Najafabad Rugs: Isfahan Drawing at Room Size
Najafabad is a town just west of Isfahan, in central Persia. Its rugs borrow a great deal from their famous neighbor: the central medallion, the curving vines, the formal layered borders.[1] What makes them useful is size. Nearly every Najafabad rug is room size. That makes it one of the best places to find formal city drawing big enough for a whole floor. For straight-line drawing from north of Isfahan, see our Joshaghan guide.
What a Najafabad looks like
A Najafabad is drawn the way a city workshop draws. Most have a medallion in the center and corner pieces that echo it. The field, the main background inside the borders, is filled with curving vines and flowers.[2] The borders are wide and built in several bands.
It is a curved style, the opposite of the stepped geometry of a Heriz.[3] It belongs to the same family as the formal carpets in the Kashan guide. If the difference between city, village and tribal weaving is new to you, our guide to tribal, village and city rugs explains it.
The difference from other formal rugs is how you use them. A formal design often ends up in the one room nobody sits in. A Najafabad at 9 by 13 belongs under the sofa and the coffee table, in the room that gets lived in every day.
How to recognize one
The borders. Count the bands. A Najafabad usually has a wide main border with narrower guard stripes on each side, which gives the rug a framed look.[2]
The medallion and corners. Most have a central medallion, with corner pieces that repeat part of its shape.
The size. A formal Isfahan-style design on a rug of 9 by 13 feet or more is a strong hint.
Najafabad or Isfahan?
The two are easy to confuse, because Najafabad took its designs from Isfahan. The difference is in the weaving. Fine Isfahan city rugs are knotted very tightly, some of them on a silk foundation.[1] In the trade, Najafabad is known for the same style of drawing woven at a coarser knot, in wool on a cotton foundation. The Najafabad rugs you will find are also mostly room size.
For a floor that gets walked on, that is an advantage. The coarser knot uses thicker wool, and the rug is made to be used rather than admired from a distance.
Two palettes: deep red or pale cream
Najafabad rugs come in two main color schemes. The first is deep red or burgundy, usually with navy or blue borders and cream drawing, the classic formal Persian combination. The second is pale: cream and beige fields with soft blue, denim, muted pink, sage and taupe in the detail. A few sit in between, like the charcoal rug above.
The two suit different rooms. The red rugs want wood, brass and darker paint, and they give a large room a warm, settled center. The pale rugs work where the walls are white, the floor is light oak and the upholstery is linen. They bring the drawing of a Persian carpet without the weight of its color. If you worry that a Persian rug will look dated in a modern room, our note on whether Persian rugs are out of style answers that.
Sizes, and what fits where
Najafabad rugs are consistently large. Most are around 9 by 13 feet, a few are longer, and the smallest is a little over 6 by 9. Most are big enough to sit under a full living room seating group. That includes an L-shaped sofa, and our note on a rug under a sectional shows how to place one.
They also work under a dining table, with the chairs still on the rug when they are pulled out. The size guide has the measurements for both.
What they cost
Most Najafabad rugs cost between $1,800 and $2,500. The price follows size more than anything else. The smaller pieces sit toward the bottom and the longest toward the top.
All of them have a low pile, which matters at this size. Chairs slide easily, doors clear the edge, and the border of the rug does not become a step to trip on.
Caring for a room-size rug
A big rug under heavy furniture needs a little attention. Put a thin pad underneath so it stays flat and does not creep.[4] Turn it end for end once a year, so the side near the window does not fade faster than the rest.[4] Every so often, move the furniture a few inches, so the feet do not press the same spots for years.[4] Vacuum without the beater bar, and see our rug care page for stains and washing.
Where to go next
All of them are in the Najafabad collection. For room-size pieces from every origin, browse oversized rugs. For rugs chosen with a table in mind, see the dining room collection. If you are still deciding how big to go, how to choose the right rug size walks through it room by room.
Sources
- Eṣfahān carpet. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- Rug and carpet. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- Heriz carpet. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- Basic care: Carpets and rugs. Canadian Conservation Institute.
