The Feraghan district located south of Tehran, encompassed the cities of Arak, Qum and Kashan, an area with a long and illustrious history of rug and carpet weaving. In the nineteenth century, many British companies opened oriental carpet factories and began to produce fine Persian Feraghan rugs and carpets for export to Europe. Antique Feraghan carpets and rugs are prized for their sturdy construction and their quiet, all-over patterns. Dense floral motifs, drawn with an angular and slightly quirky hand, give them a less feminine floral quality than the antique rugs and carpets from neighboring towns. Antique Persian Feraghans are celebrated for the liberal use of a splendid green color produced by copper salt. Wool dyed with this agent tends to wear more rapidly than portions dyed in other colors, resulting in a sculptured surface effect. The superb quality and closely sheared lustrous wool of the finest Persian antique Feraghan and antique Sarouk Feraghan rugs, long thought as being equal to the famed antique 'Mohtashem' Kashan carpets.