Cosy high pile Moroccan rugs, created with thick knots of pure wool, have taken centre stage recently, particularly minimalist cream and brown Beni Ouarain capets. Yet, Moroccan tribes also created an astonishing array of different types of rugs using 'flat weave' techniques and these large and wonderfully distinctive kilim-type weavings were produced by rural families as ‘hanbels’ (the Arabic word for blanket), floor coverings, tent decorations, grain transport sacks, and sleeping mats.
These were intended to be everyday items, and they can be some of the most stunning tribal textiles you can find since they echo exceptional weaving traditions and skills and are embedded into the history of the tribal communities that created them. Woven to be functional, yet beautiful, pieces for the home, these kilims are often very large and relatively long and narrow, just the perfect size to fit their purpose in Berber homes
A mid century kilim using both flatweave and knotted pile techniques
Designs and weaving techniques vary hugely across Morocco, with some tribes famed for producing very intricately constructed flatweaves with geometrical banded compositions that require great skill to execute. In other regions, weavers played with colour and tone to create less technically demanding kilims but ones which nevertheless have a unique freedom of expression and authentic creative essence
A soft and flexible kilim using colour as the key design component
In the northern Middle Atlas mountains regions, families wove kilims with fine and bold geometric bands, often using white cotton to contrast with brightly or deeply coloured wool in the design. In these cold mountain areas, these rugs were commonly woven with thick wool and can be as heavy and robust as a pile carpet
A very beautiful original vintage kilim that was woven as a grain sack and has now been opened up to be used as a rug
Further south in Morocco beyond the plains of Marrakech, weavers wove soft and flexible blanket-like pieces using all-natural wool and, devoid of pattern, these minimal kilims and blankets often featured simple stripes or lovely colour graduations of natural brown, fawn, ash, and dark cream wool. On the whole, they are lightweight pieces, used as blankets and body wraps as well as floor coverings
A graceful old ‘hanbal’ that would have been used for sleeping on or under, or even as an everyday body wrap
Many Moroccan Berber communities, pastoralists, and farmers had a large part of their economy based around sheep breeding, and these beautiful textiles woven on upright looms reflected the importance of wool for every aspect of life, from decoration to warmth and protection.
Well-used, vintage kilims from Morocco will often have visible signs of their past lives, and it is common to find drops of candle was and spots of henna, or little dashes of oil and other marks from family life
