Tabriz Rugs
Tabriz has been weaving longer and more continuously than any other city in Persia, and it is the one place where you can buy almost any level of quality under a single name. That is why the trade grades Tabriz rugs by raj, the number of knot rows across a fixed width: a 40 raj is a solid everyday rug, a 60 or 70 raj is a fine piece with silk highlighting and a drawing that can hold a curve without stepping.
What you see most often is a central medallion with corner spandrels and scrolling vine work, drawn by a designer rather than remembered by the weaver. The other signature is Mahi, the so-called fish design, an all-over lattice of small leaves and rosettes that reads as a texture from across a room and as botany up close.
Tabriz weavers work on a cotton foundation with a firm, slightly dry wool that wears extremely well, which is why so many hundred-year-old Tabriz rugs are still on floors rather than walls. Palettes run from brick and indigo through to ivory grounds with soft rose and sage.
