Persian city rugs from Isfahan in central Iran, among the most finely knotted anywhere: usually 500-700 KPSI (roughly 7,750-10,850 knots per 10 x 10 cm), second only to Qum. Most are woven in fine kork wool; some have a silk-and-wool pile on a silk or cotton foundation, and a few are pure silk. Designs draw on nature and the city's architecture, from medallion-and-corner and floral allover layouts to hunting scenes, trees of life, prayer niches and pictorial gardens, usually in soft pastels with indigo and bright red on an ivory ground. Most pieces are signed.
Prestigious Persian carpets from Kerman in south-central Iran, a city on the old Iran-India trade route and one of the historic rug-weaving centers. Known for great variety: floral and allover patterns, tree of life, hunting, garden, and open-field designs, fine "spring" florals of tiny flowers, and the distinctive "vase" technique. The pile is usually soft kork wool on a cotton foundation, sometimes silk-and-wool or pure silk. Master dyers use 15 to 30 colors in one rug: deep reds, several blues, green, and cream dominate, and newer rugs add pastels such as champagne, lime green, pink, and gray-blue.
A fine, soft grade of wool taken from the neck and inner fleece layer of young sheep, often from the first shearing. Oily with natural lanolin, it feels soft and resilient and gives colors extra shine. It is used for the pile of many fine city rugs from Isfahan, Kerman, Qum, Tabriz, and Mashad, and older antique Sarouks cut to a short pile use it too. Also spelled cork or kurk wool.
Persian rugs from the city of Qum (Qom), a comparatively young weaving center whose rugs are among the densest of any Persian type. Most are pure silk on a silk foundation, at roughly 600 to 1,000 knots per square inch (KPSI); those with kork wool or silk-and-wool piles run about 300 to 700 KPSI. Designs are floral medallions, hunting scenes and pictorials, mostly in soft pastel, ivory, gold and green tones on light or dark grounds, and newer rugs usually carry a workshop signature. The local water is said to soften and brighten silk, so silk rugs from across Iran are sent there for washing.