Kashmar Rugs
Kashmar, in north-eastern Persia, is known for decorative, often pictorial rugs, garden scenes and flowing floral fields in soft, liveable color.
They bring a gentle, furnished feeling to a room. Every piece is an original vintage weave, decades old, restored by hand and one of a kind.
Kashmar: pictorial and floral panels from north east Iran
Kashmar, in north eastern Iran 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, usually in soft, faded tones rather than high contrast colour.
They are among the most narratively interesting Persian carpets, and reward looking at properly.
What to look for
- Field: pictorial scenes, compartmented panels, tree of life and garden designs.
- Colour: soft and faded; rose, sage, camel, muted blue and ivory.
- Weave: good knot density with a soft handle.
- Sizes: mid sizes upward.
Where they work
A Kashmar is a rug people stop and look at, so give it somewhere it will be seen rather than covered. A study, a bedroom, or an area of open floor in a living room all suit them better than under a large coffee table.
How they age
The soft palette becomes softer, which tends to improve these carpets. Faded pictorial work reads as tapestry rather than as illustration.
Kashmar rug questions, answered
Are pictorial rugs meant to be walked on?
Yes, they are carpets first. That said, 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 pictorial rug
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 centre 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.
Care
Standard wool rug care applies. Vacuum without a beater bar, use a pad, rotate annually and blot spills rather than rubbing. Faded pictorial work is characteristic of these carpets and is part of their charm, but rotating the rug will keep any further fading even across the whole field rather than concentrated where the light falls.
What to check before you buy
Look closely at the photographs of the scene itself, since that is what you are buying. Check the ends and sides for wear. Every rug here has been washed and inspected by our restorers, with condition described honestly on the listing.
Choosing your Kashmar
Choose on the scene and the colour, in that order. Every piece here is unique.