TURKMEN Carpet Properties:

Visibility: The TURKMEN tribe live in many sections of IRAN. All TURKMEN rugs and carpets have geometric patterns. The repeated "Gul" motif is the main indication of TURKMEN rugs.

Quality: The quality of TURKMEN rugs and carpets varies. Older rugs (pre-1945) are very good, but some of the newer rugs have lower KPSIs and are dyed with chemical rather than vegetable dye.

Size & Shapes: TURKMEN rugs come in different sizes, but the majority are small (2 x 3 to 4 x 6 feet). You can also find large rugs up to large mid-size (4 x 6 to 8 x 10 feet).

Color: Dark red is the dominant color in TURKMEN rugs and carpets. You rarely find blue backgrounds.

Texture: Soft wool; thin, tight pile.

Foundation: Warps is mostly cotton; wefts is wool.

Knots: Weavers in TURKMENISTAN use Turkish knots. You should check the back of the rug because the quality of the rug depends on the number of knots, which varies, but averages around 120 KPSI(30 RAJ).

Price: TURKMEN rugs are among the finest quality tribal rugs, so expect to pay $4-$17 Per Square Foot (PSF) for a TURKMEN rug. Keep in mind that, as a rule, the higher the KPSI, the greater is the price.     

Where is TURKMEN Tribe?

Turkmen Girl

The majority of the TURKMEN tribe of IRAN lives in the north and northeast sections of IRAN.

Marco Polo said in the 13th century, "Here they make the most exquisite and beautiful rugs in the world." The TURKMEN tribe has hand loomed rugs for many centuries.

Rug weaving is one of the oldest arts in TURKMENISTAN and the surrounding region. Archeological data places carpet making in the territory of TURKMENISTAN as early as the 6th century BCE. The remains of a carpet found by archeologists in the 1940's at Altai is two-thousand five hundred years old. It took centuries for these designs to develop, and the decoration of the carpets is extremely original, reflecting stylized articles from the world of nomadic livestock-breeders. Ornaments are geometric, and a love of deep, rich red is an artistic tradition of the carpets. The art of carpet weaving passed from generation to generation, and today one can single out several types of Turkmen carpets, each having distinctive ornamentation.

Akhal Teke Horse

TURKMEN are not only famous for their beautiful rugs, but also for their famous Akhal-teke horses. These horses originate from the Turkmen SAHARA (Desert) in northeastern IRAN and have been used as cavalry mounts and racehorses for thousands of years.