How to recognize a Kashan
Kashan sits between Tehran and Isfahan, and its rugs use the asymmetric knot on a cotton foundation with a dense, soft, closely clipped wool pile, typically 150 to 300 knots per square inch. The classic design is a curvilinear medallion with pendants on a red field, corner spandrels, and a wide main border of palmettes and vines; all‑over floral and pictorial designs exist too. The reds are deep and slightly bluish, the navies almost black, the ivories cream. Silk Kashans exist and are handled as silk.
Kashans came to Long Island in quantity in the 1960s through 1980s, and we see 8×10 through 10×14 examples every week in Garden City, Rockville Centre, Hewlett, Lawrence, Woodmere, Great Neck, Huntington and Smithtown. Many are now semi‑antique, with worn pile in the traffic path and, very often, a pink halo where a previous cleaning bled the red border into the ivory.
- Origin
- Kashan, central Iran
- Knot
- Asymmetric; 150–300 kpsi
- Pile
- Soft, dense wool, closely clipped; silk in fine pieces
- Foundation
- Cotton
- Dyes
- Deep madder reds and navies; reds migrate readily in hot or alkaline water
- Our method
- Extended dye test → dusting → cold wash with stabilizer → clear rinse → centrifuge → fast flat dry
