Antique Persian Tabriz Rust, Beige and Gray-Blue Handwoven Wool Carpet BB5737 10'9" × 16'7" $80,000

This circa-1920 antique Persian Tabriz rug features a detailed all-over design of a flowering vine trellis complete with palmettes and arabesques in shades of rust and beige against a field of gray-blue. A red rust border containing floral abstractions and such oriental Persian carpet staples as the boteh, the Persian inspiration for the paisley design representing leaves or pinecones, completes the look.

The famous textile-manufacturing city of Tabriz, the Azerbaijani-populated province in the north west of Iran, boasts one of the oldest rug weaving centers in the world and produces a large variety of antique area rugs characterized by having an especially fine knot density (indicative of high quality hand-knotted rugs). An antique Tabriz rug can be made of cotton or silk and woven as a pile carpet or flat-weave. A refined palette reliant on copper tones, terracotta and ivory, with shades of blue and subtle touches of gold, green and salmon are prevalent in these carpets.