The Oriental Collection - Catalog - Page 19
REZAS CITY RUGS
Yalameh
South of the city of Isfahan, you’ll find the town of Ali Abad. The colourful rugs from
this area of southern Iran have been named Yalameh, and are mainly knotted in
and around Aliabad in the Fars Province. Rugs of this origin were formerly called
Shekarlu, but they were very rare. They were traditionally more colourful than other
south Iranian rugs, whose colours were normally limited to reds and dark blues.
In recent years, the supply of Shekarlu has been limited, but a new type of rug
entered the market in the 60s and 70s; the Yalameh. These were just as colourful
as the Shekarlu rugs, but with a stronger emphasis on blue. The knotting and the
patterns are usually more uniform than with the Shekarlu rugs.
Yamaleh rug have knot densities of 250,000 to 350,000 knots per sqm and they
share many characteristics with tribal rugs. For example, they are 100% wool, and
bright colours and geometrical patterns are generously used. Although the wool
is characteristically soft and shining, it is machine spun, and the colours display a
larger degree of variation than normal for tribal rugs, with soft nuances of red, pink,
blue, green, and yellow. The motifs, however, are wholly traditional and are inspired
by the folklore and stories from this historical homeland of the Persian people.
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