Women Weavers OnLine
N'kob
The rugs on this page are not from N'kob, but from the nearby village of Amassine. Si Brahim says several villages nearby have asked about joining this project to put rugs on the Internet, but right now we cannot handle the extra volume. However, a N'kob woman married here, so we agreed to try some of her rugs on the site. Her name is Fadma Azzough, and she made all of the rugs below but did not want to be photographed. This is a difficult style of rug, mixing flatweave and knotted sections, and she has mastered the skill of weaving them so they lie flat. They are photographed out in the sun to dry after washing, and we heard they may also be treated with a product to subdue the colors; in fact, the second rug below was red on the back but pink on the front. The weaver's husband works in rug sales and he set the prices, which you may notice are higher than many others. However, I allow people to set whatever prices they wish, and they will either sell or not depending on the quality and demand.
Piece 3.13555 is quite large and has both pile and flatweave areas, seen best in this close-up in which my hand is near the lower right corner of the large photo. The main colors of this rug are a dark, dusty rose and navy blue, with a little sage green and not much orange. The center has the older style weaving plus woven "embroidery", seen here, and there are some unusual free form designs in the flatweave. The size is about 6'10" x 10'3" (208 x 312 cm) and it costs $2625.
Piece 3.13557 is large and combines flatweave and pile or knotted sections. What you see here is a close-up of one area; since these were outside I was hurried and missed the overview photo. The style is like the other rugs here, and the colors are dusty pink, navy blue and a little soft gold and sage green. It measures 7' x 10'3" (213 x 312 cm) and costs $2625.
Piece 3.13559 is a large rug combining flatweave and pile with the main colors dusty rose and navy blue. There are two large pile "mini rugs" in the opposite corners of this rug, the lower left and the upper right here. The one on the upper right has some abrash or color variation, going from dusty rose to beige. You can see both the pile and the flatweave in this detail. The size of this piece is about 6'10" x 10'3" (208 x 312 cm) and the price is $2620.
Piece 3.13567 is a large rug with both pile and flatweave sections in dusty rose and a deep blue. The flatweave sections have decorations made with both weaving and "embroidery," which is done as the rug is woven, not afterward. You can see both in this close-up, with the woven in the navy to the left and the embroidery to the right. This measures about 6'6" x 10'6" (198 x 319 cm) and costs $2620.
The two pieces below were made by another woman in Amassine who did not want to be photographed. Her name is Fadma Agouram Ait Saghrir. She has nine children, six daughters and three sons. They range in age from 13 to 33. She and her daughters weave rugs, and her husband washes them and sells them to men who come to the village to buy them and take them to market towns like Marrakesh. One of the goals of this project is for the women to get the profit that these buyers, and the merchants, would make on the rugs.
Piece 3.13560 is a fairly large flatweave or akhnif, with the designs both woven and "embroidered" into it. Besides the blue ground, the colors include dark red, orange, white and dark green. You can see them better in this detail. This piece measures 5'9" x 7'9" (175 x 236 cm) and the price is $720. SOLD
Piece 3.13564 is something different: a bag men use when they go to the weekly market. Another difference is that a man appears here, to illustrate how it is used - he may well be Fadma's husband. Note the long single strap that goes over his shoulder and down to the lower edge of the bag. It is a flatweave in a grayed blue with designs woven in red, orange, white and dark green, which you can see on this close-up. The strap is 5'6" long and 4" wide (167 x 10 cm) and the bag itself is 3'1" high x 1'6" wide (when folded), or 94 x 46 cm, and it costs $250.
