Hamadan Runner Rug
363 x 88 cm

The Hamadan Runner Rug is a woven line of living history—a long-format expression of one of Persia’s most prolific and diverse weaving regions. Named for the ancient city of Hamadan in western Persia, these rugs are known for their resilience, clear design, and earthy charm. But a Hamadan Runner Rug is not just practical; it is personal. Woven in villages that orbit Hamadan’s historic bazaar, it tells the story of families, fields, and a rural rhythm that continues even now.

At The Rug Shop, we offer original Hamadan Runner Rugs that reflect this authenticity—rugs made by hand with hand-spun wool, dyed with vegetal pigments, and carrying with them the tone and texture of a true village craft.

Hamadan is not just a city—it is a district that includes hundreds of surrounding villages, each with its own variations on the broader weaving tradition. What unites them is structure: single-wefted construction, cotton foundation, and wool pile. What distinguishes them is artistry.

The Hamadan Runner Rug is part of this story. Typically woven in the early to mid-20th century, these runners are narrower than most Persian rugs, designed to fit the long halls, corridors, and stairwells of traditional Persian homes. Today, that same format makes them ideal for modern spaces—but their appeal goes deeper than utility.

The designs are bold, geometric, and often framed by crisp ivory borders. Central fields may be adorned with repeating medallions, stylised florals, or angular latticework. But nothing is overworked. The patterns are confident, even when improvised. The line is always true to hand.

A genuine Hamadan Runner Rug is made from the wool of local sheep—springy, tactile, and rich in lanolin. The pile is often medium to high, giving the rug a deep, comforting presence underfoot. But more than texture, it is the colour that sets these runners apart.

Vegetable dyes dominate—madder red, walnut brown, soft indigo, and warm ochre. The palette is not flashy but enduring. Many runners show abrash—those subtle changes in tone that occur when dye batches shift mid-weave. This is not a flaw. It is a fingerprint of process, a reminder that these rugs are made in the rhythm of rural life, not in factories.

At The Rug Shop, we specifically select Hamadan Runner Rugs that retain their original pile and colour—pieces that show their age without wear, that carry their past without compromise.

There is a humility to the Hamadan Runner Rug, and that is part of its charm. These are not court carpets, not made for Shahs or palaces. They were woven for family homes, for daily use, for generations of feet. And yet within that simplicity is a kind of greatness. The weavers did not cut corners. The wool was not cheapened. The dyes were not synthetic. There is no pretending here—just substance.

Because the Hamadan region includes so many villages, no two Hamadan Runner Rugs are exactly alike. Some may show Kurdish influence, others Luri. Some are more geometric, others more floral. This variability is not inconsistency—it is vitality. Each runner is a slightly different note in the same regional song.

At The Rug Shop, we treat this diversity as a strength. We select each Hamadan Runner Rug on its own merit, looking for balance, clarity, and character. We value originality over uniformity, and it shows in every piece we present.

Though many Hamadan Runner Rugs date from the early 20th century, the tradition itself remains alive. But the quality seen in earlier examples—the full pile, the strong wool, the natural dyes—is becoming harder to find. Newer pieces often lack the same depth, both literally and figuratively.

That’s why the antique and vintage Hamadan Runner Rugs at The Rug Shop are so prized. They capture a moment before compromise. They carry the full voice of the weaver, unfiltered by commercial design.

To walk along a Hamadan Runner Rug is to move through a narrow corridor of Persian history. It is to see not the grandeur of empire, but the strength of village life—the kind passed hand to hand, loom to loom, generation to generation.

Hamadan Runner Rug – The Rug Shop