Tribal rugs woven by the Afshar, a Turkic people of Iran with a semi-nomadic past, with weaving communities around Kerman and elsewhere. In the Bijar area, Afshar weavers make a large share of the workshop-style Bijar rugs, so the Afshar name can also turn up on Bijar pieces. Afshar rugs are typically small to mid-sized, with geometric or stylized floral designs.
Rugs from the city of Bijar in Kurdistan province, northwestern Iran, and the villages around it, woven by Kurdish tribespeople and, in workshops, Afshar weavers; the name covers both fine and coarse pieces. Nicknamed the "iron rugs" of Iran, they are among the heaviest rugs for their size, with a dense pile from double wefts, symmetrical (Turkish) knots, and rows beaten down hard, often while the wool is kept wet. Designs run from floral, Herati, and medallion to geometric, in jewel tones of rust, red, beige, and navy. Most are small rugs or runners, and the fringes are typically braided.
The band at each short end of a knotted rug, between the last row of pile and the fringe, woven with weft only. The weaver passes extra weft through the warp there several times, without knots, to secure the pile and give the ends a tighter, stronger finish. It is a finishing detail of a pile rug, not a kilim rug in its own right. In Bijar rugs the fringe at this end is often braided.
Rugs woven by Kurdish tribes and villagers in Iran. In the west, Bijar rugs come from Kurdistan Province and are dense and double-wefted, while Senneh rugs come from Kurdish weaving villages around Sanandaj. In the north-east, above Mashhad, Kurdish tribes settled by the Safavids in the 16th century to guard the border weave Quchan rugs, whose designs echo their Anatolian homelands. Kurdish weavers are known for handling strong colors without disharmony, and Kurdish tribal rugs of the greater Hamadan area are usually single-wefted.
A layout in which most of the field is left open, usually one plain ground color with only a few flowers in curving lines and sometimes a medallion. It comes in three forms: a single central medallion, two or more repeating medallions, or an allover scatter of motifs with generous space between them. The composition is said to echo the cover of a Quran and is found mainly in city-style Persian rugs such as Tabriz, Kashan, Sarouk, Hamadan, and Kerman, and also in Bijar rugs. With so little pattern to hide behind, inconsistencies in the wool or dyeing show plainly.