4'6" x 6'8" Persian Kashan Rug | Navy Blue Vase and Bird Design | Fine Wool Pile

This is a small city piece, and small pieces are where a weaver has nowhere to hide. Every curve in the 4'6" x 6'8" field had to be drawn tight, and it was. The composition is the older Kashan idea: an arched panel rising out of a footed vase, filled with vines, palmettes and paired birds, instead of the more familiar central medallion. The pile is 3/8" wool on a cotton foundation, still full and even across the surface, and the condition is excellent with no repairs, no thin spots and clean selvedges. If you want to read the full background on this weaving tradition before you buy, our Persian Kashan rug guide covers what separates a real city Kashan from a lookalike. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

A slender ivory vase sits at the base of the field, and from its mouth the whole design grows upward: two heavy scrolling stems that split, turn back on themselves and carry rosettes, serrated leaves and cloud bands to the top of the arch. Look closely and the field is populated. There are birds facing one another across the upper axis, smaller perched birds along the vines, and a pair of leopard-like animals worked into the lower corners near the vase. The arch itself is outlined in a soft blue-green that reads as a shallow prayer niche, with the spandrels above filled in sea green and worked with a separate, denser scroll. The main border runs a classic Kashan turtle palmette and vine rhythm, framed each side by narrow guard stripes of small connected flowerheads. Nothing repeats mechanically; the two halves mirror each other but the details drift, which is the signature of a rug drawn from a cartoon by hand rather than stamped out.

The Navy and Rust Color Story

The ground is a deep indigo navy, dark enough to read almost black at the corners of a room and to throw the drawing forward in strong light. Against it the vinework is ivory and pale straw gold, with rosettes picked out in soft coral, rose and old brick red. Sea green and teal appear twice: in the spandrels at the top and again in the flowerheads and leaves scattered through the field, and that green is what keeps the rug from feeling heavy. The main border is a warm rust terracotta, a tone brighter and more orange than the reds inside the field, so the frame separates cleanly from the ground. Guard stripes carry a light powder blue that you can see clearly in the close-up photograph. Fringes are natural ivory. Placed on wood floors, as in the room shots, the navy and rust pairing sits well with warm oak and walnut, and it belongs in the broader family of navy blue Persian rugs that anchor a light room without shouting.

Kashan: The Town and the Weave

Kashan sits in central Persia, north of Isfahan, on the edge of the desert, and its workshops trace their drawing tradition straight back to the Safavid court looms. The local wool is soft and takes a high sheen, which is why a Kashan ages into a glow rather than going dull. Weavers there work on a cotton foundation with a tightly packed knot, and the curved line you see in the vine scrolls is only possible because the knot count supports it. It is also the design most Americans have seen without knowing the name: when you watch Shark Tank there is a Persian Kashan on the floor. At 4'6" x 6'8" this one falls into the practical 5x7 Persian rugs range, small enough to hang or to set beside a bed, formal enough to carry a study or a sitting area on its own.