Image Carpets

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Abadeh – From southern Iran, The rugs of Abadeh are tribal creations emplaying repeats of vases, birds and flowers, almost always on Ivory grounds, and usually in 6’x9’ format.
Afshar – The Afshar are a tribal grouping inhabiting Kerman province, South East Iran, and weave semi-geometric, colorful rugs in a wide variety of patterns generally up to 5’x7’.
Agra – The old capital city of Agra in northern India has been weaving rugs for centuries. The most desirable products are the large 19th century pieces with red grounds and complex palmette patterns in the 17th century manner.
Ahar – A quality grade of Heriz area carpets from the 1940’s onward. These have traditional red fields, medallion and corners patterns, combined with a compact, firm handle. The carpets are almost all in the 9’ x 12’ formats.
Aimaq – A tribe in NE Iran/ NW Afghanistan weaving scatters with unusual color schemes, many quite beautiful and is the symmetric knot. Often these rugs are confused with Quchan weavings from the same area.
Akstafa – correctly applied to a type of south central Caucasian rugs, the long pieces have eight point medallions flanked by large colorful peacocks.
Arak – Another name for Sultanabad in NW Persia.
Ardebil – Since WWII the town in (NW Persia) has been active producing imitation Caucasus rugs of affordable price.
Avar – a small rug weaving in the monthera caucasins, its rugs have a color scheme in the rest blue yellow raye and are in scatter size, the larger with the same palette and late palmette pattern.
Amritsar – The central India city Amritsar began weaving in the 19th century, with medallion carpets of medium quality, but in design appealing to modern tastes.
Arun – Lower quality rugs in the Kashan manner area a product of the neighboring town of Arun.
Arriolos – The Portuguese town of Arriolos, from the 17th to the 19th century, produced needlework carpets, many in Turkish or Persian styles, with sizes up to 9’ x 16’ in generally less saturated palettes than the originals.
Art Deco Chinese – The 1920’s-30’s carpets of the Nichols and Fette factories in NE China.
Atlas – The Moroccan rugs of the Atlas Mountains, they are made with excellent local wool with very long piles and are highly abstract and austere with limited, natural sheep wool colors. Ivory grounds are virtually universal and they are contemporary in their minimalism.
Aubusson – This central French town has specialized in flat woven , kilim technique carpets and tapestries for centuries. The best known Aubusson pieces are from the late 18th early 19th centuries with classical or Napoleonic motives. There are a few pile Aubusson carpets extant.
Axminster – Begun in the 18th century. The English Axminster carpets factory produced very large carpets with thick pile and coarse knotting in predominantly classical, then Victorian styles for the British market. Good condition pieces are highly sought after in the antiques trade.



Baharlu – Origin and weave rugs in boteh or semi floral designs, and, fine nomadic weaves.
Bakshayish- – A type of Heriz carpet from Azerbaijan in Northwest Iran, generally in room sizes with large scale overall or centralized patterns made between 1885 and 191
Bakhtiari – The rugs made in central Iran by the settled village’s of the Chahar Mahe leading tribe of the Khamseh group in Fars province; they are Turkic in hal area. These extremely colorful large carpets, often in a panel/ garden design, are generically named after often the nearby Bakhtiari tribe.
Baku – Now the capital of Azerbaijan, it wove large rugs up to 7’x13’ in repeated medallion patterns in a particular palette of black and light blue in fine weaves and low pile.
Balouchi – The generic name for a large nomadic rug production from east Persia and NW Afghanistan generally in small formats with darker palettes, emphasizing navy, cranberry, camel and black. The best 19th century pieces are highly collectable.
Basiri – One of the Khamseh tribes of south Persia, their rugs are semi geometric in style with short pile and a predominately darker palette . The tribe is of Arab origin.
Bergama – a town of West of Turkey, it anchors an entire weaving area. Rug up to 5’x8’ are woven in wholly geometric patterns, and bright, lively colors. Weaves are coarse to good.
Beshir – These carpets of the Ersari, usually in kelleh format with Persian patterns, are called Beshir .
Bessarabian – One of the varieties of southern Russian carpets, these large pieces are flat woven and employ complex, often repeating, patterns based on French sources. Today the best 18th-19th century pieces bring high auction pieces consonant with limited supply and au courant decorative character.
Bibikabad – the town of Bibikabd, near Hamadan in NW Persia, produced large carpets with repeating patterns and plain camel-brown outer borders.
Bidjov – A type of Kula( east Caucasian) with a complex pattern of ascending palmettes, with a wide color palette and usually on dark grounds.
Bijar – A large town in Kurdistan, it is famous for extremely compactly woven, hard wearing carpets in semi geometric or floral patterns, from samplers to very large sizes.
Bordshaly – A Kazak (Western Caucasus) village famous for bold, thick pile rugs featuring” latch hooks” in both field elements and border designs.
Bursa – the old silk city of Anatolia, near Istanbul, was responsible for extremely fine and rare prayer rugs woven for Ottoman court circles.
Byozchel – An area of villages east of Hamadan, scatter rugs with semi curvilinear patterns are woven there.



