Moroccan Oriental rug | 155 x 82 cm | Nr. Z-4632

Moroccan Oriental rug, cream white with border and diamonds

Origin	Morocco
Dimensions	155 cm x 82 cm (= 1.27 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft: wool Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	160.000
Pile height	8mm
Year of manufacture	1975
Colour	Cream white, Dark brown
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

The pattern of this Oriental rug takes its cue from classic Persian rug designs. This rug was knotted in Morocco.

In Europe, Morocco is known above all for its hard-wearing Berber rugs. In fact, though, knotting classic Oriental rug patterns has just as long a tradition in Morocco.

Pattern

The decorated surround (border) forms a wonderful contrast to the centre and shapes the transition at the edge of the rug.

In the pattern of this Moroccan Oriental rug it is above all the diamonds that catch the eye. A diamond is a rhombus standing on one of its points, and in an Oriental rug its four equal sides may be serrated, outlined or set with hooks. The diamond is one of the oldest basic shapes in Oriental rugs. In the Islamic world it carries a symbolic meaning: it stands for the immortality of the soul. That is why it is so often found as a filler motif.

The overall impression is dominated by cream white and dark brown.

Condition

This Moroccan Oriental rug has a history. The fringes could do with a repair. The pile is slightly worn down. The rug has a 1 cm stain on one side and a stain on the fringe. It was hand-knotted around 1975. We have cleaned it thoroughly and restored it with care. It is therefore – despite its age – in very good condition.

Material

The technique used to make the materials for the pile of this Moroccan Oriental rug is over 200 years old. The wool was dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand. Dyeing with natural or plant dyes is more complicated, more expensive and more time-consuming than dyeing with chemical colours. For a luminous red, for example, you need around one kilo of ground madder root as dye per kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that isn't too pale, you even need two kilograms of weld dye per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is time-consuming and labour-intensive as well. And fewer and fewer people still master the art of spinning wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: dyeing with natural dyes lets the high-quality wool keep its natural lanolin content. Wool that has been dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand creates fascinating, shimmering patterns. The charm of hand-spun wool, with its slight irregularities and natural shades, unfolds as a contrast in modern interiors, but just as well in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country style. The weft threads of this Moroccan Oriental rug are made of wool. The warp threads are made of cotton .