3' x 4'5" Persian Nain Rug with Ivory Field, Royal Blue Border, and Classic Sunburst Medallion

A clean, never used 3' x 4'5" hand-knotted Persian Nain in the most recognizable workshop palette this town produces, ivory against royal blue with a camel medallion at the center. The pile is full, the colors are saturated, the drawing is symmetrical to the millimeter, and the scale makes it one of those rugs that quietly anchors an entryway, a bedside, or a powder room without ever needing to announce itself.

Design and Motifs

The composition follows the traditional Nain template at its most elegant. A small camel medallion at the center carries a tiny rosette star, ringed by a deeply lobed sunburst of stepped cartouches in sky blue, ivory, and navy. The ivory field around it is worked with fine vine, slender palmette sprays, and small cypress-tipped florals, all drawn with the precision Nain workshops are known for. The four corner spandrels in royal blue mirror each other exactly, each anchored by a fleur-shaped quatrefoil cartouche. The main border carries a rosette and vine procession on ivory, framed by the signature Nain twisted-cord guard stripes that read as two clean rope edges around the whole rug.

Colors and Placement

Ivory and royal blue dominate, warmed by camel and tan in the medallion and lit with sky blue, charcoal, and small notes of garnet red. At 3 by 4, this rug fits naturally beside a bed, at the front of a kitchen sink, inside a powder room, in a foyer, or under a small side chair. It works against light walls and dark walls equally well, and the blue carries beautifully into rooms with navy upholstery, brass fixtures, or natural wood furniture. The proportions also make it an ideal layering piece on top of a larger neutral rug or sisal.

Origin and Construction

Nain is a small town on the western edge of the central Iranian desert, and its workshops became one of the most respected centers of Persian weaving in the twentieth century. The full background of the town, its weaving families, and the grading conventions you'll see on the market is covered in our complete guide to Nain rugs. This piece is hand-knotted at 180 to 200 knots per square inch, with a cotton pile on a wool foundation, a less common reversal of the usual handmade rug construction that produces a slightly cooler hand and a softer, more matte surface than the typical wool-pile Nain. For a closer look at how foundation and pile choices change the way a rug feels and wears, our wool vs silk rug guide is a useful starting point. The rectangular 3x4'5" format is one of the most versatile scatter sizes in Persian weaving, easy to place and easy to move when a room changes.