How to recognize a Kerman
Kerman, in southeast Iran, wove for the American market from the 1920s onward, and the "American Kerman" is the one on Long Island: an ivory, cream, pale blue or pale green open field with a central floral medallion and broad floral border, sometimes a plain field with just a medallion and corners. The pile is very soft, lustrous, often slightly long, and the asymmetric knot on a cotton foundation runs 100 to 250 per square inch. Earlier Kermans (Lavar or Ravar Kerman) are finer, with more intricate all‑over designs.
They were the formal living‑room rug of choice in mid‑century Long Island and we see them in Garden City, Rockville Centre, Manhasset, Roslyn, the Five Towns, Huntington and Smithtown, often with the pile crushed flat in the traffic path and grey where the ivory field meets the doorway.
- Origin
- Kerman, southeast Iran
- Knot
- Asymmetric; 100–250 kpsi
- Pile
- Very soft, lustrous wool
- Foundation
- Cotton
- Dyes
- Pastels, generally stable; pale fields show soil
- Our method
- Dye test → gentle dusting → cool low‑agitation wash with brightener → clear rinse → centrifuge → directional groomed flat dry
