Isfahan rugs

A royal capital

Shah Abbas I made Isfahan the capital of the Safavid empire in 1598. The court supported workshops that wove luxurious carpets in wool, silk and gold and silver thread, some of them sent abroad as royal gifts.

Weaving declined after the city was captured in 1722 and the Safavid state fell. Isfahan became a major weaving center again in the 20th century, and most Isfahan rugs on the market today were made from the 1920s onward.

Designs and colors

The classic Isfahan has a round central medallion with matching corners on a field of scrolling vines, palmettes and arabesques. Many designs echo the tilework of the city’s mosques.

Fields are often ivory or cream, with navy, sky blue, rose and soft red. The drawing is crisp and symmetrical, and the border is usually wide and detailed.

Workshops and signatures

Some 20th century Isfahan workshops became famous by name, and the Seirafian family workshop is the best known. Their rugs often carry a woven signature in the border.

A signature alone does not prove who made a rug, because signatures can be copied. Fineness, materials and the quality of the drawing tell you more.

How to recognize one

Turn the rug over. A fine Isfahan shows a dense, even grid of small knots, and the finest pieces have silk warps that show as a silky white fringe. The wool pile is clipped short so the design stays sharp, and silk is often used for highlights.

Isfahan designs have been copied widely, including in India, Pakistan and China. A medallion rug with an ivory field is not necessarily from Isfahan, so look at the knot, the foundation and the fineness together.

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