Northwest Persian long rug

This palatial corridor carpet matches extraordinary drawing and scale with a vibrant palette of natural vegetable dyes. The field design uses an older and fuller rendition of the classic Persian “Herati pattern,” incorporating large blossoms, iris flowers, and smaller rosettes into a lattice formation composed of stylized serrated leaves. The white-ground border frames this piece beautifully, amplifying contrast and a stellar sense of color. Repeating clusters of distinct paisley-headed flowers with green and gold stems alternate between rose and deep aubergine renditions. This border is extremely rare, found mainly in Kurdish village weavings from Northwest Persia. Its inclusion here in a more formal weaving suggests that this piece was most probably made as a local commission for an aristocratic estate; a notion reinforced by its unique size.