Qashqai Rugs

The Qashqai are a confederation of Turkic-speaking nomads who move their flocks through the highlands of Fars, and their rugs are woven on horizontal looms that can be rolled up and carried. Nothing is drawn first. The weaver works from memory and from what her mother wove, which is why two Qashqai rugs of the same design are never quite the same rug.

Designs are emphatic and geometric: stepped diamond medallions, hexagonal compartments, latch-hooks, rows of boteh, and small animals and human figures dropped into the field wherever there was space. Borders are often narrow, because the field is the point.

The wool is exceptional. Qashqai flocks graze high pasture and the fleece has a long, glossy staple that takes madder and indigo with unusual depth and keeps a sheen for decades. A good Qashqai will show abrash, visible bands where the dye lot changed, and collectors treat that as a mark of authenticity rather than a fault. Sizes are mostly small to mid, with bags and saddle covers also woven.