Fes-tivities: The Art of Buying a Carpet

By Alex Ferguson

Moroccan carpets are renowned worldwide for their craftsmanship and beauty, with many styles being copied by Western retailers. Outside of the country, these rugs can sell for anywhere from $500 up to thousands of dollars, but the price within Morocco is much cheaper (usually 2000-10000 dirham, or $200-$1000). On our free day in Fes, I decided to take a taxi into the Medina and buy one for myself.

The shop I chose ahead of time was Au Coin Berbere, who actually had an article written about them a few years ago in the New York Times. Here, the environment is more laid-back than in many other Medina shops, but haggling is still a must as is commonplace across Morocco.

The process starts with traditional mint tea, as the show-person starts laying out rugs on the floor and describing the styles and techniques used. Each tribe in Morocco has a unique style of carpet-making rooted in their artistic histories, mythologies, available materials, and specific needs. For example, the Beni Ourain, whose rugs are highly prized for their abstract patterns, make rugs out of thick and warm wool suitable for their homeland in the high Atlas Mountains. Other styles like Kilims are flat-woven and thin in order to make them easy to carry for desert nomads.

After about twenty minutes of going through different styles, we sorted the rugs into “yes” “no” and “maybe” piles based on looks. After looking more closely at the pile, I decided on 4 that I liked and the salesman laid them out to compare side-by-side. It’s important to consider where you’ll put the rug both for size concerns and how the colors and patterns will match the space. Size was a larger issue for me as I was planning to take it home in my luggage, although the shop does also ship rugs internationally pretty easily.

The original quoted price for my rug was 3500 dirhams, but after haggling and agreeing to leave a good review I got the price down to 2500. Usually the final price should be about 60% of the initial price, depending on your bargaining skills. The rug I chose was made by the Zammour, a confederation of tribes who live in the Atlas foothills between Rabat and Meknes. The shopkeepers rolled the rug up very tightly and packaged it up so it would fit in my luggage. After purchasing I was encouraged to look at the shopkeeper’s brother’s store across the road, and although buying the rug used up the rest of my cash I decided to take a look. Here I was reminded of the Jewish past of the Medina, as they had several ceramic tiles with Hebrew names salvaged from Jewish houses in addition to vintage jewelry with the Star of David.