10' x 13' Vintage Persian Mashad Rug, Cherry Red Field with Navy Floral Border, Hand-Knotted Wool Medallion

A genuinely vintage Persian rug that looks like it was woven yesterday. This 10' x 13' Persian Mashad is about forty years old, yet it has never been used, so the cherry red field is deep and even, the navy border is crisp, and the wool pile is full from edge to edge. Hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation with the classic central-medallion composition Mashad is known for, it is the kind of warm, traditional Persian rug that anchors a room the moment it is unrolled. Mint condition, room-filling scale, and four decades of settled, harmonious color you simply cannot buy new.

Design and Motifs

At the center sits a round floral medallion with a small rosette core and radiating palmette petals worked in navy, ivory, and rose. It floats on a densely drawn allover field of curling vines, palmettes, and rosettes, with four matching corner spandrels framing the composition. The main border runs on a deep navy ground and carries the classic Mashad palmette-and-vine procession, flanked by sky-blue and ivory minor guard stripes with repeating rosettes. It is the canonical traditional Persian layout, the medallion-and-corner design that has defined formal Persian carpets for generations, drawn here with the full, generous floral vocabulary that makes Mashad rugs so easy to live with.

Colors and Placement

The palette is anchored by a rich cherry red field and a deep navy border, accented with sky blue, rose, ivory, sage green, ochre gold, and walnut brown. This warm madder-red and navy combination is exactly what most people picture when they imagine a classic Persian rug, and forty years of gentle settling have given the colors a mellow, harmonious depth that brand-new rugs cannot replicate. At 10 by 13 it is a true room-size piece, ideal under a full living room seating arrangement with the medallion centered between sofas, in a formal dining room large enough to hold the table and chairs entirely on the rug, in a great room, a large bedroom, or a generous study or library. The warm red ground pairs beautifully with wood tones, brass and gold accents, and both traditional and transitional furnishings.

Origin and Construction

Mashad, the great city of northeastern Persia, has been a center of fine carpet weaving for centuries, known for large-format medallion rugs in warm reds with the curvilinear floral drawing the region's master designers perfected. The full story of the city and its weaving tradition is covered in our guide to Persian Mashad rugs, and the wider history of Persian carpet design is laid out in our guide to the world of Persian rugs. This piece is hand-knotted in wool on a 100% cotton foundation at roughly 130 to 150 knots per square inch, the honest fine construction grade that gives Mashad rugs their durability and their soft, full hand underfoot. The flat, even back visible in the photographs confirms the careful hand-knotting, and the pristine pile and fringe confirm a rug that was woven, stored, and never walked on. The rectangular 10x13 format is one of the most useful room sizes for formal Persian work, and a vintage example in mint condition at direct-importer pricing is an increasingly rare find.