Reference
Crafts
7 things: Materials and techniques.
Lime and pigmentThe house walls of Chefchaouen are painted with lime, to which more or less indigo is added; this is where the many shades of blue in the alleys come from.Rammed earthRammed earth (French pisé) is raw earth compacted section by section between shuttering boards; together with mud bricks it is the building material of the ksour and kasbahs of southern Morocco, as in Aït-Ben-Haddou.TadelaktA lime plaster that is compacted, polished with a stone and made water-repellent with soap; in Morocco it also lines old steam baths, for example in the kasbahs of Tamnougalt and Taourirt.TanneriesChouara in the Lablida quarter is one of the most active historic tanneries of Fez, where an Almohad census once counted 86 tanneries. There the hides are soaked in lime and pigeon droppings and dyed with natural materials such as roses, cedarwood and saffron.Thuya woodThe wood of the sandarac tree (Tetraclinis articulata), which in Morocco is worked by craftsmen above all in Essaouira, mainly into marquetry and furniture.Tiznit silverSilver jewellery of the Amazigh women of the Anti-Atlas, above all pairs of fibulae with a chest chain, bangles and head ornaments; as part of the bride price it remained the woman’s property and gave her material security. Tiznit is regarded as the “capital of silver”.ZelligeGlazed wall tiles whose geometric patterns are made up of many small, individually cut pieces; the craftsmen of Fez brought the art to its highest flowering under the Marinids. The clay for Fez comes from the Benjlik deposit.