Morocco Carpets - the Berber Storybook

Carpets in Morocco are amazing. Each tells a story, created by the weaver. Moroccan carpets are most commonly created by Berber women. There are at least 4 styles that I am aware of plus there can be combinations of these. There is a flat woven style with designs added like needle point or embroidery. There is the big carpet with designs added here and there. There are carpets with squares of design – the squares each have a boarder with a symbol or design inside. And then there is the one that has a variety of designs, maybe with a large boarder and some patterns might be repeated.

In Morocco, carpets come in from all across the country – from the mountains to the desert. These

areas tend to produce certain types of carpets – distinct to their village. They are hand woven

mostly by women and it gives them the chance to tell their story. in Morocco, many of the carpets come from Berber women. Berbers are the original desert dwelling people of North African and they live in scattered villages across North Africa and throughout Morocco. They are considered descendants of the pre-Arabic people. If you research it you will see that Berber are from North Africa and Arabs are from the Arabian Peninsula. The most Berber people are found in Morocco and you see their handiwork everywhere.

Truly hand woven carpets will be unique – no two will be exactly the same! These days, they are produced in larger numbers and may not be from a village but from a company. You can get to recognize the difference, the more carpets you see. One way to tell if the carpets are traditional or not are the colours used. Traditional carpets should have colours from nature. These are reds from Poppies, browns and rust from soil and nuts, green (only a dark green or an olive green) from herbs, yellows from saffron and some flowers, blue from indigo and some pink shades from flowers. Black is from Kohl and white is from flowers or just a lack of dye.

** If there is a bright, light blue it is synthetic. If it is a bright bubblegum pink it is synthetic. If it is a bright sunshine yellow it is synthetic and if it is a clear, bright red it is synthetic. Shades from nature all have a more subtle, muted tones - which I like better anyway!

There are woven rugs, called 'flat wove', that are like a kilim rug seen across the Mediterranean. Also common from Turkey. These rugs are most commonly used as a material for tourist trappings as well - bags, jackets and more. (on left) This can be a carpet with embroidery. These are often a flat woven 'kilim' style with embroidered designs on it. The patterns are easy to see as they are distinctive and obvious. The embroidered pattern easily shows the 'story' very clearly.

There are knotted carpets that have a 'pile' on them. These have a raised pile on one side with a flat 'non-pile' side. These are my favorite because as the carpet-seller explained, there is a winter side and a summer side. (middle picture) The pile side is up in the winter for warmth. In the summer you turn it over and have the 'non-pile' side up. By turning it over in the summer and walking on it, it also 'cleans' the carpet because the dirt is worked out of it. How practical is that?

Then there are carpets that combine several styles. (on right above) Some of the bands are flat and some show pile. Both have patterns across them. the muted tones in the carpets above would indicate these are natural and hopefully authentic. Just a point of interest - the middle one was sold to me as a 'crazy carpet.' It is made from left over wool and is made for unimportant uses. It has no symbols on it but is quite plush - and it was cheap.

Then there are carpets that have all of the above, sections of flat woven with sections of pile and embroidered designs here and there. These are quite beautiful and elaborate - more so than the one on the right above. These can be very expensive, depending on the extent of the individual designs on it.

The best thing about Moroccan carpets is the history to them. The women make them and might take weeks to months to complete one. Sometimes two women work on one - you can tell if the carpet has a fringe on both sides. If the fringe is only on one side it was made from one lady. This may not be the case if they use more modern machinery...

The symbols tell the Beber story on every authentically Moroccan carpet. I've made a chart using bits of my carpets to show what I mean. There may be others but these are common and what I remember learning from the carpet sellers and some women in a market way up in the Atlas Mts.

Sometimes there will be animal symbols - these represent animals :) that are part of the village or the life of the people. They can be stick figures or will look like cave-paintings almost. Other carpets have curves or rows of curves. These represent dunes. Some carpets have of rows of distinct curves which are sometimes called 'Dune rugs' because all the curves together represent the dunes of the Sahara. I do not have a 'Dune rug' so can't show pictures.

Other aspects of the story are the colours and the combination of colours. Colours have specific meanings - for example, the blues are for sky or water and good luck/red is for fertility and a happy marriage/white is for cleanliness and happiness/ yellow is for wealth.

All of this makes it difficult to choose a carpet. What story do I want in my carpet? What do I want it to mean to me? Do I want a warm one with a 'winter-side'? For these reasons, hunting for a carpet and choosing from a tower of carpets is an experience that I associate with Morocco above all other experiences. - and I love the whole carpet experience. Proof of this is that I already have eight carpets! And I love each and every one of them - like a piece of art on my floors.

The last point to say is that one style of carpet is very special - the Royal Carpet. There are certain aspects that must be on this carpet. The government buildings and receptions have this carpet in specific colours. Primarily it has a medallion of some style in the middle. Red is the best colour but you will see other colours as well. This is one I bought as a gift for my sister - a red one.

On a visit to Fez (another post) a friend and I were sitting on the street and were invited in to celebrate a wedding that was happening at the building in front of us. When we entered, there were several of these 'Medallion rugs' or 'Royal rugs' in different colours and the important people were allowed to step onto this rug. We were not in that group - plus we were women - so we skirted it to enjoy the food they set out. I am told that government buildings and fancy 'doos' will have this style of carpet in abundance.