Canakkale – Near the Dardanelles in NW Turkey, this town weaves Bergama, rugs up to 6’x9’ in geometric patterns with a characteristic salmon ground color.
Chi-Chi – More a pattern in East Caucasian rugs than a place, the dark fields have an overall pattern of hooked octagons and other similar devices, with rosette and diagonal bar or Kufic borders.
Chelaberd – The classic “eagle” design rugs with bold stellate ivory medallions, long pile and strong colors are woven in this Caucasian town in Karabagh.
Chodor – Now mostly inactive as weavers, the migratory Chodor mostly wove carpets and rugs. This Turkman tribe was centered around Khiva, now in Uzbekistan. The rugs as of medium weave with fair quality wool. A good bottle green appears on older pieces. Their gul is the Ertmen.



Daghestan – A north Caucasian area most famed for prayer rugs with repeating patterns on ivory grounds, often confused with Marasaly Shirvans. The weave is fine and the best examples are highly collectible.
Dazkir – Located in S.W. Anatolia, this town weaves rugs and larger carpets in a geometric medallion style emphasizing red fields and an excellent secondary green. The weave is generally medium course and the pile is long.
Deccan – The large plateau of central India, various towns have long weaving histories with some high quality pieces in multiple niche designs among the most desirable local types.
Dergazine – A village in the greater Hamadan (NW Persia) area whose weavers for many years have used Sarouk floral patterns on rugs and runners of reasonable price and quality.
Demirgi – A western Turkish town near Ushak and Ghordes which makes rug sizes with dark red or black hexagonal fields and light blue corners, Finely knotted prayer rugs were a specially before 185
Derbend – A large town in the S.E. Caucasus, it wove gallery format carpets in repeating, geometric pattern on dark grounds in coarse weaves, and large sizes.
Dhurrie – the flat woven rugs of India; they have cotton pattern wefts on cotton warps often, in very large sizes with geometric pattern and striking colors.
Donegal – In the early 20th century, carpet workshops in Donegal, Ireland, began weaving coarse, colorful Arts and Crafts carpets, some with Oushak derived patterns and others base on Irish Celtic sources.
Dorokhsh – A group of finly knotted 19th century from Khorasan has been attributed to this town. There is strong orange as a secondary color, accenting the dark blue fields. Botehs appear in both field and border. these pieces both scatter sizes and a few long and narrow latteh carpets were woven. The pile always low and pieces are thin and precise in both drawing and execution.



Ersari – This is a large tribal grouping around the Amu Darya River in Uzbekistan. They are best known for large carpets with either guls or overall patterns in the Persian manner. The wave tends to coarse, but the colors are lovely including a good yellow.
Erzerum – Although no modern production exists, in the 17th and 18th centuries, this export markets.
Ezine – One of the Bergama(north West Anatolia) Villages, the local design features giant 8 point stars closely filling red grounds with sizes up to 5’x8’.



Fachralo – One of the Kazak villages, is best known rugs are in prayer design with a “re-entrant”shape at the bottom .The color palette emphasizes red, blue and ivory.
Farahan – Also known as Arak, in North West Persia , this area is the best known for closely patterned, often Herati, rugs and gallery carpets in fine weaves and often on blue grounds.
Fette – The Fette factory produced light colored, often pastel carpets between the wars for the American export market. Round, oval and other unusual formats were a specialty. The pile is high and the carpets give good wear.
French Art Deco – The French carpets of the 1920-1940 periods. Some are floral, while the later examples are wholly abstract, geometric and often asymmetric. There are numerous known designers and workshops.



