it a small rectangular cartouche holds a navy and ivory rosette; above and below, olive and gold palmettes anchor the axis. Four square cornerpieces frame the medallion, each filled with serrated leaves and hooked vine ends in rust, gold and pale blue. The ivory spandrels carry the most detailed drawing in the rug: long serrated leaf forms, curling split vines and small blossoms that step rather than curve. The main border runs a black ground with alternating rosettes and lobed cartouches in red, gold and blue, held between narrow reciprocal guard stripes. Look closely at the field and you will find small birds and asymmetric fillers, the sort of freehand variation that only appears when a weaver is working from memory rather than a full cartoon.

Color: Deep Warm Red with Navy, Black and Ivory

The field red is warm and slightly brick-leaning rather than pink, with the soft tonal movement across the width that comes from hand-dyed wool worked in separate lots. Against it the medallion and cornerpieces read almost black, with true navy blue reserved for the inner rosette, the leaf outlines and scattered accents through the spandrels. Ivory does the heavy lifting in the two large corner panels and in the thin outline that traces the medallion, and it keeps the rug from going heavy. Secondary colors fill in around them: old gold and olive in the vine work, rust orange in the border rosettes, a dusty blue-grey in the smaller leaves, and small touches of soft rose and green that appear only when you are close. The overall effect is a rich, warm red room anchor that sits comfortably with brown leather, walnut and dark wood floors, and looks equally right against a pale wall.

Heriz: Weaving East of Tabriz

Heriz is a cluster of villages in northwest Persia, east of Tabriz on the slopes below Mount Sabalan. The wool from those flocks is famously tough and the local water is mineral-rich, which is the standard explanation for why Heriz rugs wear the way they do: dense, springy pile that resists crushing and takes decades of traffic without going bald. Weavers here work on a cotton warp and weft with a coarser knot than the city workshops, which is why the drawing is straight-lined and stepped instead of curved. Village weaving in this group typically sits under 200 knots per square inch, and the design is built to suit that count rather than fight it. This piece is a good example of the type at its best: confident scale, clean symmetry, honest village wool, and a palette that has settled into its full depth. It is the kind of rug people buy once and keep in the family.