Setting
Kashan stands where the central plateau meets the Dasht-e Kavir, with the Karkas mountains to the west. The old town is a district of courtyard houses, a covered bazaar and several restored merchant mansions.
Why this place matters for craft
The city's name is embedded in the Persian word for tile (kashi), which writers often cite as evidence of an early ceramic industry, though the etymology is debated. Silk velvet and fine carpet weaving are both recorded here in the Safavid and Qajar periods; a number of surviving looms belong to family workshops.
Quarters, bazaars and workshops
| Area | What is there |
|---|---|
| Kashan bazaar and Timcheh-e Amin od-Dowleh | Covered market with a domed trading court; textile and copper stalls nearby. |
| Weaving workshops in the old quarters | Small velvet and silk operations, usually behind unmarked doors and visited by arrangement. |
What to look for on an object
- Silk velvet — Cut pile that shades differently as the cloth is turned; the reverse shows the binding structure, not a printed image.
- Metal-thread brocade — Metallic weft floats that sit on the surface and can be felt as slight ridges.
These notes are for learning to look, not for authentication. No description here certifies an object, its age or its origin.
Practical notes
- Rose water distilling happens in the surrounding villages in late spring and is a separate trip from the city bazaar.
- Textile workshops are small and often not retail; approaching through a bazaar seller is the usual route.
- Workshop addresses, bazaar hours and market days change; confirm locally before travelling.
Season: Spring, especially the rose harvest weeks in May, and autumn.
Used in these crafts
A silk weaving technique producing a cut or voided pile on a foundation weave, used in Iran for garments, cushion covers and furnishing panels, with figured Safavid velvets among the most studied survivals.
A figured silk weaving technique in which supplementary wefts, often including gold- or silver-wrapped thread, create pictorial or floral designs on a silk ground.
A hand-knotted pile textile woven across Iran in city workshops, village looms and pastoral camps, distinguished by regional structure, palette and design vocabulary.
Square polychrome tiles painted with several overglaze colours and fired together, allowing large architectural schemes to be produced faster than cut tile mosaic.
A technique of architectural revetment in which monochrome glazed tiles are cut into small individual pieces to a template and set together, glaze face down, into a mortar bed to form complex polychrome patterns and inscriptions.
A ceramic decoration in which metallic oxides are painted onto a glazed surface and fired in a reducing kiln to produce a metallic sheen, associated especially with Kashan.
Stonepaste wares painted in cobalt blue under a clear glaze, produced in Iran with strong dialogue with Chinese porcelain, especially in the Timurid and Safavid periods.