8'3" x 11'6" Persian Bijar Rug | Salmon Herati Field | Navy and Ivory Medallion
Bijar rugs are bought by people who want a rug they will never have to replace, and this 8'3" x 11'6" piece is a textbook example. It is hand-knotted in wool at approximately 280 to 320 knots per square inch, a fine count for a weave this dense, and the whole surface is drawn in the herati pattern that Bijar does better than almost anyone. At this size it sits among the 9x12 Persian rugs that anchor a full living or dining room, and its build means it will take daily traffic for generations. The rug is in excellent condition, with full pile and straight sides, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity recording origin, materials and knot count.
Design and Motifs
The layout is built from 3 nested shapes. A long salmon lozenge with stepped ends fills most of the field. Inside it sits a navy hexagonal medallion, and at the heart of that a small ivory hexagon outlined in olive. Every one of these zones, and the ivory spandrels around the lozenge, is filled with the herati pattern, known in Bijar as mahi or fish: a small rosette held inside a diamond of 4 curved leaves, repeated in an unbroken lattice. Because the same motif runs through every color zone, the rug reads as one continuous texture with the medallion shapes laid over it. Small navy triangles mark each corner of the ivory ground. The main border is a deep navy band of turtle palmettes and curling leaves in ivory, salmon and red, framed by narrow ivory guard stripes of small flowers.
Salmon, Navy and Ivory
The salmon field is the color most people notice first, a warm coral pink that is softer than the classic Bijar red and makes the rug feel lighter in a room. Across it the herati lattice is drawn in navy, wine red and brown, with tiny rosettes in ivory, rose pink and orange. The navy medallion reverses the scheme, so the same lattice shows up in salmon, ivory and red on a dark ground, and the small ivory center brings the light back with red rosettes and an olive green outline. The ivory and beige spandrels repeat the herati in navy and wine, which frames the salmon lozenge in a pale, airy band. The navy border pulls everything together and gives the rug a strong edge, while touches of light green, gray and purple in the smaller flowers add depth up close. It is a warm, balanced palette that works with wood floors, leather and both traditional and transitional furniture.
Bijar, the Iron Rug of Persia
Bijar is a town in the Kurdish highlands of western Persia, and most of its rugs are woven by Kurdish and Afshar weavers in the surrounding Gerus region. They use a technique that sets Persian Bijar rugs apart from every other weaving center. The wool is dampened, a symmetric knot is tied, and the wefts are beaten down so hard with a metal comb that the warps are pulled into 2 levels. The result is a rug that is heavy, stiff and almost impossible to wear out, which is why the trade calls Bijars the iron rugs. That same compression keeps the pile standing upright, so the surface feels firm and cushioned underfoot. This rug has exactly that build, dense and solid from end to end, and with its salmon herati field it is a Bijar that will look as good in 50 years as it does today.
