Beni Berber | 238 x 150 cm | Nr. Z-3944

Mottled Beni Berber, olive green with border

Origin	India
Dimensions	238 cm x 150 cm (= 3.570 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool Weft & Warp: wool
knots per m²2	40.000
Pile height	8mm
Year of manufacture	2025
Colour	Olive green, Beige
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Berber rugs were traditionally knotted for use in the home. The weavers, predominantly women, played freely and spontaneously with shapes and colours – without any pattern templates – following their own ideas and their individual intuition. That is why the traditional pattern of Moroccan Berber rugs typically consists of geometric, sometimes colourful, abstract shapes and lines on monochrome backgrounds. Our Beni Berber rugs are inspired by these traditional patterns.

Architects and designers such as Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer and Arne Jacobsen loved the naive, clear design of these high-pile Moroccan nomad rugs. Their powerful artistic expression gives them an extraordinary presence and makes Berber rugs quite incomparable – even setting aside how soft they feel underfoot.

Pattern

The edge of the rug is framed by a surround (border). The border forms a splendid contrast to the centre.

The surface of this Beni Berber has a mottled look. The shifts in tone and the light-and-dark shading of the pile yarn make the colours shimmer and keep the rug forgiving of dirt. These so-called colour jumps, known as abrash, give the rug a livelier feel. The mottling comes about because the wool of this Beni Berber was hand-spun. During dyeing, the natural dyes are taken up unevenly.

The background of this Beni Berber is olive green.

Material

This hand-knotted Berber rug has a dense, relatively high pile. That makes it both cosy and hard-wearing. Traditionally, Berber rugs – like Lori or Gabbeh rugs – were used for sleeping on. They invite you to sit and lounge about in the living room, yet they are equally at home in hallways and dining areas. The warp and weft yarns of this Berber rug are cotton, while the pile is made of wool that is dyed with natural colours and hand-spun. The hand-spun wool is what gives the Loris their soft surface. The foundation (weft and warp threads) of this Beni Berber is new wool.