Garrus – The weaving center of Garrus, near Bijar is responsible for some of the most spectacular carpets of this area – large pieces with bold split arabesque patterns on dark blue grounds. These carpets wear well and the design never goes out of fashion.
Genje – The Genje area of the south central Caucasus is the best known for geometric, very colorful, long rugs in striped or repeating patterns.
Ghiordes – Located in Western Turkey, this town is famous for finely woven antique rugs primarily in prayer design, often with architectural features. The best examples are highly collectible.
Gorevan – A type of Heriz, from North West Persia, usually quite coarse, with long pile and bright colors with an attractive light blue, almost in 9×12 sizes.



Halvai – A town near Bijar known for the best quality rugs of the type – thinner more flexible, extremely fine in knotting ,with complex floral patterns.
Herat – Now in eastern Afghanistan, this once Persian city wove long carpets with repeating Herati or Mina Khani design in the 18 and 19th centuries. The wool is soft and rugs have limited wear ability.
Hereke – The Ottoman court rug workshop was established at Hereke near Istanbul in the 19th century. Today many private weavers create ultra-fine small silk pieces for the luxury market.
Heriz – The Heriz area in NW Persia is known for carpets, usually in medallion patterns, semi geometric styles and bright colors. Weave quality varies from coarse to medium. There are very fine antique silk pieces on the market as well.
Hooked rugs – A uniquely American rug type, there are generally small, homemade folk act creations. Patterns feature animals,bouquets, domestic objects, etc. They are generally yarn or fabric looped on burlap foundations.



Injelas – Near the Hamadan (NW Iran), Injelas almost exclusively weaves runners on red grounds with small scale repeating patterns. These are among the best weaves from this area.
Isfahan – The city of Isfahan in central Iran has woven fine, elaborately detailed rugs in traditional medallion styles since WWI. The 17th century carpets on red grounds with in –and-out palmette patterns have often been attributed to this city.



Jozan – In NW Iran, between Sarouk/Irak and Hamadan, lies Jozan which makes small rugs in medallion styles reminding one of Farahan Sarouks, but with the symmetric (Turkish) knots of Hamadan.
Joshogan – This central Persia town and weaven carpets with overall patterns of flowers and plants stylized into lozeuge forms. The weave is close, and the colors tend to rich and saturated.



