Afshar

An Afghan Afshar rug, hand-knotted by master weavers in northern Afghanistan using hand-carded, hand-spun, vegetable-dyed wool.

Inspired by the weaving traditions of the Afshar, an Oghuz Turkic people established in Persia for centuries, with important communities in the Kerman region. Although surviving rugs recognizable as Afshar are documented principally from the early nineteenth century onward, their weaving is notable for an unusually varied range of designs and motifs, often combining floral influences from the sophisticated carpet traditions of Kerman with bold geometric medallions, hooked forms, botehs, lattice patterns, birds and animals.