9'9" x 13'9" Persian Kashan Rug | Rose Red Field, Navy Lobed Medallion, Ivory Spandrels | Excellent Condition

This 9'9" x 13'9" persian kashan rug is the classic central Persian formula done properly: a rose red field carrying a dense allover vine, a navy lobed medallion anchored dead center, and ivory spandrels at all 4 corners. It is hand-knotted with a wool pile on a cotton foundation, and the handle is what you want from a Kashan, firm enough to lie flat without a fight but still soft underfoot. The pile stands full across the whole field, the selvages are intact and the ends are original, which is why it is graded in excellent condition. At nearly 10 feet by 14 feet it is a true room-size piece, and it sits comfortably within the proportions buyers look for when they shop 10x14 Persian rugs for a living room or a formal dining table. Every rug we ship leaves Freeport with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The drawing is traditional Kashan and it is fully resolved, meaning nothing in the field is cut off or improvised. The center holds a navy lobed medallion with serrated edges and small pendants top and bottom, and inside it an ivory cartouche frames a turquoise 8 petal rosette ringed by pink and blue blossoms. Out of the medallion run thin curling tendrils that break into the field, where a continuous network of scrolling vines carries palmettes, lotus heads, cypress-like leaf forms and small cream rosettes, mirrored left to right and top to bottom. The 4 corner spandrels are ivory, each filled with its own vine and palmette arrangement so the corners read as finished panels rather than filler. The border system is a wide navy main band of alternating palmettes and rosettes on a looping vine, flanked by turquoise guard stripes with a running floral meander and 2 narrow ivory stripes with repeated flower heads. That stacked border, 5 bands deep in places, is what frames the field and keeps a rug this large from feeling loose.

Rose Red, Navy and Ivory: The Color Story

The palette is built on 3 values and then detailed with half a dozen more. The field is a warm rose red, closer to a deep coral than a fire engine red, and because the wool takes light well it shifts tone as you walk around it. Against that sits the navy of the medallion and the main border, so dark it reads nearly black in shadow and resolves into indigo blue where the light hits the pile. Ivory does the separating work: the medallion core, the 4 spandrels and the narrow guard stripes are all cream to oatmeal, and they keep the red and navy from running together. Inside the vine work you get soft turquoise and a mid sky blue in the rosettes and leaves, a dusty pink in the palmettes, olive and moss green in the stems, and small touches of rust and camel brown in the flower centers. The overall effect is formal but warm, and the combination is forgiving in a busy room because the red field hides traffic and the navy border grounds furniture legs.

Kashan: Central Persia and the Weave

Kashan sits in central Persia, north of Isfahan, and its weavers trace their formulas back to the Safavid court workshops. The town is known for 2 things: soft lustrous local wool and the discipline to repeat a classic layout of red field, navy lobed medallion and ivory spandrels without losing the curve of the line. This piece is a good example of that discipline. The knotting is even across all 13 feet 9 inches of length, the medallion is centered properly, and the back shows a tight, regular grid with no running out of pattern at the ends. It is also the most recognizable Persian design in America, which is worth saying plainly: when you watch Shark Tank there is a Persian Kashan on the floor. That familiarity is part of why a Kashan this size works in almost any traditional or transitional interior, and why it holds value better than a decorative rug bought for a single room scheme.