Antique Persian carpets from the Ferahan (also spelled Farahan or Feraghan) plain in central Iran, known for all-over Herati patterns and subtle color palettes. These 19th-century rugs typically feature a diamond lattice of small floral motifs, often in navy blue, rust red and ivory, and are prized for their fine weave and balanced, restrained compositions. In today's trade the name is also used for newly made Pakistani workshop rugs of the Peshawar (Chobi) type, woven from hand-spun wool and vegetable dyes in subdued colors and mostly Persian-inspired all-over designs, and sometimes for Sarouk rugs from the same region; such rugs are not antique Ferahan carpets.
Wool yarn spun from cleaned fleece by hand or on a manual wheel rather than by machine. It gives finer threads than machine-spun yarn, with a softer feel and more sheen, and hand spinning is said to preserve the wool's natural lanolin. It is usual in Kazak, Peshawar and Khal Mohammadi rugs from Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are also colored with natural dyes.
The most expensive of the three grades of modern Kazak rugs that Afghan weavers make in Pakistan, above commercial and Super Kazak. Its knot density equals that of a commercial Kazak or runs slightly higher, but it offers a much wider range of patterns and colors, with designs inspired by Persian Heriz rugs, and a medium-to-thick pile. Its hand-spun wool is the best of the three grades, thick and rich, and its colors come from vegetable dyes.
Hand-knotted rugs from Pakistan, made in the city of Peshawar in the northwest of the country and also called Chobi. They copy old Persian and Turkish designs, mostly floral all-over or repeating patterns, using hand-spun wool and vegetable dyes. The rugs are woven in darker tones, then stone-washed and left in strong sunlight, and the pile is cut short so the pattern shows, which gives a new rug an antique finish. Colors are soft and often beige-based, with deliberate light-and-dark variation; the rugs feel thin yet wear well. The same look is also sold as Oushak, Ziegler or Ferahan.