Rugs from Kashmar, a city in northeastern Iran near Mashhad, whose weavers bring finished pieces to the Mashhad market. Less famous than Tabriz, Mashhad or Kashan, they are often undervalued relative to their quality. Good wool and vegetable dyes give soft, subdued earth tones: brownish cream, light and dark blue, orange, brown and a distinctive pink. Typical designs are a medallion with corner pieces and border, sometimes with vases in place of flowers, and garden designs in panels that each show a scene, such as a lake with trees, a tree of life or deer in a forest. Not to be confused with Kashmir.
A layout of vases holding flowers, spread across the rug, often with one large vase at the center surrounded by smaller ones around the medallion, the arrangement then repeated over the whole field. In Persian tradition the flowering vase stands for growth and opportunity, and it is also read as a symbol of abundance and paradise. The design is typical of Kashmar rugs and is also found in Bakhtiari, Tabriz, Sarouk, Qum and Kashan rugs; in Kashmar and Kashan rugs vases can also appear in the border.