Afshar Rugs

The Afshar are a Turkic tribal group resettled into the country around Sirjan and Neyriz, between Kerman and Fars, and their rugs sit exactly where they do geographically: tribal geometry carrying city floral motifs.

The typical Afshar field is a lattice, a diamond grid or a row of compartments, filled with boteh, rosettes and small stylised bouquets that a Kerman workshop would have drawn as curves and an Afshar weaver renders as steps. Grounds are commonly indigo or a soft madder, with ivory used to pick out the lattice. Borders are often a single dominant band of repeating flowerheads.

Construction varies with the maker: wool on cotton in the more settled villages, wool on wool in the more nomadic ones, generally a medium knot and a short, firm pile. Formats are mostly small to mid, and bags, saddle covers and square pieces are common. For a buyer, an Afshar is the most decorative of the south-eastern tribal weavings and the easiest to place in a room that is not otherwise traditional.