Berber Symbols in Rugs: The Motifs and What Can Honestly Be Said

In the popular literature the diamond is an eye that turns away misfortune, or a sign of womanhood. The zigzag is water, a river or a snake. The cross and the X ward off harm. The comb is the weaver's own tool. Triangles are tents, or mountains. A checkerboard is a field.

Many of these readings concern protection, fertility and daily life, and some no doubt reflect what weavers in particular places have said. They are worth knowing, because they are part of how these rugs are talked about. They are not a code that can be applied to any rug in order to read off a message.

Amazigh weaving is not one tradition but many, spread over mountains and plains, with different dialects and customs. A sign called one thing in one valley has another name, or none, in the next. Much of the vocabulary was passed from mother to daughter by showing and not by explaining.

Most of the lists in circulation were compiled by outside collectors and dealers, and they have been copied from one book and website to the next. Accounts of what weavers themselves say vary: sometimes a meaning, often simply the name of the shape, or that the motif was learned at home and liked. A meaning can also be personal and known only to the woman who made the rug.

Look at placement before meaning. Are the signs in rows, scattered, or gathered at one end? Does a motif change as it travels up the rug, growing, thinning or switching colour? A weaver works from the bottom upwards over weeks, and the rug is a record of that time. Changes of mind are visible.

Look for the exception: the one diamond in a different colour, the single sign that appears nowhere else, the line that stops short. These are often what make a rug memorable, and they are what a machine copy leaves out. If a seller tells you precisely what your rug says, enjoy the story and keep in mind that it is a story.

Sixty-three rugs with signs and symbols as part of their drawing. Fifty-seven are Azilal, the type most given to scattered motifs, with four Beni Mrirt, one Beni Ourain and one Beni Mguild. Forty-one are multicoloured, eleven have an ivory or cream ground and four are sand or taupe. In about half, the diamond is the leading motif.

Twenty-four measure around 6 ft 7 in by 9 ft 10 in. Fifteen are mid-sized, fifteen are small and nine are runners. We describe what is on each rug and do not assign meanings to it. Each rug is one of a kind, with its exact measurements on its own page. Delivery is free worldwide, duties and taxes included.