section 1: Introduction
section 2: African or Oriental?
section 3: Our personal view
section 4: Anomalies in kilims
section 5: Islamic notions of good and evil
section 7: "Kilim, the complete guide", extracts
section 8: Berber tribes | conclusion
Prices in America
The internet-based
Auction Watch Daily made this recent assessment of the market:
“....Moroccan rugs, whether flat weave or pile, are ..... available for reasonable prices. "There are so many different types of rugs that it's hard to generalize," said Pickering. "But I would say that if you're looking at 5-feet-by-9-feet rugs, you're not talking about something really small, and you're not talking about something super collectible, prices tend to fall between $1,100 and $2,800."
Within that range, there are several factors that help determine a rug's value. At the top of the list is artistry: In such a young market, it is not a mistake to buy for beauty. One can expect color, the evenness of the weaving, and the individuality of the design to directly impact the price.
There are also pedantic considerations, such as size. Small rugs of 3 by 5 feet sell for considerably less than the large floor coverings that measure 5 feet wide and 9 or 10 feet long.
Material is another factor. How fine is the wool? Has any silk been woven into it? To ensure the material is wool, you can (seller willing) light a match to the corner of the rug. Burning wool should shrivel when lit and smell like burning hair; a synthetic, which burns with a flame, will not. Gauging the quality of the wool is not so scientific, but dealers say you know it when you see it. The High Atlas region in particular produces some very good wool, which is said to have "an unmistakable sheen."
Age, though hard to verify, also matters. An early 20th century provenance or earlier can occasionally boost the price of a Moroccan rug beyond $5,000.”
(Auction Watch Daily)
section 6
Learning from the American market
There seems to be a different approach among American collectors . Typical of this market is a readiness to judge kilim designs and colouring in the same way as the other visual, fine arts and the modern, abstract art traditions of America provide them with ready benchmarks for the Moroccan textiles. But this comparison with modern painting goes back to Delacroix and Matisse who both took inspiration from Moroccan rugs.
Two landmark exhibitions of Moroccan textiles have been staged by the Indianapolis and Washington museums (6).
Two examples of the American view are provided by Marla Mallett's very good website (which contains lots of practical advice as well as detailed descriptions of the textiles' manufacture), and the work of the Pickerings.
We include below some extracts and links to useful American sites are provided at the foot of the page.
Marla Mallett on weft substitution weaves:
"Moroccan Berbers have pushed the design possibilities of weft substitution
to an extreme, producing all over patterning with incredible detail."
....... and, on her criteria for selecting tribal textiles:
"I want pieces with strong design, lustrous wools and beautiful colors.
I want pieces that display individuality and experimentation -- in other
words, products that reflect the artistic personalities of the weavers, even
women working comfortably within tribal traditions. Some pieces may be fanciful
or even downright crazy, others austere and elegant.
"Rigid, mechanical-looking "factory" rugs and other weavings have short-lived appeal; in contrast, one can quickly grow fond of the irregularities that occur routinely in village and nomad textile art. Abrupt changes in color, motif or proportion reflect a carefree, lively attitude toward the work. Such anomalies are not considered mistakes, nor are they signs of inept work. Unmatched pattern repeats rarely bother the weaver; many indeed are purposeful. I have heard women laughingly dismiss peculiar design irregularities in their work as "more interesting." I have seen mothers reluctant to correct their daughters' work. Weavers are unconcerned by erratic shifts in warp fringe color, unconcerned when their weavings are irregularly shaped. We too must realize that the essential qualities in this folk art are freshness, vitality, pleasing color, superb materials and excellent design.
"In contrast, handmade commercial carpets have no individuality. Personal expression and subtle nuance are rare in cottage-industry or factory products from around the world. That the stacks of modern weavings in most import shops or carpet stores are hand-woven or hand-knotted is irrelevant. They are assembly-line products, little different in concept from wallpaper. No collector would want paintings mass-produced to an export merchant's specifications. Nor should anyone confuse monotonous mass-produced "paint-by-number" rugs with authentic ethnographic art. An understanding of their differences is crucial for a beginning collector."
"Rigid, mechanical-looking "factory" rugs and other weavings have short-lived appeal; in contrast, one can quickly grow fond of the irregularities that occur routinely in village and nomad textile art. Abrupt changes in color, motif or proportion reflect a carefree, lively attitude toward the work. Such anomalies are not considered mistakes, nor are they signs of inept work. Unmatched pattern repeats rarely bother the weaver; many indeed are purposeful. I have heard women laughingly dismiss peculiar design irregularities in their work as "more interesting." I have seen mothers reluctant to correct their daughters' work. Weavers are unconcerned by erratic shifts in warp fringe color, unconcerned when their weavings are irregularly shaped. We too must realize that the essential qualities in this folk art are freshness, vitality, pleasing color, superb materials and excellent design.
"In contrast, handmade commercial carpets have no individuality. Personal expression and subtle nuance are rare in cottage-industry or factory products from around the world. That the stacks of modern weavings in most import shops or carpet stores are hand-woven or hand-knotted is irrelevant. They are assembly-line products, little different in concept from wallpaper. No collector would want paintings mass-produced to an export merchant's specifications. Nor should anyone confuse monotonous mass-produced "paint-by-number" rugs with authentic ethnographic art. An understanding of their differences is crucial for a beginning collector."
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6. exhibitions
7. article by BP in Cloudband