Isfahan, was the capital of Persia up until the last century. During the Persian renaissance it was the location of one of the most famous royal carpet factories founded by Shah Abbas at the end of the 16th Century. It produced splendid and extremely fine carpets that were even worked in silk, gold and silver.
From the end of the 19th Century until today the Isfahans have been prized as much for the excellent quality of the materials employed as for the beauty and classic design of the patterns. The decoration is of varying types: with a central medallion, floral grids, or "prayer rug" designs, or figurative motifs.
There is also one extraordinarily fine version of this carpet knotted with highly valued "kurk" wool on silk weft and warp. They are some of the best carpets produced in the 20th Century.

Tabriz, the capital of Persia up until the 17th Century, boasts masterpieces that have never been surpassed in the art of carpet making. During the Persian renaissance (15th - 16th Century) the greatest painters of the period drew "cartoons" that there used as patterns for splendid carpets now the pride of great museums and the most famous collections in the world. The decoration contains one or more central medallions : the field consists of a dense network of stars, boughs and blossom on which scenes of hunters and mythological figures stand out vividly. The very wide borders carry flowered branches, small medallions and often, inscriptions. The variety of colours is exceptional and very frequently silver thread is employed to enhance the design.
Modern Tabriz carpets conserve the ancient designs, if perhaps they are a little less rich and imaginative. They are generally compact and long lasting.
Today, the craftsmanship is still excellent and they are exceptionally fine carpets.

The beauty of the carpets produced in Kashan during the Persian renaissance is legendary. During that period there was a royal carpet factory at Kashan founded by Shah Abbas the Great at the end of the 16th Century. It was here that the marvellous carpets in silk, silver and gold thread were woven and the are known, naturally, as Shah Abbas carpets.
In the period of decadence that followed, the craftsmen of Kashan managed to maintain a high level of workmanship and when, at the end of the 17th Century, the fashion for oriental carpets exploded in Europe, these craftsmen immediately distinguished themselves for the beauty of their carpets.
In contemporary versions of this carpet, the medallion is usually oval and not very large, the field is floral and the main panel is of rosettes and palmettes. The "prayer rug" decoration is rarely found.
Kashan carpets are generally of excellent quality and very fine examples can still be found today.

In ancienttimes there was a royal workshop at Kirman, founded by Shah Abbas the Great. It was extremely famous for the production of the wonderful "vase" carpets.
Kirman carpets are still today considered among the best of those produced in Persia today. The decoration generally consists of a central poly-lobed medallion and four "corners", small multicoloured flowers fill the field and panels. Older carpets often have no medallion with the field decorated with flowers and bouquets or flower vases, or with cypress motifs, the tree of life, symbol of the ancient Zoroastrian religion.

The best creations from Turkmenistan are those from Bukara.
Turkmenistan carpets occupy a particular place in the history of knotted carpets. Scientific expeditions have in fact found fragments of knotted carpets going back to between the 3rd and 6th Centuries.
Today the Bukaras, do not base their fame on the antiquity of their tradition alone, but above all on both the high quality and beauty of their work. The motif is rigorously geometric, consisting of octagonal panels arranged in rows on the central field. The border is divided into several areas each containing a spoked octagon. The octagonal panels of which it is composed are different for each tribe and represent the sacred boundary of each village.

The Shirvan is certainly the most well-known of Caucasian carpets. The craft of carpet weaving has flourished for centuries in this region. The origin of the design is lost in antiquity and tends to be geometric with stars, hook-shaped polygons and, from time to time, a few highly stylised small animals. But it often also contains floral motifs, though very geometrical, definitely a result of past influence from the nearby Persia.
Shirvan carpets today, like all Caucasian carpets, conserve the ancient traditional motifs that make them so fascinating. They are generally of very good quality.