10' x 13'9" Persian Isfahan Rug | Red Field, Navy Star Medallion | 180-200 KPSI, Never Used

This is a room-size Persian Isfahan rug measuring 10' x 13'9", hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation about 35 years ago and never put on a floor since. It came to us through the European trade, and the old importer's label is still stitched to the back, naming the Esfehan province and the 420 x 305 cm size. The pile stands full and even across the entire piece, the fringes are intact, and the colors have the settled depth that only a few decades of age give to good wool. At 180-200 knots per square inch it is woven for daily use in a large room rather than as a cabinet piece, and the drawing still carries the fluent curved line Isfahan is known for. A certificate of authenticity from Rugs.net accompanies the rug.

Design and Motifs

The center holds an 8-point star medallion drawn in navy, its ivory core filled with a small rosette ringed by split leaves and blossoms, and its points extended by navy palmettes so the whole form reads as a large lobed star against the red. A navy palmette pendant hangs at each end of the medallion, followed by a smaller ivory pendant cartouche on the vertical axis. The rest of the field is covered edge to edge with a dense floral lattice of palmettes, rosettes, tulips, carnations and curled serrated leaves on thin vines, with no empty ground anywhere. Ivory spandrels cut into the 4 corners, each one carrying a steel-blue arabesque with a cloud-band edge. The main border is navy and runs a continuous procession of large palmettes alternating with blossom clusters, framed inside and out by ivory guard borders on a floral vine and finished with a narrow steel-blue outer guard and a plain red selvage.

Colors of This Red Isfahan Rug

The field is a raspberry-leaning red, warmer and brighter than the brick red of a village rug, and it shifts between a deeper crimson and a softer rose depending on the pile direction, which is what makes the angled photos glow while the flat shots read darker. The medallion, pendants and main border are a midnight navy that reads almost black next to the red, and the ivory used for the medallion core, the spandrels and the guard borders is a warm cream rather than white. Inside those large shapes the detail work is done in a bright steel blue, an ochre gold, a soft sage green, rose pink and a dark wine red, each outlined in navy or ivory so the small flowers stay crisp at floor level. The back shows the same palette in a slightly lighter key, confirming the colors have held evenly without fading.

Isfahan Weaving and Where This Rug Sits

Isfahan in central Persia has been a court weaving center since the Safavid workshops of the 16th century, and its reputation rests on drawing: the curved line, the flowing vine and the precision of small motifs. The finest Isfahans are small, silk-founded and woven above 500 knots per square inch. This rug is the other side of the same tradition, a large wool-on-cotton piece at 180-200 knots per square inch that keeps the Isfahan medallion-and-spandrel layout and the fluid floral drawing at a scale meant for a living room or dining room floor. It belongs among 10x14 Persian rugs that were woven to be walked on for generations, and after 35 years without a single day of use it is ready to start.