Morocco Rugs

Moroccan weaving divides broadly into two traditions. In the Atlas mountains, Berber weavers made thick, loosely knotted rugs with sparse, improvisational designs in undyed or lightly dyed wool. In the cities, above all Rabat, workshops produced formal carpets with central medallions and multiple borders, drawing on Ottoman and Persian models while keeping a distinctly North African palette. The pieces here are mainly city carpets of the Rabat type, knotted in wool with strong reds and layered geometric borders, alongside village weaving with the plainer diamond lattice associated with the mountains. Moroccan carpets often suit contemporary rooms better than their age suggests, because the drawing is graphic and the colour is warm without being busy. Sizes run from room carpets to the long, narrow formats that were woven for corridors and stairwells.