9' x 12'6" Persian Sarouk Rug | All-Over Floral Field with Ivory Medallion | Excellent Condition

This 9' x 12'6" Persian Sarouk rug is the classic west-central Persian formula handled with unusual care: a deep madder red field covered corner to corner in flowering vine, a lobed ivory and pale blue medallion floating dead center, and a wide navy border that frames the whole thing without crowding it. The wool is heavy and lustrous, the 3/8" pile is full and even across all 4 corners, and the handle has the solid, slightly weighty feel that Sarouk buyers look for. At 108" by 150" it settles a 12 foot seating group or a 10 seat table with room to spare. Every rug we sell leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity recording its origin, materials and hand-knotted construction.

Design and Motifs

The center medallion is built in layers: an 8 petal rosette at the core, a pale blue cartouche of curling leaves around it, then an ivory lobed outline studded with rose and navy blossoms, finished top and bottom with slender floral pendants. Out from there the field runs as a true all-over drawing rather than an open ground, with palmettes, cypress-like leaf forms, rosettes and boteh-shaped buds strung along thin scrolling vines that cross and recross the red. The curve of the line is drawn, not approximated, which is what separates a workshop Sarouk from a village copy. The main navy border alternates a large ivory palmette with smaller rose and blue flower heads on a continuous vine, and it is flanked by 4 narrower guard stripes carrying reciprocal trefoils and a fine meandering vine. Buyers who like this density of pattern should also look through our all over floral Persian rugs.

The Red Field and Its Supporting Palette

The ground is a warm brick-toned madder red that shifts slightly with the nap, reading brighter where the pile leans toward the light and deeper toward the ends. Against it the border sits in a near-black navy, which is what gives the rug its formal, framed look from across a room. The medallion supplies the cool relief: a soft powder blue center, cream and ivory outlines, and small notes of dusty rose and pale peach in the flower heads. Through the field the vine work is drawn in gray-blue, olive-taupe and ecru, with charcoal outlining that keeps every blossom legible on the red. The corner spandrels are ivory, so the 4 corners lift visually and the medallion is pulled forward. It is a red rug that carries plenty of navy and cream, which is why it sits comfortably with both dark wood and modern upholstery.

Sarouk Weaving in the Arak Villages

Sarouk is a village in the Markazi region north of Arak, in west-central Persia, and it gave its name to one of the most recognizable weaving traditions in the country. Sarouk weavers use the asymmetric Persian knot on a cotton foundation and beat the wefts down hard, which produces the dense, firm back you can see in the ruler photograph and the long service life these rugs are bought for. The wool of the region is famously springy and takes dye with real depth, so the red stays saturated rather than turning flat. This piece is drawn with the curvilinear precision of a good workshop rather than the heavier village hand, and it has clearly been looked after: no low pile, no repiling, no edge loss. If room size is the deciding factor, our 9 x 12 Persian rugs collection is where pieces on this scale live.