9'8" x 13'4" Persian Kashan Rug | Rose Red Field, Navy Lobed Medallion | Signed Cartouche

This is the classic central Persian formula executed with real discipline: a deep rose red field carrying an all-over flowering vine, a navy lobed medallion floating at the center, and ivory spandrels closing the 4 corners. The weaver signed the piece in a small woven cartouche at the top of the border, which tells you it left a named workshop rather than an anonymous loom. The wool has the soft luster Persian Kashan rugs are known for, the 3/8" pile is even from end to end, and at 9'8" x 13'4" it belongs with the other 10x13 Persian rugs that cover a full seating area without crowding it. Condition is excellent, and the rug ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The drawing is fully curvilinear. At the center sits a tiered medallion: an 8 petal rosette on a sky blue core, ringed by an ivory cartouche band of scrolling palmettes, then a navy outer lobe that throws a split arabesque pendant north and south. The field around it is not left open. It is filled edge to edge with detached flowering sprays, serrated leaves, carnations and small palmettes on hairline vines, each one drawn individually rather than stamped by repetition. The ivory corner spandrels repeat the medallion vocabulary in miniature. Three guard stripes on each side carry a running rosette meander, and the wide navy main border alternates large palmettes with pomegranate style blossoms and paired cloud bands. The signature cartouche breaks the light blue guard stripe at the top of the border, set on a pale green ground in dark script.

The Rose Red, Navy and Ivory Palette

The field reads as a true rose red, warmer and slightly cooler in tone than a brick or tomato red, and it holds that value consistently across nearly 13 feet of length, which is the mark of well managed dye lots. Against it the medallion and border work in near black navy, giving the strong contrast that makes the ivory elements read as light rather than as another color. Inside the details sit sky blue, a paler cornflower blue, cream, soft rose pink, sage green, a little mustard gold and the occasional touch of rust. Those secondary tones are what keep the field lively at close range, and the corner photograph shows how the blues cluster in the flower heads while green runs through the leaf work. In daylight the rose red lifts toward raspberry; under lamplight it deepens toward burgundy, so the rug sits comfortably with both warm wood and cooler grey upholstery.

Kashan: The Weaving Town and the Quality of the Weave

Kashan lies in central Persia, north of Isfahan, and its looms trace back to the Safavid court workshops that set the standard for the curved line in Persian weaving. The town is known for soft, lustrous local wool on a cotton foundation and for the formula seen here: red field, navy lobed medallion, ivory spandrels. It is also the rug most Americans have already seen without naming it, since when you watch Shark Tank there is a Persian Kashan on the floor. The back photograph shows the payoff of that tradition, with tight, regular rows of knots and the pattern reading almost as clearly from the reverse as from the pile. Straight sides, a flat lie, an even 3/8" clip and a signed border all point to a workshop piece rather than village production.