3'5" x 5' Persian Isfahan Rug | Signed Habib | Wool and Silk on Silk Foundation
Small in size and large in ambition, this 3'5" x 5' Isfahan carries the woven signature of Habib, one of the city's rising master weavers. It is built the way the best Isfahan workshops build their finest pieces: a full silk foundation, a pile of fine wool with silk highlights, and approximately 600 knots per square inch. Among 3x5 Persian rugs it is a true collector's piece, equally at home on a floor, beside a bed or hung on a wall where the drawing can be studied up close. It has never been used, the pile is crisp and even, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity recording origin, materials, knot count and signature.
Design and Motifs
At the center sits a navy star medallion with lobed points, its inner ring worked in copper silk arabesque around a heart of pink roses. Smaller lotus cusps set with red and sky blue florets ring the star, and a wreath of rose bouquets surrounds it on the field. Above and below, a navy diamond pendant hangs on a fine stem, and each one is flanked by a pair of birds turned to face each other. The rest of the ivory field is a web of spiraling Eslimi vines, and birds perch and fly through it in every direction. Navy cloud shaped cartouches filled with roses circle the edge of the field, and the corners close in navy spandrels with copper and ivory arabesque. The main border is a deep navy band of rose bouquets, long tailed pink birds and lotus stars. Ivory and gold guard stripes with a stepped cloud collar and blue scrolling vine frame it on both sides, and a plain navy outer band finishes the edge. At one end, just above the silk fringe and the dotted ivory kilim, the signature cartouche reads "Isfahan Habib" in Persian script, set between green, white and red bands.
Apricot Ivory, Navy and Copper Silk
The field is a warm ivory with a soft apricot cast, which makes the rug glow rather than read stark white. Against it the vines are drawn in navy and olive, so every spiral stays legible even at this scale. The roses are the brightest notes: crimson, rose pink and pale blush, with emerald and sage green leaves around them. The birds bring in lavender, plum and pink, and small sky blue florets keep the palette light and fresh. The medallion and corner spandrels carry the copper, and because those areas are highlighted in silk they shift from bronze to bright gold as the light moves across them. The deep navy border holds everything in, and its gold guard stripes echo the copper at the center. Turn the rug and the silk lifts the whole design forward. Look at it straight on and it settles back into a calm, balanced ivory and navy.
Habib and the Future of Isfahan Weaving
Fine Persian Isfahan rugs are getting harder to find every year, and demand has pushed prices for the best pieces steadily upward. Most collectors know the established houses, Seirafian and Haghighi above all. The Habib family, active from the late 20th century to the present, has not yet reached that level of recognition. Yet many people in the trade now point to Habib as the name that will carry Isfahan weaving into its next generation. This rug shows why. Anyone who knows classic Isfahan design will see the difference at once. Instead of the formal field of stylized palmettes the city is known for, Habib fills the ground with birds in flight and naturalistic rose bouquets, set into the traditional Eslimi scroll and finished with copper silk highlights. At 600 knots per square inch on a silk warp, every feather and petal is drawn cleanly. It is a signed early example from a weaving house that is still on the rise.
