Guide to Kashan Rugs & Carpets
First time published in Oriental
Rug Notes. This short extract of the original
article is republished by courtesy of the author J. Barry
O'Connell.
Kashan is a city in North Central Iran. We know that there was production
of Persian carpets at Royal workshops in the 17th and
early 18th century. Many authors attribute Persian rugs and carpets
to Kashan in the 16th century particularly of the so-called small
silk Kashan Persian Carpet group.
That is a leap of faith not necessarily supported by any
published evidence I can see. The Persian carpet workshops
ceased production in about 1722 after the Afghan invasion. Persian carpet
production was very minor until the 20th century. Historically Kashan was
a major centre in the garment trade. In the late 19th century the market
shifted and the local industry went from fine wool cloth to fine wool
carpets
From the mid-19th to the early 20th century the finest
quality rugs from Kashan were called Mohtashem and said to be from
the workshop of "Mohtashem". Today it is generally assumed that
Mohtashem is an indication of fine Kerman workshop production rather than
a firm attribution. However with the existence of some signed Mohtashem
rugs it is certain that the workshop existed. The early Kashans were made
with Manchester wool and are softer, The change occurred in the 1930s.
Some of the best Kashans are from Ardistan and excellent
ones are also produced in Yezd and Kashmar in Khorasan.
This
is a classic 19th century Mohtashem Kashan (left). I have always suspected
as do many others that Mohtashem was the Mullah Hassan. The Hajji Mullah
Hassan started the carpet production in Kashan in about 1890. As Cecil
Edwards told us in The Persian Carpet Hajji Mullah Hassan was a merchant
who was left with Manchester wool and no clothing business so his wife
wove a rug. His wife was from Arak and the rug was successful.
There is a certain ring of truth to the Arak origin of the wife since
Mohtashem Kashans have a back like an old Feraghan Sarouk. Another
attribution clue is that rugs and carpets from the Mohtashem workshop had
lavender silk selvages when new.
Wool
Kashan is surrounded by desert and marginal land that does not provide
a source of good wool. From roughly 1890 to 1930 the main source of wool
was Manchester UK. That wool was fine soft garment wool that was processed
in Manchester from Merino sheep. After 1930 the primary source of wool has
been Sabzavar.
This wonderful piece (left) showed up as lot 165 in Sotheby's Fine
Oriental and European Rugs and carpets sale in London in October of 1999.
Sotheby's did not date the rug in the catalogue but this is very much what
we see from Kashan circa 1910.
Style and Quality in Kashan Rugs.
Kashan rugs are the most conservative of all Persian carpets. They are
not nearly as adventurous as Qum or as fine as Isfahans but Kashan
maintains a consistent look. Not all the same but confined to certain
bounds.
Quality is a different matter. Often good sometimes great Kashan rugs
are home production not workshop rugs. You can expect to find three
distinct grades of Kashan from the high-end ultra fine examples to the
Bazaar quality.
Read more
at Oriental Rug Notes.
Kashan rugs at Jozan Educational
Gallery.
