1069 | BAD INFLUENCE Antique Persian Hamadan Rug with Turquoise, Pink & Red | Circa 1920–1940 | 2.2 × 3.9

ABOUT THIS RUG

We have absolutely no idea who approved this color palette. We'd like to thank them personally.

Meet Bad Influence—an antique Persian Hamadan village rug measuring just 2'2" × 3'9" and somehow containing more personality than most entire rooms.

Start with the red.

A saturated, unapologetic crimson field surrounds a huge ivory geometric medallion that looks less like something carefully drafted and more like something the weaver decided needed to exist.

Then things get weird.

Seafoam turquoise. Dusty mint. Bubblegum pink. Burnt orange. Ivory. Chocolate brown. Charcoal. Little flashes of blue-green.

All of it packed into less than nine square feet.

The central medallion is surrounded by angular flowers, paisleys, rosettes, tiny diamonds and beautifully strange little village motifs. An ivory outer field breaks up the red before multiple borders wrap the whole thing in alternating hits of turquoise, pink, orange, burgundy and brown.

It shouldn't work.

It works obscenely well.

Origin: Persia (Iran), attributed to the Hamadan weaving region
Age: Antique, likely circa 1920–1940
Construction: Hand-knotted wool
Size: 2'2" × 3'9"
Colors: Crimson red, seafoam turquoise, dusty mint, bubblegum pink, burnt orange, ivory, chocolate brown & charcoal
Design: Bold geometric central medallion with stylized floral and boteh motifs surrounded by multiple contrasting borders

WHY WE LOVE IT

Find another antique Persian rug this color.

Seriously.

Red and navy? Easy.

Red and ivory? Everywhere.

But red with mint green, turquoise, pink and little shots of burnt orange?

Now we're having a conversation.

The turquoise alone is ridiculous. It appears around the medallion, inside the floral motifs and throughout the borders, constantly colliding with pink and screaming red.

And because this is an old village rug, nobody appears to have been particularly concerned with making everything behave.

Lines wander.

Flowers mutate.

Colors appear unexpectedly and then disappear.

The medallion isn't interested in being perfectly symmetrical.

Neither are we.

This is exactly why we hunt old rugs instead of commissioning new ones.

CONDITION

Bad Influence has survived with a wonderfully substantial presence and the kind of age-related character we want from an antique village rug.

The wool retains excellent visual depth and color, with areas of pile variation, handmade irregularity, and wear consistent with age. The ends and fringe show visible loss and irregularity, and there are areas where generations of use have left their mark.

And somehow the colors are still screaming.

That's the remarkable part.

After all these years, the turquoise is still turquoise. The pink is still pink. The orange still jumps out against the red.

Apparently subtlety wasn't interested in aging gracefully.

Please review all photographs carefully, as they are considered part of the condition description.

STYLING NOTES

At 2'2" × 3'9", Bad Influence can basically go wherever your house has become too responsible.

Beside the bed.

At the kitchen sink.

Powder room.

Entry.

In front of a console.

Under a little side table.

Or layered directly over some enormous, tasteful neutral rug that desperately needs someone to ruin its perfect evening.

We'd especially love this one in a contemporary space.

Clean furniture. Great lighting. Natural materials.

Then drop this tiny Persian fever dream on the floor.

There. Now the room has a pulse.

FINAL WORD

Some antique rugs are sophisticated.

Some are restrained.

Some whisper.

Bad Influence has apparently never whispered a day in its life.

Red. Turquoise. Pink. Orange. Ivory.

Nearly a century old and still completely incapable of behaving itself.

Which is precisely why we want it.

Bad Influence.

Your beige rug warned you about this one.