10x14 Antique Persian Moud Rug | Signed Goliabadi Quds Workshop | Pre-Revolution

This 10'3" x 13'6" Persian Moud is a rare signed pre-revolution piece, woven approximately fifty years ago in the workshop of Goliabadi in the town of Quds, in Khorasan province in eastern Persia. The signature is inwoven in the upper border in Farsi script and reads Kar-gah Goliabadi, meaning workshop of Goliabadi. Signed Moud rugs are unusual. Most Moud production, even at the workshop tier, ships unsigned, and a clearly attributed master workshop piece in this size is a meaningfully more collectible object than the unsigned production that fills most of the market. The rug is hand-knotted in 100% wool on a cotton foundation at approximately 280 to 300 knots per square inch, and although it carries the patina of fifty years of careful storage, it is in excellent never-used condition. For broader context on this weaving tradition, see the world of Persian rugs.

Design and Motifs

The composition is a classical workshop medallion design with an ivory cream central cartouche resting on a deep ruby-red ground. The medallion itself is densely drawn, with a navy and red inner core surrounded by tightly worked floral arabesques in cream, sky blue, sage green, salmon, and gold. A scalloped cloud-band outline frames the medallion and ties it to the field, and small floral pendants extend above and below to establish the vertical axis. The main border, in deep navy almost black, carries a sequence of large floral cartouches and rosettes in red, salmon, ivory, and sage green, framed by narrower floral guard stripes. The drawing is precise from corner to corner with the symmetry holding cleanly across both axes, which is exactly the hallmark of a real master workshop piece rather than a village imitation of the same design.

Colors and Placement

The palette is built around a deep ruby-red field with an ivory cream central medallion and a contrasting navy-blue border. The interior colors include sage green, salmon, dusty rose, pink, gold, and sky blue, drawn from the traditional natural and chrome-stable dye vocabulary of mid-twentieth century Khorasan production. The deep red ground reads strongest in rooms with neutral or dark wood floors, warm-toned walls, and traditional or transitional furniture. At 10'3" x 13'6" this is a true 10x14, sized for a long formal dining table with all chairs comfortably on the rug, a great room or large living room with a sectional and flanking armchairs, or a master bedroom with a king bed and full nightstand coverage. The dense formal border framing the rug means it anchors a room confidently rather than blending into the floor.

Origin and Construction

Moud, also spelled Mood or Mud, is a small town in Khorasan province in eastern Persia, near Birjand and within the broader cultural orbit of Mashad. The town is one of the historic fine-weaving centers of the region, producing rugs at a knot density and drawing precision that places Moud workshop production in the upper tier of Khorasan weaving alongside Mashad and Birjand. This piece is hand-knotted in 100% wool on a cotton foundation at approximately 280 to 300 KPSI, with the asymmetric Persian knot, in the workshop tradition of the Goliabadi atelier in Quds. The rug has been kept in storage for the past several decades and is in excellent, never-used condition, with intact selvages, clean fringes, and the slight natural abrash described above. The piece carries an inwoven Farsi signature and a German wholesale import label on the reverse documenting its passage from workshop to European market and now to American inventory. For more on the wool, silk, and dye materials that define the construction quality of any Persian rug, see our complete guide to handmade rug materials.