Berber Fini
Caravans regularly traveled across the Sahara, trading essential commodities like salt and grain. By 1,100 CE, Timbuktu in Mali transitioned from a semi-nomadic settlement into a permanent, vital port on the desert’s edge. Bogolanfini, or Mud cloth, originated in Mali around this same time. Bogolanfini combined weaving narrow strips of cloth, “finimugu”, sewing them together and using fermented mud to make patterns with meaningful symbols. Bordering Mali to the North is Algeria, inhabited by nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara. This design combines Berber carpet expertise with Mali mud cloth inspiration, two textile traditions that flourished on the far fringes of the ancient Silk Routes. A craft culture collab.
-
DESIGN DETAILS
Design
Berber Fini
Collection
African
Color attainment
Dyed by hand
Dye ingredients
100% natural dyes
Knots
Tibetan
Artists
Weavers in Bhadohi
Material
Pile is 100% handspun New Zealand wool. Hand knotted on cotton base threads.
-
MATERIALS & CARE
100% hand-dyed and hand-knotted New Zealand wool rug. Eco-friendly professional rug cleaning only, ensure perc (perchloroethylene) solvent is not used. -
CUSTOMIZATION SERVICE
customization-care -
SHIPPING & RETURNS
Orders are typically dispatched in 5-7 days.
Shipping is directly from Bhadohi and rate is calculated at checkout based on weight. For returns and exchanges, please see "Returns Policy" for details.
NOMADIC NOSTALGIA
HAND-KNOTTED CARPETS
The art of making hand-knotted carpets, for warmth and decoration, is at least 2,400 years old. Each MADE x HANDS carpet is a carefully crafted work of art. First, silk and wool fibers are cleaned and spun into yarn. Then our natural dye expert submerges the yarns in potent pots of natural pigments. Once the colored yarn is dry, it's transferred to the loom, a wooden frame strung with strands of cotton. These vertical threads of cotton form the warp, which provides the structure for the thousands of silk and wool knots that will be tied one-by-one in a single day. For our larger rugs, just the knotting can take four months or more. A particular patience, and focused fingers, transform yarn into a rug's lush pile your feet will fall in love with.
NATURAL DYES
HAND-CRAFTED COLOR
Natural dyeing is an art. A timeless testament to human harmony with nature. Knowledge of the exact ingredients to create color, and the best mordants and methods to ensure color fastness only comes from extensive experience.
MADE x HANDS only produces handmade, naturally-dyed products with colors derived from plants, vegetables and minerals. Natural dyes ensure our pieces are non-toxic, non-allergenic and biodegradable. Natural dyes are infinitely better for the environment, coming from 100% natural and renewable sources. Unlike synthetic dyes, which taint textiles with harmful carcinogens. Aesthetically, natural dyes create subtle variations in color that can never be copied by chemicals. Our natural dyes are much harder and meaningfully more expensive to make. Worth it.
