Buying Moroccan Carpets in Fez - Take Your Time!

Mary Toothman and Philip Murphy - Carpets bizef!

Buying a carpet should never be a snap decision and yet many people don't leave enough time in their schedule to really investigate what is on offer. Recently The View from Fez team accompanied Mary Toothman and Philip Murphy as they set out to find "the right carpet".

Philip Murphy has been living in Fez for some time, while Mary has only recently arrived, so Philip's local knowledge and excellent language skills meant he was well equipped to tackle the task.

Over a two hour period Philip and Mary looked at more than one hundred rugs from a various Berber tribes from the High Atlas, Middle Atlas and Anti Atlas. Their investigation styles were completely different; Philip sat quietly taking it all in, while Mary walked on, felt and stroked almost every carpet.

A rare example of a design showing human figures

"Eventually we came down to three we really liked," Philip said "but we are going to take the evening to think about it and make a decision by tomorrow or the next day."

a particularly fine Beni Ouarain

The carpet shop, Coin Berbère, owned by the Bouzidi-Idrissi family, is renowned for its quality, prices and most of all the fact that there is absolutely no pressure to buy.

“It’s one of the best antique and carpet shops in Fez,” said David Amster, a 17-year resident who has outfitted his guesthouse, Dar Bennis, with textiles and wooden furniture from the store. “The owners are friendly, honest and fair,” he said. “But of course you have to bargain a bit.”

Coin Berbère is at 67 Talaa Kebira in the Haddadine quarter of the Fez medina (212) 0535636946 email: bouzidi8000@hotmail.com

SEE ALSO OUR BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO BUYING MOROCCAN CARPETS


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