Women Weavers OnLine
N'kob
This is Aicha Aqubab and she made the piece below. If you saw a short piece on this rug project on CNN International in the fall of 2003, you will remember her in her green scarf: in the film she looks very proud of her rug, shown below. Her husband is a shepherd and they have five children, four sons and one daughter. She and her sister made the rug below together; they are married to two brothers and live in the same household. The rug is about ten years old and took them two months to make.
Piece 3.13654 is a medium pile rug in the Tazenakht style and is about ten years old. This is a rug in threes: three central panels, three large borders and three thin borders. The main colors are gray, dark red, black, denim blue and bright gold with white accents; you can see them all in this detail. It seems some red may have run some in the border, but it looks quite uniform and thus not a problem. While the rug does not look fully flat here, it should be fine with a rug pad. The size is 4'1" x 7'3" (124 x 219 cm) and the price is $420.
The rug below was made by Kebira Izourne who is from a nearby village but currently lives in Tazenakht so was not available to be photographed. Her husband Ahmed is from N'kob and works in the office at a cobalt factory near Tazenakht. He is also a member of the village development association, and helps with the rug project by assisting with measurements, running funds through his bank account, and corresponding with me via email about orders and addresses. You can see him on the left in the photo of the cell phone site.
Piece 3.13657 is a flatweave runner in bright gold with regular designs in the "woven embroidery" in navy blue, white and a bit of bright red. While it looks very orange here, I recall (and recorded) it as a more gold or yellow tone. You can see the designs better in this close-up. It measures 2'6" x 8' (76 x 243 cm) and costs $225. SOLD
The rug below was made by Rahma Id Rhou whom you met earlier in these pages. Her husband is a fqi or religious teacher, which in earlier days was the only kind of teacher available. Today the fqi often teaches younger children religious verses plus the alphabet and basic arithmetic, in addition to being consulted by all for religious advice. They have six sons, ranging in age from three to sixteen, and four of them are in school. Rahma made the rug below herself in about two months; it took that long because she has no one to help her weave, or to cover household chores for her. That's one of the problems of trying to understand how long weaving something takes: it depends on whether you have a lot or just a little spare time from housework, and if there is someone to help you. If this sells, she plans to buy clothing for the boys, laundry soap to wash it, and school supplies like books and pens.
Piece 3.13663 is a small pile rug in the lattice design in the usual colors of black ground with a gray and white lattice. The blue-red center is unusual in this rug. The boders have other colors, including orange, a gray-blue, and a bit of dark green, seen above the thumb in this detail. Don't worry about the black 'spots' on the rug: they are shadows from a tree. This piece measures 2'3' x 4' (68 x 122 cm) and costs $125.
