Vintage Mauritanian Tuareg Leather and Reed Rug
The carpets of the Tuareg, who are cattle herding nomads inhabiting a vast expanse of the Sahara desert, are among the most exciting group of weavings to appear on the market. These are woven by binding together fine straw reeds, obtained from the panicum turgidum plant, with strips of camel leather, the latter being sometimes embellished with pigments in order to enrich the detailing of the pattern. Referred to as ‘eseber’ by the Tuareg nomads, these large mats are used as tent screens and dividers. In ‘African Nomadic Architecture’ (1995), Labelle Prussin describes these mats as essential ‘to define an interior volume in which the wealth of colour, texture, memory, and meaning that permeates and impregnates the interior of the enclosed space could constitute a closed system of imagery.’ The designs are often based on their iconography, with star and cross-like devices alternating with geometric totemic-like figures of an abstract nature – typical of other forms of African art. Here the field is embellished by an infinite repeat pattern of parallel and offset rows of stepped diamonds, which is obtained by carefully embroidering the reed surface with mocha brown leather. Rugs of this type are very ductile in character, perfectly suited in interiors ranging from Louis XIV to Industrial Minimalism.