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Berber Prayer Rugs

Berber rugs in ‘prayer design’ are not common. If found, they often appear very abstract and more than a glance may be required to find the typical elements characteristic to other, more traditional types of prayer rugs.

Below, is a Berber stylized rendition of a classic Ottoman prayer rug in the so-called ‘coupled column’ design as seen in the early 18th century Karapinar rug from Central Anatolia.

Bujaad rug (left) and Karapinar prayer rug (right)


Upon a closer look, the old Bujaad rug with a range of bright (neon-like) colors bears features often found in Anatolian prayer rugs from the city of Melas in westren Turkey.

A colourful Bujaad rug below, feautures a mihrab, a traditional element of prayer design. It is howeber, as befits Berber art, preseneted amids other symbolic motifs and in a completely assymetric arrangement.

Bujaad rug in our collection

The heavy influence of the Ottomans in North Africa (e.g. neighboring Algeria) left a tangible mark in Morooco consisting mainly of luxury objects imported to the country for the wealthy Moroccan families. Those of course include opulent carpets.

Carpet works sprang out in Rabat, the country’s capital, manufacturing replicas of Anatolian designs; a tradition that remained unchanged till today.

Berbers were not spared from the Anatolian influence but they adopted it only in part enriching their own aesthetic styles that pre-date not only the Ottoman’s presence in North Africa but Islam itself.

Berber prayer rugs, as utilitarian mats designated for praying, are rarely found in the Atlas. However, elements alluding to Islamic traditions do appear in Berber art; more often than not, dissociated from their religious significance.

A.G.

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Rugs from Morocco

Far from the markets of the Middle East and Central Asia; in the world unknown to the merchants of silk and opulent Oriental carpets, thrives a world of textile culture of a different kind.

The various Berber tribes of the Moroccan Atlas have for millennia produced rugs of extraordinary aesthetic quality and spiritual depth.

Beni Ourain Rugs | Beni Ourain | Vintage Moroccan Beni Ourain Rug
Beni Ourain 20th century

Undisturbed by modernity, the Berbers create masterpieces in wool that show both sublime colour sensitivity and nearly ascetic restraint in their minimalistic patterns sketched against typically plain backgrounds.

Their indisputable artistry was already noticed in the late 19th century when, lured by the irresistible charm of Orientalism, many westerners travelled to north Africa. They were astounded by the richness of colour and the complexity of design: the fabric of Morocco.

It was however the Swiss-French architect and interior designer Charles-Édouard Jeanneret who introduced the Berber tribal rugs to the world.

Better known as Le Corbusier, Jeanneret incorporated these rugs into his ultra-modern designs where the warmth of the material and the whimsicality of the primitive patterns contrasted the austerity of his interiors.

The importance of his novel approach which broaches two seemingly irreconcilable aesthetics had an undeniable impact on the visual arts of the period. It is no coincidence that the works of the early 20th century western art appear so strongly to reflect ideas rooted in ancient cosmology of the African tribes.   

Bujaad Berber Rugs

 

Berber Rugs (various tribes)

to be continued …

Recommended readings:

Symbols in Moroccan Berber Rugs

Prestigious Vintage Berber Moroccan Rugs

A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO MOROCCAN TRIBAL RUGS