9'10" x 12'6" Persian Kashan Rug | Ivory Field, Blue Floral Medallion | Signed Cartouche

This is a signed Persian Kashan rug in the lighter, cooler palette the town is known for when it steps away from the classic red ground: an ivory field, a camel and blue medallion, and a soft camel main border. The weaver signed the piece in a small cartouche woven into the top border, which on a Kashan means the rug left a named workshop rather than an anonymous loom. It measures 9'10" x 12'6", a true 10x13 Persian rug footprint that covers a full formal room with furniture sitting on it. The pile is 3/8" wool on a cotton foundation, the condition is excellent with no wear, and the rug ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The drawing follows the classic Kashan formula and executes it patiently. A lobed central medallion sits at the exact center of the field, filled with scrolling arabesques, palmettes and a small 8 petal rosette at its heart, and finishes in a tall pendant at each end. Matching quarter medallions anchor all 4 corners as spandrels, so the layout reads as one continuous composition rather than a medallion dropped onto a background. Between them the ivory ground is covered with an all over floral system: curling vines, split leaves, lotus palmettes, tulip forms and small rosettes, every element mirrored across both axes. The main border carries an alternating palmette and blossom repeat, framed on each side by narrow guard stripes of vine and flower heads, with a fine dentil edge separating the bands. The signature cartouche breaks the border rhythm at the top, which is exactly where a Kashan master places it.

Color Palette

The field is an unbleached ivory with a faint cream warmth to it, and it does the heavy lifting: it keeps a rug this large feeling open instead of heavy. Blue appears in two distinct registers, a deep near navy used for outlining the medallion, the vine armatures and the flower centers, and a pale powder blue used for petals, leaf tips and the guard stripe grounds. The medallion, the spandrels and the main border share a soft camel to taupe brown that reads warm against the ivory and is the tone listed as brown in the specifications. Olive and sage green run through the leafwork, and small hits of rust, terracotta, brick red and mustard gold sit inside the individual blossoms, just enough to give the surface life at close range. There is no single loud color anywhere, which is why this palette sits comfortably with both cool grey rooms and warm wood.

Kashan Origin and Weaving Quality

Kashan sits in central Persia, north of Isfahan, and its looms trace back to the Safavid court workshops that produced some of the most admired carpets ever woven. The town has two lasting advantages: local wool with a natural sheen that holds dye beautifully, and a workshop discipline that keeps curved lines true across a field this wide. The back of this piece, shown against a ruler, is even and tight, with clear definition on every motif and no drift in the medallion outline, and the 3/8" pile gives it the firm, dense handle collectors expect from the town. Kashan is also the Persian rug most Americans have already seen without knowing it: when you watch Shark Tank there is a Persian Kashan on the floor. A signed, excellent condition example in this size and this cool ivory palette does not come through often.