9' x 13' Persian Kashan Rug | Navy Blue All-Over Floral | Signed Cartouche

A signed piece, which in Kashan means a workshop piece rather than a village weaving. The weaver put a cartouche into the end border, visible in the close-up photograph, and then filled the whole navy blue field with a continuous floral lattice instead of the open medallion and spandrel layout most buyers expect from this town. The wool pile stands at an even 3/8" from edge to edge, the cotton foundation is straight and flat, and the drawing on the back is as clear as it is on the face. Condition is excellent throughout, with both end finishes and all 4 sides intact. It is one of the more useful sizes we carry among large Persian rugs, covering a full seating group without crowding the walls. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The field is an all-over composition built on a system of curving vines that mirror across both axes, so the pattern reads as one continuous garden rather than a repeat. At dead center sits a small 8 petal rosette in gold and rust, ringed by lobed leaves, and from it the vinework spirals outward into large split palmettes, serrated saz leaves, tulip heads and small boteh forms that curl back on themselves like feathers. Tiny five petal blossoms fill the ground between the heavier elements, which is why the navy never reads as empty. The main border runs on a light blue ground with alternating palmettes and boteh linked by a thin meandering vine, flanked on both sides by narrow ivory guard stripes carrying a reciprocal flower and leaf chain. Corners are resolved properly, with the border pattern turning cleanly instead of being cut off, which is a reliable tell of a drawn cartoon and a trained hand at the loom.

A Study in Navy and Powder Blue

The field is a deep midnight navy, closer to indigo than to black, and it shifts noticeably with the nap: walk around it and one half of the rug reads darker while the other lifts toward slate. Against that ground the vinework is drawn in soft powder blue and ivory, with a warm straw gold used for the outlining of the larger palmettes so the pattern keeps its structure at a distance. The accent palette is restrained and old-school, dusty rose, terracotta rust, small dots of true red at the flower centers and occasional flecks of turquoise. The main border inverts the scheme entirely, a pale sky blue ground holding rose, rust, gold and ivory ornament, which frames the dark field and stops a 9' x 13' floor of navy from feeling heavy. In practice this rug carries cream walls, walnut furniture and brass beautifully, and it hides everyday traffic better than any light-ground rug of the same size.

Kashan: Central Persia and the Court Weaving Tradition

Kashan sits in central Persia, north of Isfahan on the edge of the desert, and its looms have been running since the Safavid court workshops of the 16th century. The town is known for soft, lustrous local wool and for a curvilinear drawing style that demands a tight, disciplined knot, and its reputation is so embedded in the American eye that when you watch Shark Tank there is a Persian Kashan on the floor. Weavers here work on cotton warps with a fine wool pile, beaten down hard so the rug lies flat and wears slowly, and a good Kashan will outlive several sets of furniture. The signature cartouche on this piece places it with a named workshop rather than an anonymous run, and the accuracy of the mirrored vinework backs that up. If you want the full background on the town, the weave and how to judge quality, read our Persian Kashan rugs guide.