The Turkmen tribes live in the north and north-east of Iran and archaeological findings have placed carpet making by the Turkmen back to the 6th century BC.
Turkmen rugs are very distinctive dominated with dark reds and repeated blue or black and ivory ‘gul’ print motifs. The wool is soft and hard-wearing and the pile is cut thin. Due to their tribal nature the rugs tend to be small to mid-sized and unfortunately it is extremely difficult to find a large carpet made by the Turkmen. The KPSI count normally ranges between 20 and 120 but can be higher in the finest examples – which are typically older rugs. Turkmen produce the finest of all tribal rugs.