8'2" x 11'6" Persian Kashan Rug | Red Field, Navy Medallion | Excellent Condition

This is the classic central Persian formula worked at full room size: a deep red field, a navy lobed medallion and ivory corner spandrels, all hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation. At 8'2" x 11'6" it covers a standard seating group without crowding the walls, and the drawing has the balance you only get when a single weaver keeps the same cartoon from end to end. The pile is even, the colors are clean, and the selvedges and fringes are intact. Anyone comparing pieces should read our Persian Kashan rug guide before buying, because the differences between a workshop Kashan and a copy show up in exactly the details this rug gets right. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a pointed navy medallion with an ivory inner cartouche and a small blue rosette at the exact heart of the rug, finished top and bottom with curling pendants and fine ivory tendrils. Around it the field is filled edge to edge with palmettes, split leaves, carnations and scrolling vine, drawn in the curved Kashan manner rather than the angular village style, so every stem turns in a smooth arc. The 4 corners carry ivory spandrels filled with the same floral vocabulary in miniature, which frames the medallion and keeps the composition from floating. The main border is a navy ground with a rotating palmette and vine meander, flanked by light blue guard stripes and narrow reciprocal minor borders that step the eye out to the edge. Nothing is repeated mechanically: each half of the border sequence has small variations in the flower heads.

A Closer Look at the Color

The ground is a true madder red, warm rather than orange, and it shifts slightly with the nap so one end reads deeper than the other under lamplight. Against it sits an inky navy blue in the medallion and main border, dark enough at a distance to read almost black, with a clearly separate mid light blue used for the guard stripes, many of the flower heads and the palmette centers. Ivory does the structural work: it outlines the medallion, fills the spandrels and carries the fine vine tracery so the pattern stays legible across 11 feet. Scattered through the field are rose pink blossoms, olive and sage green leaves, soft camel and light brown accents, and small touches of pale blue that lift the whole palette. It is a red rug that holds a lot of blue, which is why it sits comfortably with navy upholstery, walnut furniture and warm whites.

Kashan: The Weaving Town and the Quality

Kashan sits in central Persia north of Isfahan and has been a weaving center since the Safavid court workshops, which is where the red field, navy lobed medallion and ivory spandrel formula comes from. The local wool is soft and lustrous and takes dye beautifully, and Kashan weavers work on a cotton warp and weft with a tight, regular knot that holds the curved drawing this design demands. It is also the most recognizable Persian design in America: when you watch Shark Tank there is a Persian Kashan on the floor. Among room-sized 8x11 Persian rugs, a Kashan of this weight and pile depth is the piece that stays in a family for decades, because the wool wears in rather than out.