"Early Persian medallion carpets and their collectible derivatives" is NERS (New England Rug Society) third webinar, which features long time carpet expert P.R.J. "Jim" Ford, whose book "The Persian Carpet Tradition" and "Six Centuries of Design Evolution", published by Hali, won the Textile Society of America's R. L. Shep Ethnic Textiles Book Award.

After studying German and music at King’s College, Cambridge, Jim Ford began work of OCM London and was drawn into the carpet trade in Germany, at that time the world’s biggest market for Persian goods. This led to his first book, "Oriental Carpet Design", published in 1981. In 1986 he married the American carpet designer Barbara Lindsay, and together they started their own carpet business, making many trips to Iran and all the countries of the Orient—most recently Nepal, where they continue to manufacture bespoke carpets. When asked to write the article on Persia in the Encyclopedia of Asian Design, Jim felt his first book needed a sequel. "The Persian Carpet Tradition: Six Centuries of Design Evolution" was published by Hali in 2019.