Firstly, I know most people here are mainly interested in antique rugs - mine are all of recent origin and I suppose won't be very interesting to collectors and aficionados, but they are all Persian and hand-knotted, and I like them! In all cases I've bought them to go in a particular spot in my house and to be used, hopefully for many years. They will age along with me.. ;-)

I've become quite interested in the different designs and structures of rugs from different areas and I'd like to find out more about them.

First up is a 3m x 2m approx. rug that was described as a Kurdish "Koliai". I've seen a few new rugs online with very similar motifs (even one or two that may have been produced using the same cartoon but in different colours, so I'm not under any illusions that my rug is unique in using this particular layout), but the designs are pretty weird so I'm wondering what's going on with them..

The border is full of various odd stylised objects that to me variously look like houses, ships and possibly tables. The corners have those strange red geometric whorls that I don't quite know how to interpret. Then there is a bird, and what looks like a little picture of a mosque on top of a hill.. Is there a history behind these particular motifs?

Can I assume that this rug will be knotted using the Turkish (symmetrical) knot?

Thanks! Yes, I'd seen some similar rugs described as Songhor.

As well as the interesting motifs they all seem to have pretty unusual colours - purples, oranges, etc.