Pictorial Rug Tableau

A Persian pictorial rug, or tableau, replaces the geometric or floral pattern of a standard rug with a scene: a landscape, a portrait, an animal, a historical or religious figure. Where a regular rug is woven from a repeating pattern, a pictorial one is knotted the way a painting is composed, which is why two pieces on the same theme rarely look identical and why the more detailed pieces take considerably longer on the loom.

Persian Pictorial Rug Tableau Price

The range spans a genuinely wide set of subjects. On the landscape side, pieces like the Masouleh Tableau (€469) and the Winter Snow and Trees Tableau (€680) reproduce specific Iranian scenery in wool and silk. Portrait and figure pieces range from the Kurdish Girl design (€382) to more ambitious work like the Charles Chaplin Tableau (€2,650), which shows how far the medium can be pushed past traditional subject matter. On the religious and calligraphic side, pieces combining the Van Yakad verse with Kaaba imagery (from €249) are a common choice for a prayer room or entryway.

If you want a specific image rather than one of these existing designs — your own photo, a portrait, a custom scene — that’s a different production method (printed rather than hand-knotted); our Custom Printed Rug collection covers that instead.

Type of Iranian Pictorial Rug for wall hanging

Pictorial rugs depict scenes, landscapes, animals, people, or other images, rather than abstract or geometric patterns. They are often used as wall hangings to add beauty, interest, and warmth to a room. Pictorial rugs can be made from various materials, such as wool, cotton, or silk, and have different styles, origins, and qualities. Some of the most popular types of pictorial rugs are:

Several Iranian weaving centers have their own take on pictorial work, each with a different density and palette: Isfahan and Qom pieces lean toward fine silk and historical scenes, Kashan and Nain toward softer, pastel landscapes, and Tabriz toward bolder hunting and palace scenes.

Browse related collections

For the hand-knotted rug range beyond pictorial work, see our main Persian Handmade Rug & Carpet collection, or the full Persian Rug & Carpet range for every style we carry.