Marrakesh Express
Women Weavers OnLine
Ben Smim
This next set of pages has new items from October 2003. The photos are a breakthrough - they were taken by my assistant Habiba on her own! My friend Lynne Dahmen in Ifrane helped her download them to the computer and email them to me. That means we can add new items from Ben Smim frequently, not just when I am in Morocco.
Remember, all prices include shipping and insurance from Morocco to the US, which takes about two-three weeks. Other locations may vary in time and price, and you can email me to ask about them. Because of recent fluctuations in the dollar-Moroccan dirham exchange rate, prices may vary a bit from those here. Although such a change is not very likely, if that is the case, I will let you know when you ask about a particular piece. If I don't mention it, the price is unchanged.
This is Aicha Oukhalifa who made the rugs below. She is now about 70 years old and has twelve children. The oldest is about 55 and the youngest about 35 now. The marks you can see on her forehead in the enlargement are permanent tatoos, which used to be stylish in Morocco - but you will notice very few younger women have them. You can see that she favors red and blue, and warm fuzzy rugs.
Piece 3.5998 is a shaggy rug in red wool with mainly geometric designs in blue and black. It looks thick and warm to sit on, or have by a bedside, which you can see best in this close-up. The design also shows through on the flat side or back, but not as clearly. It measures about 2'6" x 4'3" (76 x 130 cm) and the price is $160.
The rugs below are of a similar size and colors, so two or three could be used in combination, alongside the bed/s, or scattered in a room. Or they could be combined with the other rugs here, many of which have similar colors. These rugs can also be used either on their knotted/pile or flatweave sides. In Ben Smim, people put the fuzzy side up to keep warm in the winter, while it is cooler to sit on the pile side during the summer.
Piece 3.5999 is a small pile or knotted rug in bright blue with a simple red border. Here you see the flat side, and the reverse in this detail is knotted. You can see some variation in the blue at one end, probably where the weaver changed dye lots. This is called "abrash" and is one mark of a handmade rug. The size of this rug is about 2'9" x 4'3" (79 x 130 cm) and it costs $165.
Piece 3.6001 is another blue pile rug with a red border, this time with a variation on one end, where the red forms checks. This design carries over onto the shaggy back of the rug. This rug measures about 3' x 5' (91 x 152 cm) and costs $190.
Piece 3.6003 is blue with a red border, and here you see the pile side of the rug. The detail shows the flat side. The size is about 2'10" x 4'10" (86 x 148 cm) and the price is $190.
The next three pieces were woven by Rqia Ajidad, who also favors red and blue. She is sixty years old and has six children, of whom the eldest is 28 and the youngest 11. Her husband is a shepherd and she helps him support the family with her income from weaving.
Piece 3.6005 is a small rug in red pile with a black border and a star in the center. The design is clearer on the back, seen in this close-up, where you see something else. The black "spots" below the star are the Arabic letters ba and noon, or "b" and "n," but I don't know what they meant to the weaver. As you can see from her name above, they aren't her initials. This piece measures about 3'1" x 3'11" (94 x 119 cm) and costs $165.
Piece 3.6007 is very similar to the one above, but the star is larger. There are no letters in this rug, as you can see in this detail of the flat side. The size of this rug is about 3' x 3'11' (91 x 119 cm) and the price is $165.
Piece 3.6009 is a medium-sized bright blue pile rug. The back is flat, as can be seen in this detail. The bottom edge is a bit gathered, and I am not sure it would lie flat, although a colleague who weaves says one can cut some of those end threads to loosen them without harming the structure of the rug. This piece measures about 4' x 6'6" (122 x 198 cm) and costs $290.
The rug below was made by Ittou Afawi, who did not want her picture taken. She is 44 years old and has four children. She may have been to school, since she wove a date into her rug. With the money she earns from selling her carpets, she helps her husband to support the family.
Piece 3.6011 is a large pile rug in bright blue outlined or framed with a black and white border. The white spots inside the border are the date she made the rug, which you can see more clearly in this close-up of the flat side of the rug...but I still can't read it. I'd guess it's 2001 or 2003, but can check with my assistant Habiba if anyone is curious. You can also see both the flat and pile sides of the rug in the close-up. The size is about 5'4" x 8'6" (162 x 259 cm) and the price is $360.
