1'5" x 1'9" Persian Tabriz Baby Rug | Pictorial Flower Basket | 50 Raj

This is a pictorial Persian Tabriz baby rug, just 1'5" x 1'9", woven at a fine 50 Raj, roughly 400 knots per square inch, which is about the finest a weaver can work in wool. Across a deep navy ground sits a full basket spilling over with roses, carnations, and field flowers, drawn with the kind of shading and detail that only a very high knot count allows at this miniature scale. The condition is flawless and never used, the pile is full, and the little rug ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The subject is a single overflowing flower basket, a favorite Tabriz pictorial theme. A woven hamper in striped pink, green, and tan anchors the base, and from it rises a dense, naturalistic bouquet: full-blown roses, ruffled carnations, daisies, tulips, and sprays of tiny blossoms fanning out toward the top. The drawing is fully shaded, petal by petal, so the roses read as rounded and almost three-dimensional rather than flat. There is no border to speak of; the bouquet floats on open navy, which is exactly what gives the piece its framed, painterly quality. It is meant to be looked at the way you would look at a small still-life painting.

A Bouquet Against Deep Navy

The field is a rich cobalt navy that throws every flower forward. The roses run from deep coral to soft blush pink, set among ivory and sky-blue blossoms, gold and salmon accents, and leaves worked in several distinct greens from sage to deep forest. Fine outlining in cream and dark blue separates each element cleanly, and the shaded petals carry three or four tones apiece. Against the dark ground the effect is luminous, the flowers seem lit from within, and the small scale concentrates all that color into a single jewel-like panel.

Tabriz and the Collectible Baby Rug

Tabriz, in northwest Persia, is measured on the Raj system, the count of knots across a set width, and 50 Raj is squarely in fine collector territory for a wool rug. Baby rugs like this began life as workshop samples, small proofs a weaver or atelier used to show a design and a quality level before committing to a full carpet. Most were made for reference, not sale, which is why intact ones are now scarce. Today they are collected in their own right, and the pictorial examples, a whole miniature painting rendered in knots, are the most sought after of all. A piece this small is easy to frame or hang, and it makes a rare, giftable entry point into fine Persian weaving.