Karabagh – This region, to the east of the Kazak area, weaves a large variety of colorful rugs and runners with semi geometric or Persianate floral patterns with medium long pile. Among the best known product are the so called” Eagle Kazaks”.
Karachof – The large Kazak (SW Caucasus) Karachof rugs feature a striking ivory octagonal medallion surrounded by smaller squares and geometric. The best examples have green fields and yellow borders.
Karagashli – A style type of Kuba Shirvan in which bold palmettes ascend a dark blue ground. The rugs have rich colors and very good knotting.
Karaja – A village near Heriz, NW Persia, which is famous for dark blue scatter rugs in a repeated geometric, small medallion style. They weave darker or rustic runners with a variety of stylizes palmettes in pattern, resemble Karaja rugs, but are the better quality.
Karaman – One of the many rug towns of the Konya regions, the weaves resemble those of Karapinas. Most are medallion .. scatters but are looser in weave and handle reds predominate.
Karapinar – A Village near Konya weaving tighter, firmer rugs than those of the rest of the area, most often in medallion styles.
Kars – A city in the far North east of Turkish, it produces Kazak style rugs about exclusively bright colors and geometric patterns are the norm.
Kashan – A town in central Persia which is best known for medallion and corner design rugs and carpets of good weave and crisp colors. The best Kashan carpets from various workshops in both silk and wool pile predate WWI and are always in demand by collectors and decorators.
Kashan- Dabir – A sub group of the Kashan (central Persia) rugs from a workshop special in finely woven pieces with highly complex patterns, jewel-tone colors and top wool. They are generally in sizes no larger than 9’x12’.
Kashan Mohtasham – The best Kashan rugs of the 1880-1910 periods were woven in the workshop of Mohtasham using imported wool. These rugs are particularly desirable today.
Kashan Souf – Souf rugs employ areas of silk pile raised above flat woven grounds usually in silver or gold metal thread.
Kashgar – The most western of oasis cities of China, both silk and wool rugs were woven there in the 17th to 19th centuries, generally in long formats and Persianate style.
Kayseu – An eastern Turkish city, its rugs are aimed at the tourist traded and employ mercerized cotton (silk-like in texture), usually in classical ottoman prayer styles. The weaves are fine but the rugs are strictly decorative not for floor use.
Kazvin – The heavy, classically styled carpets woven in Hamadan, NW Persia, from the 1920’s onward are called Kazvin in the trade. In Europe they trade under the names Ectbatan and Elvand.
Kerman – The city and environs of Kerman in SE Persia has woven a virtually an endless variety of large carpets with excellent wool and dyes since the late 16th century. A characterization of their rugs in less than a book is impossible.
Kerman-Lavar – Lavar or Ravar is a town near Kerman which wove the finest carpets in that city style in the area.
Khirghiz – That tribe, now in Kyrgyzstan, weaves carpets in long formats with medium length pile. The designs are semi abstract, neither Turkmen nor East Turkestan, but employ geometric flowers and overall patterns. Relatively few examples have reached the American market.
Kirshehir – Not far from Majur in Central Turkey, this town weavers colorful prayer rugs in a similar style, but a distinguishing features is the use of multiple, narrow similar border.
Kizilayak – this small Turkmen tribe weaves carpets and bags with rust fields and repeating patterns. The weave is uniform and of medium , density. They are often confused with Ersari rugs.
Kolyai – One of the major weaving areas in Kurdistan (NW Persia) this district was found for 18th and 19th century gallery carpets with inventive, excellently rendered overall repeat patterns and super colors.
Kuba – A city in the Eastern Caucasus, it centers a weaving area of many villages, each producing their own characteristic pattern, always geometric, finely woven with bright colors and good wool.
Konagend – A Kuba (E. Caucasus) village whose most attractive rug type employs an ivory complex lattice on a dark blue field within green Cufic borders.
Konya – A large town in central Turkey, with many satellite villages, where are woven rugs and runners in bright colors, long pile and soft handle. The variety of these geometric rugs is vast.
Kum Kapi – A generic name applied to those ultrafine , silk pile small rugs often in prayer designs, woven by Armenian artists in Istanbul in the early 20 the century. They often have details in metal thread. Almost all are signed by the workshop leaders.
Kula – The town of Kula in Western Turkey is best known for semi coarse prayer rugs in softer colors and semi architectural designs.
Kurdish – The generic term for the rugs woven by Kurdish tribes in NW Iran and adjacent regions.



Lahore – Now in Pakistan, this city wove some of the most characteristic Moghul Period rugs, with red ground and rows of realistically depicted flowers.
Lenkaron – A village in the S.E Caucasus weaving long rugs with repeating large “bag” medallions on dark blue grounds.
Lesghi – A village of the N.E Caucasus best known for an eight pointed, colorful geometric star pattern, which proliferated all over the Caucasus because of its popularity.
Lilihan – The town of Lilihan near Hamadan weaves rugs in the Sarouk style, but of smaller size and lighter weave.
Lori Pambak – One of the Kazak villages, it weaves rugs with bold central medallions featuring cruciform centers. An attractive green in the field and ivory borders are most common.
Luri – The westernmost of the Fars tribes also weaves highly colored semi- geometric rugs which are often confused with Qashgai or Khamseh pieces, but are somewhat coarser.



