Knotted

The handmade artisan knotted rugs from the Valley of the Ourika to the south of the imperial city of Marrakech and on the northern slopes of Moroccan High Atlas are particularly appealing. They are meant as true decoration pieces to cover the floor. They use the symmetrical knot, undyed natural wool and fragments of other textiles of vivid colors (cotton threads, etc) for the knots and, often, for the making of the warp and weft. Those latter materials with the bright colours contribute to the awesome final result that recalls modern pieces of abstract art. However, the decorative motifs are a tribute to the ancient, vast and rich Berber iconography and simbology such as the use of the lozenge as a reference to the woman's womb and to the eye as a powerful means to ward-off evil, of the zig-zag line as a masculine element. True pieces of ethnic art.

The area where the Marmoucha Berber clan, belonging to the larger Zenata group, is not far from the imperial Moroccan city of Fes in the southern Middle Atlas. The Marmoucha are neighbours of the Beni Ouarain and that is why some of their pieces remind sometimes of the patterns and designs from the latter. Their flatweaves usually are rich in colors and tend to be quite bright and dense. In their knotted woollen rugs, as this particular example, they usually use the so-called Berber knot and in this case short/medium pile.

The area where the Marmoucha Berber clan, belonging to the larger Zenata group, is not far from the imperial Moroccan city of Fes in the southern Middle Atlas. The Marmoucha are neighbours of the Beni Ouarain and that is why some of their pieces remind sometimes of the patterns and designs from the latter. Their flatweaves usually are rich in colors and tend to be quite bright and dense. The use of diamond or lozenge strings lattice of narrow black lines circling white squares is a typical old Marmoucha motif. In their knotted woollen rugs, as this particular example, they usually use the so-called Berber knot and medium pile.

The area where the Marmoucha Berber clan, belonging to the larger Zenata group, is not far from the imperial Moroccan city of Fes in the southern Middle Atlas. The Marmoucha are neighbours of the Beni Ouarain and that is why some of their pieces remind sometimes of the patterns and designs from the latter. Their flatweaves usually are rich in colors and tend to be quite bright and dense. The use of diamond or lozenge strings lattice of narrow black lines circling white squares is a typical old Marmoucha motif. In their knotted woollen rugs, as this particular example, they usually use the so-called Berber knot and medium pile.

The area where the Marmoucha Berber clan, belonging to the larger Zenata group, is not far from the imperial Moroccan city of Fes in the southern Middle Atlas. The Marmoucha are neighbours of the Beni Ouarain and that is why some of their pieces remind sometimes of the patterns and designs from the latter. Their flatweaves usually are rich in colors and tend to be quite bright and dense. In their knotted woollen rugs, as this particular example, they usually use the so-called Berber knot and in this case short/medium pile.

Who ever said that London was the cradle of the punk movement?. The Valley of the Ourika and its surroundings in Morocco in the very heart of the Atlas mountain range from where this awesome comes could have been very well so. A Berber hand-made knotted wool that shows a boldest use of new and re-used materials where the purest Berber tradition produces a serious piece of art like this. The warps has been made using different materials. The weft combines woven undyed natural wool, knotted undyed natural cream and brown wool brightly coloured threads. True art at its best. Otros names: -boucherouite-. 1980's.