Beni Ourain, c.1960

366 × 195 cm12.0 × 6.4 ft

€3,325

GLB-101844

Ships from Marrakech in 3–5 business days.

Only one made. Hand-knotted once, for a household, never reproduced.
Chosen in Marrakech. Seen, measured and photographed by us, front and back.
Rolled and insured. Worldwide, with the duties explained before you pay.

Size: 366 × 195 cm · 12.0 × 6.4 ft
Pile: High
Age: Vintage
Material: 100% wool
Condition: Very Good
Made: By hand, on a vertical loom, once. Small irregularities in the edges and the pattern are part of it.
Reference: GLB-101844

Hand-knotted in Morocco from mountain wool and found in the valleys where these traditions live, not in a factory and not made to an export size. The slight irregularities are the weaver’s hand; the softness is the years. No two were ever the same, and this one is now yours alone.

The women of the Beni Ourain, an Amazigh (Berber) confederation in the Middle Atlas, weave the pale, deep-piled rug that carries their name — the one the modernists fell for.

Origin. Beni Ourain (Aït Ouarain) confederation, Middle Atlas, Morocco

Technique. Pile-knotted, symmetrical knot; wool pile on wool warp and weft

Palette. Undyed ivory ground with sparse geometry in dark brown or near-black; older pieces sometimes carry a little ochre or terracotta

Read the full Beni Ourain tradition →

Vacuum gently and without a beater bar. Rotate periodically for even wear. Blot spills immediately, never rub. Professional cleaning only; these are natural-dye wool pieces and should never be machine washed.

A natural wool rug ages into its character. Minor shedding in the first months is normal and settles with use.

Full care and shipping →

Also in: Rugs for the living room · Large rugs, 3 metres and more · Vintage Moroccan rugs · Beni Ourain rugs · Ivory and neutral rugs · Thick, soft rugs

Ships worldwide from Marrakech, generally within 3–5 business days. Shipping costs are confirmed at checkout or on inquiry.

All sales are final. Transit damage is covered when reported within 48 hours of receipt.

Returns policy →

The story of this rug

Butter-Soft After Sixty Winters

Deep as a hand is wide.
Cream as the first milk of the spring.
Sixty winters it has held the cold off
and it is not tired yet.

Five centimetres. Press your palm flat into this rug and the wool closes over your fingers. The Beni Ourain of the 1960s still wove for the tent and the high pasture, where the ground freezes and a family's warmth is a matter of how much fleece lies between them and it, and this is one of those rugs, twenty-five kilos of undyed cream wool knotted as deep as a hand is wide. The brown lines are spare, almost shy, a few lozenges wandering across the field like tracks in snow.

Sixty years on, it is softer than anything made new. The cream has deepened to the colour of fresh butter, the pile has the give of a good mattress, and it still does what it was made for: you lie down on it and the day stops. It belongs in a bedroom with a low bed and a lot of light, or a sitting room where people actually sit on the floor.

Handwoven rugs grow in beauty, memory, and value with every passing year.