Moroccan Berber rug | 150 x 150 cm | Nr. Z-4609

Mottled, round Moroccan Berber rug, beige

Origin	Maroco
Diameter	150 cm (= 2.355 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	40.000
Pile height	15mm
Year of manufacture	2024
Colour	Beige, cream white
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Moroccan Berber tribes were usually semi-nomadic: as herders they kept their livestock high in the mountains and moved with their flocks from one pasture to the next. The old knotting techniques have been preserved within the Berber tribes for centuries and are passed on from mother to daughter.

Moroccan Berber rugs were traditionally knotted for use in the home. This allowed the knotters, most of them women, to play freely and spontaneously with shapes and colours – without any pattern templates – following their own ideas and their individual intuition. The traditional pattern of Moroccan Berber rugs consists of geometric, sometimes colourful, abstract shapes and lines on monochrome backgrounds. 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 these high-pile Moroccan nomad rugs. The powerful artistic expression of the Berber women has an extraordinary presence and makes Berber rugs one of a kind – quite apart from their fluffy feel.

Pattern

The surface of this Moroccan Berber rug has a mottled look. The shifts in hue and the light-and-dark shading of the pile yarn make the colours shimmer and keep the rug from showing dirt. These so-called colour shifts, known as abrash, give the rug a livelier appearance. The mottling comes about because the wool of this Moroccan Berber rug was hand-spun. When it is dyed, the natural pigments are absorbed to differing degrees.

The pile is a single shade of beige. The plain design is understated, yet it can also set a wonderful decorative accent. The monochrome look of this rug fits in beautifully with any surroundings.

Material

The hand-spun wool of this Moroccan Berber rug's pile, dyed with natural colours, creates fascinating, shifting patterns. Moroccan Berber rugs are hand-knotted and last a lifetime. Even so, their long pile makes them unusually soft and fluffy. Antique Moroccan Berbers feel almost like a soft blanket, the kind you'd happily take to bed with you. The weft and warp threads of this Moroccan Berber rug are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it especially well suited to a hard-wearing foundation.