9'3" x 13'2" Persian Kashan Rug | Ivory Field, Cornflower Blue Florals | Signed Cartouche

This is a softly colored, signed room size piece from the classic tradition of Persian Kashan rugs, hand-knotted in fine wool on a cotton foundation and measuring 9'3" x 13'2". Instead of the familiar red ground, the weaver worked on a warm ivory field and let cornflower blue and camel gold carry the design, which makes the rug read much lighter in a room than most Kashans of this scale. The pile is full and even across all 4 corners, the ends and sides are intact, and a woven cartouche sits in the guard border at one end, the mark of a workshop weaver who was willing to put his name on the piece. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming it is a genuine hand-knotted Persian rug.

Design and Motifs

The drawing follows the classical central Persian formula and executes it with real discipline. At the center sits a large stepped star medallion, its core a navy rosette ringed by a band of pale blue and olive palmettes, then an outer crown of serrated brown and camel leaf forms that push out into the field in 8 points. Above and below the medallion hang slender pendants, and the 4 spandrels repeat the same vocabulary in cornflower blue, each one filled with curling arabesque vine and split palmette. The ivory ground between these anchors is not empty for a moment: scrolling stems carry rosettes, lotus heads, small burgundy blossoms and long lanceolate leaves in a balanced, mirrored layout. The main border runs a camel gold ground with an alternating palmette and flowerhead procession, framed by 2 pairs of narrow guard stripes in ivory and pale blue that keep the whole composition tidy.

A Palette of Ivory, Cornflower Blue and Camel Gold

Color is what sets this rug apart. The field is a creamy ivory with a faint wheat cast where the light catches the wool, and the primary accent is a soft cornflower blue, a gentle mid tone rather than a saturated royal, used for the spandrels, the medallion ring and a great many of the field blossoms. Against that sits a camel gold that carries the entire main border and turns slightly olive in the leafwork. Deeper notes come from the navy at the medallion core and in the fine outlining of stems and petals, a warm coffee brown through the medallion crown, and small punctuations of burgundy, terracotta, sage green and dusty rose scattered through the florals. The overall effect is calm and sunlit, a blue Persian rug that behaves like a neutral, and it sits comfortably with oak, walnut, cream upholstery and brass without fighting anything in the room.

Kashan: The Weaving Town and the Quality of the Weave

Kashan sits in central Persia, north of Isfahan, and its looms trace back to the Safavid court workshops that first set the standard for the red field, lobed medallion and floral spandrel layout the whole world now recognizes. When you watch Shark Tank there is a Persian Kashan on the floor. The local wool is soft and lustrous, which is why Kashan pile takes dye with that particular glow and why it wears for generations under furniture. The back of this piece shows a tight, regular knot with clean rows and no crowding, which is what allows the curved vine and the fine navy outlines to stay crisp at this size. Signed, evenly piled examples in an ivory ground are the harder ones to find among large Persian rugs, and this one has held its shape and its color beautifully.