Beni Berber | 352 x 285 cm | Nr. Z-2152

Mottled Beni Berber, beige with border and medallion

Origin	Pakistan
Dimensions	352 cm x 285 cm (= 10.032 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	40.000
Pile height	5mm
Year of manufacture	2022
Colour	Beige, cream white
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 admired the naive, clear design of high-pile Moroccan nomad rugs. That powerful, artistic expression gives them an extraordinary presence and makes Berber rugs one of a kind – quite apart from how soft they feel underfoot.

Pattern

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

At the heart of the central field of this Beni Berber lies the symmetrical centre, also known as the medallion. The design of the field is subordinate to the medallion, so that the medallion seems to float on the field.

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 beige. The border is kept in beige. The cream-white centre combines beige and light grey.

Material

This hand-knotted Berber rug has a dense, relatively high pile. That makes it wonderfully cosy and hard-wearing. Traditionally, Berber rugs – like Lori or Gabbeh rugs – were used for sleeping. They invite you to sit and lounge about in the living room, yet they are also excellent for hallways and dining areas. The warp and weft yarns of this Berber rug are made of cotton, while the pile is dyed with natural colours and hand-spun. The hand-spun wool is what gives the Loris their soft surface. The weft and warp threads of this Beni Berber are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it particularly suited to a hard-wearing foundation.