Sabzevar Rugs
Sabzevar lies west of Mashhad in Khorasan, north-east Iran. The town has long woven in the Mashhad manner, with curvilinear medallions and floral fields, usually at a generous scale.
Almost everything we carry from Sabzevar is area or oversized, which suits a dining room or a large living room. Each rug is a genuine vintage piece, decades old.
Sabzevar: Khorasan carpets at generous scale
Sabzevar lies west of Mashhad on the old road across Khorasan, in the north east of Iran. Its weavers work in the Mashhad manner, with curved floral drawing and a soft, deep palette, and they have long specialized in larger carpets for reception rooms.
Khorasan wool is part of the character. It is soft rather than wiry, and it takes madder and cochineal dyes into a warm range of reds and roses that separates these carpets from the harder colors of the north west.
What a Sabzevar usually looks like
- Drawing: curvilinear medallions and floral fields in the Mashhad tradition, generously spaced.
- Color: warm red and rose grounds, indigo and ivory detail, occasionally a soft green.
- Construction: wool pile on cotton, soft handle, medium knotting.
- Sizes: this collection is entirely area and oversized pieces.
Where they earn their keep
These are living room and dining room carpets. The scale suits a large seating arrangement, and the soft wool makes them comfortable in rooms where people sit on the floor as well as on furniture.
The warmth of the palette is useful in north facing rooms, where cooler indigo grounds can read as cold.
A softer Persian
If you have handled a north west Persian carpet, a Sabzevar feels different straight away. The pile gives more under the hand, and the colors are less saturated. Neither is better; they suit different rooms and different tastes, and it is worth knowing which one you are buying.
Sabzevar rug questions, answered
Is Sabzevar the same as Mashhad?
They are neighbors in the same province and share a design tradition, but they are separate towns. Mashhad is the larger center; Sabzevar carpets are generally a little less fine and a little more affordable.
Does soft wool mean it wears out faster?
Softer wool shows footfall sooner than the wiry wool of Heriz or Bijar. In a normal living room this is not a problem; in a hallway, a harder wearing rug is the better choice.
Are these good under furniture?
Yes. The fields are open enough that a sofa sitting on one does not hide the design.
Choosing your Sabzevar
Work from the room measurement, then choose between the warmer red and the cooler indigo grounds. Every carpet here is vintage and one of a kind.