These rugs are knotted Luri nomads in the Ilam Province of south-western Iran, near the border with Iraq. Their design is somewhat unusual, but they are always of a very high quality. The wool is often of a very high quality, and silk is usually used to enhance the patterns. 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.