Yalameh Sherkat

The colourful rugs from southern Iran have been named Yalameh and are mainly knotted in and around the village of 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, the colours of which were limited to red and dark blue. 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. They share many characteristics with the tribal rugs; 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. Sherkat is the designation for a select series of rug types that are knotted in special workshops as part of a state-controlled project, the purpose of which is to support and thereby preserve the production of fine classical Persian rug patterns.