Malayer-Mishan – Malayer in Wester Itan has a high grade varant.
Mashad – The capital of Khorasan province, NE Persia. The carpets are usually in medallion styles often with cranberry fields and in large sizes, woven with the local jufi knots.
Mashad- Saber – The Saber workshop in Mashad was known for extremely fine carpets in complex patterns, usually on rich red grounds. These carpets are generally signed.
Mashhad Emoghli – The most famous of the Mashad workshops, the carpets were produced from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. These rugs were ultra-fine with dense overall patterns. They are finished with a wide cranberry silk selvage on all sides. These carpets are signed.
Mazlagan – A town in the greater Hamadan area, only one pattern is woven in the area; a medallion on an open field with “lighting flash” edging, always in rug sizes.
Mehriban – This town is located on the edge of Heriz weaving area(NW Persia) and makes small carpets in medium coarse with angular overall patterns on red ground.
Melas – A coastal town in SW Turkey. Prayer and stripe design small rugs in geometric style and bright colors are the standard. Weaves are fine and the best antique pieces are collectible.
Mirzapor – Mirzapor carpets are of town to medium quality and dry wool-not conducive to long floor life-but the patterns are lively and prices are reasonable.
Mishkin – Located in far northern Azerbaijan (NW Persia), the town previously wove runners in colorful, semi Caucasian style in recent years; production has switched to rug formats and wove obvious Caucasian limitations.
Moroccan – The generic term for those carpets emanating from the NW African counrty. Generally in long or longer pile and long gallery formats, they are either Rabat or Atlas in origin.
Moghan – An area of both the southern Caucasus and northwest Persia where geometric rugs, in elongated sizes and with overall repeating panel designs were woven.
Mujar – This central Anatolia town weaves prayer style rugs exclusively almost with a red field, and tile design borders. The colors are rich and saturated.
Mongolian – A group of Chinese style rugs in square formats with bold medallions often open fields and wide fret borders. The wool is unlike that of Ningxia or Peking pieces and hence they are attributed tentatively to Mongolia.
Mood – The carpets of Khorasan (N.E. Iran) include the products of the town of Mood. Moderate quality carpets in medallion styles with cranberry reds predominating. See Mashad, Khorasan.
Mushkabad – The lowest quality grade of Arak area carpets. Many carpets now called Sultanabad are actually Mushkabad, Sizes are large, and weaves are coarse, patterns allover and colors mellowed by age.



N.W. Persian – A term applied to rugs and runners from that area that cannot be further localized. It is unlikely that many attractive pieces will ever be firmly attributed, but this makes them no less interesting and worthy of attention.
Nain – Located in central Persia, it has been weaving extremely fine rugs almost all in medallion styles with highly complex patterns, the best wool and silk high lights since the 1930’s.
Najafabad – A short distance from Isfahan (Central Persia) is the village of Najafabad weaving rugs of the Isfahan type, but significantly lower in weave wool and design.
Natanz – Near Kashan is the village of Natanz, generally known for rugs in the kashan style, but of slightly lower quality, but between the wars, a few workshops wove pieces of higher standards.
Navaho – The navaho began weaving blankets , then switched to rugs in the late 19th century. They are always tapestry woven, pile less, pieces with both natural sheep and dyed yarns, in abstract, geometric patterns. The earlier pieces use Caucasian rugs as prototypes. Scatter size predominate and the few room size pieces are highly desirable.
Needlepoints – Any European carpet with an embroidered pile can be a needlepoint. Most particularly, English and French 19th century pieces, often in repeating panel styles and rich Victorian colors are the quintessential.
Neriz – The tribles around Lake Neriz SE Persia are generally grouped.
Nichols – The American Nichols firm in the 1920s-1930’s creates striking Art Deco style pieces for export in the port city of Tientsin (East of Beijing) with unusual tonalities, asymmetric design and thick piles, these carpets are almost in 9’x12’ sizes.
NingXia – The western Chinese province of Ning Xia was home to a number of carpet workshops from the 17th century onward, employing local wool to make pieces in overall, medallion, floral and other styles, always in a totally Chinese style. Today these carpets are highly desirable.



Paotao – These western Chinese rugs are quite small, in classic blue and white tonalities, with pictorial fields often displaying animals at each end.
Palestine/ Bezalel – There was a small production in the first half of the 20th century. The rugs are scatters with local or Jewish elements, and somewhat muted tonalities.
Pashmina – A goat wool from Tibet used in extremely fine, very costly 17th-18th century rugs from Kalimir in far northern India.
Peking – Although these were Imperial carpet workshop in Peking (Beijing) in the Ming period, The Peking carpet came in to its own as alternative commercial item in the late 19th century with blue and white pieces in classic Chinese decorative patterns produced for export, especially to the America.
Perpedil – A village in the Kuba-Shirvan region (East Caucasus) weaving finely knotted, short pile small rugs with a pattern of “ram horns”, usually on dark blue grounds.



