Definitions

Abrash
Is the variation in a color within a rug. This is a result of different dye batches used in one rug. Abrash also is indicative of the use of traditional materials and dyeing practices. More often than not Abrash is found in rugs woven by tribals.

Afshar
A group of turkic-speaking nomads living in the region of southeastern Iran.

All- over pattern
This is a term used to describe the pattern of a rug whose field has no central medallion.

Arabesque
An ornate linear design of intertwined floral and geometrical figures.

Bakhtiar
Bakhtiar is a village south west of Isfahan in central Iran and the carpets from this region are known for their symmetrical designs and layouts and dark color tones.

Boteh
The small tear drop design also known as the paisely motif. There is no consensus on the exact meaning of this motif some say it is a flame, pear, leaf, pine cone and this list goes on. There are numerous renditions of this symbol found in rugs of antiquity; some geometric that are difficult to recognize, unless one is familiar with the basic form.

Causcasus
Is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It was also known as Kafkash in ancient times.

City rug or workshop rug:
Rugs and carpets that are woven in a city are identified as city rugs , which would imply in a workshop, therefore they are also called as workshop rugs. The workshop rugs are woven on metal looms to exact size specification which have been somewhat standardized. It would have a master weaver ensuring perfect renditions of specific patterns and standards.

Dabeer
Dabeer is a firm by the same name or an individual who wove rugs in the city of Kashan, whatever their origin, their fine craftsmanship is undeniable.

Eagle Kazak
The name "eagle" kazak derives from the central medallion design which some think represents the out-spread wings of an eagle. Eagle kazaks are also known as chelaberd kazaks, adler kazaks and sunburst kazaks.

Elephant's foot:
The elephant’s foot is the most famous motif of the Ersari people; it is an octagon divided into four qurdrants of alternating colors with a square in the centre.

East Turkestan
East Turkestan is a complex political term, it was used by the Russians in the 19th century to replace the term Chinese Turkestan. Xinjiang is an important part of this territory.

Isfahan
Isfahan is a city in Iran that has many beautiful architectural structures and the carpets from here are infused with a sense of rhythm found in symmetry.

Kashan
Kashan is located south of Tehran. Kashan carpets and usually have a single medallion in center and Persian floral motifs, including arabesques and flower-stems, palmettos, rosettes, blossom and leaf motifs.

Khotan
Khotan is a city in eastern Turkestan which produced fine quality rugs in the 18th and 19th centuries. Designs are usually of three medallions embedded on a red or plum field.

Kafkash
An ancient name for the region of Caucasus, which extends between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea on the either ends, today it would include the countries of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

Kashgar
Kashgar is a region in east Turkestan in central Asia and is known for the carpets with geometric patterns.

Kurk Kashan
The very best rugs are made from Kurk wool. Kurk is shorn from the chest and shoulders of mountain lambs, and is of the highest possible quality.

Kazak
Kazak are a group of people of mixed tribes who reside in the valleys that extend from modern Azerbaijan into Armenia and Georgia. It is a general term currently being used in the carpet world to describe rugs woven with design elements from the Caucasus.

Khamseh
Khamesh denotes a confederation of 5 nomadic tribes, living in the Fars province in south west Iran that originally came together to fight the Qashqai. The root of this word comes from an arabic word meaning 5.

Kilim or Kelim
A flat woven rug composed only of warps and wefts with no knots being tied. Kilim, a word of Turkish origin, denotes a pileless textile of many uses that have a common or closely related heritage and are practiced in the geographical area that includes parts of Turkey (Anatolia and Thrace), North Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia and China.

Laver Kerman
Kerman is the capital city of a province with the same name in south eastern Iran and Laver is 120 kilometres away from this city. Laver is known for the highest quality of garden or all over pattern rugs.

Medallion
Medallion means a large metallic piece in Italian, in carpet terminology it is used to denote those design that place the motif in the middle of the rug. The medallion can be circle, square or a diamond shaped but each weaving group has their own characteristic designs.

Oriental rug
A hand woven rug made from wool, silk or cotton, woven in the orient. When the term "the Orient" was first coined, it was another word for Asia ─ “the Orient” being the East as opposed to “the Occident” being the West.

Paisely
Pasiely is a droplet shaped motif derived from fruit, in India it is associated with mango, however, it also has Persian origins and known as a Boteh.

Pazyryk carpet
The oldest complete known rug discovered in 1949. Over 2500 years old, it was found at the burial site of a prince in the Pazyryk valley of the Altai mountains in Siberia, frozen in permafrost.

Persian rug/carpet
Iran until 1935 was known as Persia in the western world, today, both the names are used interchangeably. So a rug or a carpet woven by the people who live in Iran.

Pile
The actual fabric of the rug. The pile is composed of threads come from the knots tied around the two warps at the base of the rug. The pile shows the design and it can be of varying lengths. On tightly woven rugs it will be cut shorter so as to see the details of the design and colors.

Samarkands
Carpets from east Turkestan specifically from the towns of Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan in the Chinese occupied autonomous region of Sikiang are collectively known as Samarkands, from the Uzbek city that was once a major center for gathering of rugs and carpets from the region.

Tribal rug
A rug woven by nomadic or pastoral people based on traditional motifs woven with hand-spun wool. Tribal rugs were originally woven on wooden looms set up on the ground to be dismantled and reassembled while travelling. Normally a tribal rug will have a lower knot count and a geometric pattern verses the tightly woven symmetrical floral styles usually found in rugs produced in the larger cities. Older or antique tribal pieces will most often be woven on a wool foundation with plant based dyes.

Turkoman or Turkman
A Turkic speaking tribal group originally from Asia and Turkmenistan with minimally five different sub-tribes famous in the rug world for producing excellent quality tribal rugs and trappings. Most Turkoman rugs are red with a repeating octagon motif called a Gul.

Turkestan/Turkistan
It means land of the Turks, and it was coined by the Persians, today Turkestan is a city in Kazakhstan. It is distinct from the country of Turkmenistan.

Varamin
Varamin is one of Iran’s largest village and is an important centre for tribal weaving.

Village rug
Rugs woven in villages settled by former nomadic or pastoral tribal peoples. Village rugs and tribal rugs would be included in one group verses city rugs or workshop rugs at the other end of the spectrum.

Warp
Vertical threads that are set up on the loom as the first step in creating a hand woven rug. If the loom is not upright but on the ground, these threads run top to bottom or lengthwise. The knots are tied around the two warps so the warp is part of the foundation of the rug.

Weft
Threads that are inserted running horizontally (side to side) after a row of knots have been tied. These wefts work to hold the knots in place. A rug can have one, two, three or more wefts depending on the type of rug or location where it is being made.