Rug No. has found its new home.
Every rug we sell is one of a kind, so that piece is gone. Here are others in the same spirit, or tell Rug Finder what you are looking for.
Kashmar Rugs
Kashmar, in northeastern Persia, is known for decorative, often pictorial rugs: garden scenes and flowing floral fields, most often on navy or deep red. They bring a gentle, furnished feeling to a room. Every piece is an original vintage weave, decades old, professionally washed and one of a kind.
Kashmar: pictorial and floral panels from northeast Persia
Kashmar, in northeastern Persia near Mashhad, is known for carpets with a distinctive decorative approach: pictorial and garden panel designs, hunting scenes, tree-of-life motifs and floral compartments, often in deep navy and red, with the detail softened by age.
They are among the most narratively interesting Persian carpets, and reward looking at properly.
Identifying a Kashmar
- Field: pictorial scenes, compartmented panels, tree-of-life and garden designs.
- Color: navy and deep red fields most often, with burgundy and cream pieces alongside.
- Weave: good knot density with a soft handle.
- Sizes: mostly oversized room carpets, with some extra large.
Giving a Kashmar room to show
A Kashmar is a rug people stop and look at, so give it somewhere it will be seen rather than covered. A large study, a bedroom, or an open stretch of floor in a living room all suit them better than the space under a big coffee table.
Kashmar colors over time
Age softens the navy and the red, which tends to improve these carpets. Faded pictorial work starts to look like tapestry rather than illustration.
Asked about Kashmar
Are pictorial rugs meant to be walked on?
Yes, they are carpets first. Still, if a piece has a scene you particularly like, placing it where it stays visible makes more of it.
What do the scenes show?
Commonly gardens, cypresses, birds, hunting scenes and figures drawn from Persian literary tradition. Weavers interpreted these freely.
Placing a Kashmar with a scene
A rug with a scene in it wants to be seen. If the design is directional, decide which way it should face from the main entrance to the room and place it accordingly. Avoid burying the center under a large coffee table; a slightly bigger rug, or a table with an open frame, will let the drawing carry. In a bedroom, positioning the scene at the foot of the bed keeps it in view.
Looking after a Kashmar
Ordinary wool rug care is all a Kashmar needs. Vacuum without a beater bar, use a pad, turn it once a year and blot spills rather than rubbing. Some fading is part of the charm of a pictorial carpet, and turning the rug keeps any further fading even across the field rather than concentrated where the light falls.
Looking at the listing
Look closely at the photographs of the scene itself, since that is what you are buying. Check the ends and sides for wear. Each Kashmar was washed and cleaned by specialists we have trusted for years, and its condition is described plainly on the listing.
Your Kashmar, in two steps
Choose on the scene and the color, in that order; every Kashmar here is unique. Our Kashmar guide goes deeper into the pictorial tradition and how to recognize one.