Qain – This town in Khorasan (N.W. Persia) province in the 19th century was the best known for the long gallery format carpet with close repeating patterns on dark blue grounds.
Quchan – The collective name for the Kurdish tribes of NE Persia who wove small, colorful geometric pieces, often with Turkmen or Balouch design.
Qashgai or Gashgai – The largest tribal group in Fars province, South Persia. They weave a large variety of geometric or semi floral rugs in excellent wool and bright colors. Quality depends on the particular tribe.
Qashkuli – The most prominent of the Qashgai tribes, famous for compactly woven rugs, with urban motives and often in prayer designs.
Qushak- Angora – A type of carpet from Oushak in Western Turkey employing Angora goat wool pile, giving a particularly lustrous and silky effect.


Rabat – The Moroccan carpets from the capital. They employ very bright colors and design elements derived from Turkish village sources.
Rya – The thick pile, shaggy rugs of Finland, geometric and abstract in pattern, with few but likely colors are called ‘Rya’. Sizes tend to be under 5’ x 10’. They are perfect with 1960’s style furniture.


Saliani – In the south east runners are its only product usually in repeat patterns pained with ivory rosette borders, these rugs are often confused with Karabagh or Gendje runners.
Salor – The Salor are the oldest Turkmen tribe. Not presently active as weavers, their best period was from 1750-1830 when they produced large carpets, and bags with rich red fields, spacious designs and super wool. These pieces are highly prized by collectors.
Saraband – A weaving area south of Sultanabad famous for carpets and runners with small chose repeating boteh ( Paisley) designs, finely woven on red or navy grounds.
Samarkand. – The generic, though incorrect, name for oasis city Chinese carpets. No rugs have been woven in Samarkand at least since the 15th century.
Sarkislar – These eastern Anatolian Kurdish village specials in overall pattern rugs with lozenge lattices and hooked edges everywhere. Weaving are goes back at least to the 17th century.
Sarouk – The 20th century carpets of Arak in NW Persia. They are heavily constructed, almost always in red shades and have a detached floral spray pattern.
Sarouk Farahan – The rugs of the 1880-1915 period, intermediate between Farahans and Sarouks. They originate in Arak with heavier texture than earlier Farahans and are generally in medallion designs.
Sarouk Mohajeran – A village in Arak. NW Persia, which in the 1920’s wove the best grade of Sarouk carpets, with expansive patterns on dark blue grounds.
Saryk – One of the two Turkmen tribes employing both Persian and Turkish knots, The Saryk in Eastern Turkmenistan weave a variety of traditional use types with deep eggplant fields, excellent wool, and generally somber tonalities.
Savonnerie – The Savonnerie factory was established in Paris use the Royal source of special pieces for court use and diplomatic gift. High quality wool, super dyes and in patterns by royal artists, the best Savonnerie carpets stand at the pinnacle of European carpet art.
Senneh – The capital of Kurdistan in NW Persia. It is famous for fine to extremely fine rugs with very crisp pile, precise overall patterns and often silk warp.
Senneh Kilim – The fine slit tapestry rugs of Senneh employ wool pattern wefts on cotton, silk, or wool warps to delineate complex versions of pile designs.
Serapi – No such place, but a light grade of Heriz carpets woven from 1890 to 1915, often in medallion layout.
Sewan – One of the Kazak district villages, it specializes in bold colorful, thick pile rugs in single cross-medallion styles, often with a strong light green.
Shahristan – The Commercial name for the large Indian carpets of the 20 century with good quality wool and Persian-derived patterns.
ShahSavan – Tribal people from North West Iran who are the best known for colorful geometric soumac saddle bags, now highly collectible.
Shiraz – The capital of Fars province , S Persia, this name is given to rugs of the nomadic khamseh. Qashqai are tribes in the area.
Shirvan – South of Kuba, in the East Caucasus is the Shirvan district, a large group of villages weaving rugs of medium density, generally low pile, and geometric patterns.
Shish Boluki – One of the Qashkai tribes in South Iran, their colorful, semi- geometric rugs are second only to the Qashkuli in quality.
Shusha – The capital of the Karabagh region South of Caucasus). It weaves the large carpets in the whole Caucasus, often with French floral designs suited to European interiors.
Sivas – In Eastern Anatolia, the town of Sivas is commercially oriented and many of its productions are inexpensive copies of Tabriz carpets.
Soumak – A technique of patterning by wrapping colored wefts around the warp on the looms soumac are woven throughout the Caucuses, especially in the Kula area.
Suj Bulak – A large town in Kurdistan best known for dark ground rugs with repeating large palmettes which often take a “flaming” form.
Sultanabad – The district in NW Persia best known for the large, overall patterned, light colored carpets woven before 192 After that it wove Sarouk grade rugs almost entirely.
Spanish – The Spanish knot, tied only on only one wrap, was used through out the carpet workshops of the Iberian peninsula. Alcaraz, Madrid and other cities had factories producing carpets from the 15th century onwards, often in repeating textile patterns.



