What is a Tabriz rug?
A Tabriz rug is a hand-knotted carpet woven in the workshops of Tabriz, in northwest Iran, distinguished by technical precision, a central-medallion drawing, and one of the highest knot counts in Persian weaving — often 200 to 600 knots per square inch on workshop pieces. Tabriz pieces have been continuously produced for over six centuries.
What is a Tabriz rug?
The workshop tradition from northwest Iran.
Tabriz refers both to the city in Iranian Azerbaijan and to the rug-weaving tradition it produced. A Tabriz rug is hand-knotted on a vertical loom by master weavers working from a designer’s cartoon — that division of labor between draftsman (naqqāsh) and weaver is the defining feature of the workshop tradition. The result is a rug of exceptional drawing precision, with central medallions, vine-and-palmette fields, and the famous Mahi (fish) all-over composition.
Knot counts on workshop Tabriz pieces typically run 200 to 600 per square inch on a cotton foundation; village Tabriz weaves coarser, on wool. Silk Tabriz pieces sit at the very top of the Persian carpet world.
Six centuries of workshop weaving.
Tabriz has been a Persian weaving capital since the Safavid era of the 16th century, when it served briefly as the imperial capital and produced silk court carpets for the Shah. Tabriz workshops are credited with the Polonaise carpets of the 17th century — silk and metal-thread pieces commissioned for European royal courts and later catalogued in the Polish royal collection (hence the name). The technical and design vocabulary established in this period became the template for all later workshop weaving.
After a long decline through the 18th century, Tabriz revived in the late 19th century under European demand and led the great Persian export boom of 1875–1925. The city’s workshops re-trained the craft from older masters, re-invented finer drawing, and produced the Tabriz pieces — classical medallion, Mahi, and silk — that fill the great American and European collections today. Tabriz weaving continues actively in the 21st century at the same workshops.
How a Tabriz is built.
A workshop Tabriz is knotted on a cotton warp and weft using the asymmetric Persian knot. Knot count typically runs 200 to 600 per square inch — the fine end of that range is workshop-standard and produces the photographic drawing for which Tabriz is famous. Village Tabriz pieces drop to 100–200 knots per square inch on a wool foundation, with bolder, more geometric drawing.
The pile is hand-spun mountain wool, vegetable-dyed with madder (red), indigo (blue and green), walnut hull (brown), and pomegranate skin (yellow). From around 1875, early synthetic dyes appear in Tabriz alongside the vegetable palette — collectors prize the all-vegetable antiques. Silk Tabriz pieces use silk pile on silk foundation.
How to identify a Tabriz.
- Design
Central medallion with corner pendants; dense vine-and-palmette field. The Mahi (fish) variant tiles a small repeating fish-bone motif across the entire field.
- Palette
Madder reds, deep indigo navy, ivory grounds, and a saffron accent. Antique Tabriz often shows two-tone abrash where the dye lot shifted on the loom.
- Border
A fine main border of palmette-and-vine, flanked by two or three narrow guard borders. Restrained, never busy.
- Pile
Short to medium pile, tightly clipped. The drawing reads with photographic clarity; you can see every knot.
- Fringe
Cotton fringe, an extension of the warp. Bound or knotted at the end-stop. Modest, neither long nor decorative.
Four variants you will see.
Tabriz pieces appear in standard scatter sizes (3×5, 4×6), workshop room sizes (8×10, 9×12, 10×14), and palace formats up to 14×24. Four primary construction variants dominate.
Workshop Tabriz
Fine workshop weaving, 200–600 knots/in². Central medallion, classic drawing, cotton foundation.
Village Tabriz
Coarser village work, 100–200 knots/in². Bolder geometry, often a full wool foundation.
Mahi (Fish) Tabriz
All-over fish-bone repeat. Small-scale, hypnotic field with no central medallion.
Silk Tabriz
Fine silk pile on silk foundation. Among the most valuable Persians ever woven.
Caring for a Tabriz rug.
A Tabriz rug is hand-washed by master artisans — never machine-cleaned. The fine cotton foundation and tightly clipped pile demand a measured hand-wash with pH-balanced soap, temperature-controlled water, and full dye testing before any water touches the rug. Antique Tabriz pieces, especially those with early synthetic dyes, receive the antique wash, a slower hand-controlled bath calibrated to the rug’s dye chemistry. See the full process on our Persian rug cleaning page.
Closest cousins to a Tabriz.
Three Persian traditions every Tabriz collector should know.
Kashan
Classic medallion design; central-Iranian workshop tradition; closest cousin to a workshop Tabriz.
Read the Kashan guideIsfahan
Court-style atelier weaving on silk foundation; the technical peer at the top of the workshop pyramid.
Read the Isfahan guideHeriz
Village weaving from the same Azerbaijan province as Tabriz; bolder, coarser, and built to be hard-wearing.
Read the Heriz guideLetters from across the Northeast.
A few of the rugs we've cared for — and the families who trusted us with them.
“They returned an heirloom Tabriz — the colors look exactly as my grandmother described them.”
“A 1920s Heriz I thought was beyond saving came back better than the day my parents bought it.”
“Our clients trust us with eight-figure homes. Horizon is the only atelier I send their rugs to.”
More from Horizon.
Other ateliers, every service we offer, and the rest of our story — a few directions to explore.
Bring us your Tabriz.
Workshop, village, Mahi, or silk — whichever Tabriz you own, we hand-wash with the process appropriate to its construction. Complimentary pickup from Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester, Greenwich, and Stamford.
By hand · By the Cohen family · By appointment