Women Weavers OnLine
N'kob
This is Aicha Lhatimi who made the two rugs below. She is about 30 and not yet married; she lives with her mother, older brother, and the rest of the family. She did not go to school, and learned to weave when she was twelve or thirteen.Usually her brother sells her rugs at the weekly market in Tazenakht and buys the family food and clothes with the money; she does not get any herself. But she says if she sells these rugs on the Internet, she will split the money with her brother and buy herself some clothes.
Piece 3.12858 is a small knotted rug without the usual design of central panels. Instead it has an overall design with one main border of squares. The ground is black with two red-orange diamond shapes outlined in lacy white. The diamonds and border are outlined in a denim blue, with white, maroon, red and soft orange accents, which you can see better in this detail. This piece measures 2'3" x 3'11" (68.5 x 119.5 cm) and costs $150. SOLD
Piece 3.12860 is a pile rug in the lattice design in black, gray and white, with some gold faded into the white. You can see this in the close-up; it is quite even and not distracting. This is a small piece, measuring about 2'1" x 3'8" (63 x 112 cm) and priced at $110.
This is Fadma Ahrouch who made the piece below. Her dress with the bead design is unusual for this area, and I expect she got dressed up, knowing she'd have her photo taken. She is holding her youngest son; she has another son and daughter, and the eldest child is eight. Her husband is a farmer, and she makes many rugs. She did the two below by herself, and usually the money is used to buy food for the family. If these rugs sell, her husband said he would give her some of the money for herself.
Piece 3.13330 is a medium pile rug in the Tazenakht style, and the shape more square than one usually sees. It is new and has the usual three central panels, with four borders, two very narrow. The main colors are a rich red, white, denim blue and a fairly bright orange, with black in the center panel. There is also a bit of forest green, seen between the red and orange above Fadma's hand in this close-up. The size is about 3'6" x 4'11" (99 x 150 cm) and the price is $250.
This is Rqia Talbi, who made the two rugs below. She is 23 and still single, living with her father and his second wife and her brothers and sisters. She had been to school and finished second grade, and began weaving sometime between the ages of ten to thirteen. Although she had been to school, which is taught in Arabic, she had forgotten hers and an uncle came with her to translate for us. She said she shares her earnings with her father, and plans to buy clothes with money from the rugs below.
Piece 3.13335 is a small knotted rug in the lattice design. You can see its outstanding characteristic immediately: it changes colors half way through! This is one case where I took the opportuntity to ask the weaver why. You can probably guess the answer: she ran out of one color. The ground is black, and the lattice is in orange and white, with both outlined in a rich red. You can see on the close-up that a bit of the red has run into the white when the rug was washed, but it is not bad, and some would feel that it softens the rug. This is the kind of rug that flaunts its handmade qualities: no one will think you got it at Wallmart! It measures about 2' x 3'6" (61 x 112 cm) and costs $135.
Piece 3.13337 is a small pile rug in the Tazenakht pattern, but less regular than usual. While often the center panels are symmetrical at the ends, in this rug each panel is different. I haven't seen her other work, but from the pieces here it appears Rqia has a creative streak. The outer border is a traditional pattern, and the orange cross has appeared in other pieces, but three of the central panels are quite different. The one at the left here seems to have overlapping rows of flower shapes, and the one on the right end has unusual curves, harder to weave than straight lines. The main colors are a rich red and a denim blue with accents in quite a bright orange, white, and a bit of gray and dark green. I think you can see the dark green in the diamond above the hand in this close-up. The size of this piece is about 2' x 3'6" (61 x 112 cm) and the price is $135.