Tabriz – The capital of Azerbaijan province, NW Persia, Tabriz has been active as an industrial scale producer of rugs and carpets is almost any urban style, size and weave, from the sublime to the pedestrian. Medallion styles are popular and interpretations of classical carpets are frequent. Wool, silk and rarely cotton are used as pile materials and the symmetric knot is universal.
Tabriz HajiJalil – A type of Tabriz carpet woven from the 1880’s until almost 1910, of good weave, excellent wool, usually in medallion style and up to 20’x30’ in size.
Talish – Talish, in the S.E Caucasus, weaves long rugs with unusual open fields most of them in attractive abrashed blue tones.
Tehran – The capital of Iran, for a period in the 20th century produce carpets of fine quality in overall patterns, often interpreting classical or provincial styles. The best examples have silk high lights.
Teimani – Often confused with the Timuri, this NW Afghan Baluchi tribe weaves both carpets and smaller tribal items with dark reds and blues predominating.
Tientsin – The Chinese city in which Nichols and Fette rugs were woven.
Timuri – One of the largest Baluch group tribes, operating near Herat in NW Afghanistan, the Timuri are best known for 19th century large carpets with Persian derived patterns. These rugs are now quite collectable. Dark blues and deep reds predominate.
Transylvanian – The 17th -18th Century small –mostly prayer rugs of the western Turkey which were exported in great numbers to the South East Europe, including the Transylvanian area of Romania, example in top condition with beautiful colors are a really collecting prize.



Ukrainian – Another of the Russian origin large carpet types, there are often confused with Moldovan or Bessarabian. More often pile than flat weave, they share a decorative vocabulary with other Russian types.
Uzbek – The eponymous tribe in Uzbekistan, their weavings resemble those gul carpets of the English 19th century artist William Morris designed a distinct group of Ersari, but are coarser, less disciplined and more colorful.


Varamin – The tribal bags and larger village rugs are both ascribed to the weavers around Varamin in west central Iran. The bags often employ Turkmen designs while the larger carpets use the Minakhani pattern.


William Morris/ Hammersmith – Carpets with original overall, textile- like patterns. The production, always small, continued into the 20th century. Good condition examples are rare and very desirable for collectors.
Wilton – The successor to Axminster, handmade rugs were made at Wilton into the 20th century, generally in overall patterns, neoclassical, Victorian and even Art Deco.



Yarkand – Further east then Kashgar, the carpets have now Chinese influence, with open fields, floating medallions, and bold bicolor, reciprocal borders.
Yazd – A town NW of Kerman weaving Kerman style carpets with brighter colors and heavier texture.
Yomud – The largest Turkman tribe in Turkmenistan, They are composed of many sub tribes, each with its own characteristic gul for carpets, and distinct patterns for smaller rugs and bag, they employ both symmetric and asymmetric knots. Aubergine is a popular ground colors.
Yuruk – The Kurdish tribal nomads of Eastern Anatolia go by the generic name of the Yuruk and weave many types of geometric rugs in colorful palettes with medium to coarse textures.



Zejwa – A type of Kuba with large rayed medallions in the field and wave borders.
Ziegler – This English firm manufactured large carpets in Sultanabad from the 1880’s until the 1930’s. The rugs have a generally muted tonality with large patterns and often occur in very large and square sizes. They are highly prized by designers today.
Zeychor – A Kuba district village famous for rugs in X patterns with wave design borders.
Zanjan – South of the Heriz area (NW Persia) , Zanjan rugs are semi geometric and of low quality and price.