Vintage Azilal Berber Rug
This vintage Azilal Berber rug shows a compendium of patterns arranged in such a way as to imply a direction, indicating perhaps that it was intended as a prayer rug.
The rugs from the Azilal region, located in the Moroccan central High Atlas, have been a relatively recent discovery. Distinguished by abstract, quasi-calligraphic patterns often on an ivory background, they differ from the white ground Middle Atlas carpets of the Beni Ouarain and the Beni Mguild essentially because of their floppy texture, which is closer to that of a flat-weave. The plethora of their design repertoire makes them among the most sought-after Berber rugs among discerning collectors. Some of their patterns exhibit striking modernity; others echo an archaic iconography linking them to the Berber people’s earliest manifestations.