Tabriz are one of the most popular Persian rugs. Tabriz is the dominant city of Northwest Iran and is the second largest city in Iran. It has been the center of the carpet trade for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Tabriz rugs have many unique designs, but the typical pattern is filled with dense floral motifs, large palmettes or vases. Typical colors are dark red and a powerful blue. Newer carpets can also be soft green and brown.
Tabriz carpets come in all different sizes. The majority will range in size from 4X6 feet to 8X10 feet. You can also find rugs up to 10X18 feet.
Tabriz also has several "sub-styles". These include the Mahi, Naqsheh, and Tabatabaie. The Mahi is commonly referred to as "The Decorators Carpet", because the colors available can match any room. The Naqsheh is generally considered the most spectacular of Tabriz rugs due to its coloring scheme. The Tabatabaie has touches of orange, lemon green and beige.
The material used for the pile of Tabriz rugs are wool, silk, or a combination of the two. A beautiful blend of fine Kurk wool and silk is the most common in fine Tabriz rugs, with wool only used in those of medium quality. In the very finest Tabriz rugs, the foundation is pure silk instead of cotton, and some even have 18 or 24 karat gold threads woven into the foundation.
The master-weavers of Tabriz often weave their signature into a part of the carpet's border. These signatures can, of course, be found on extremely fine rugs made in other cities, but a signature on the 'ceremonial' border of a Naqsheh is the ultimate in formality and sophistication, the true mark of Tabriz rugs.
