Morocco: Tamegroute pottery

The story of Tamegroute's green pottery began in the

seventeenth century when the theologian & scholar

Sidi Mohammed Ibn Nasir founded the towns

religious school & sanctuary, Zawiya Nasiriyya.  

Nasir is famously known as the founding member

of the religious movement the Naciri brotherhood,

a Sufi movement of moderate Islam credited for its

peacemaking & missionary work. It was this new

brotherhood that wanted to raise the status of the small

border town (which the word Tamegroute directly translates

to) into a city. They invited merchants, craftsmen & artisans

from Fez to work locally hoping to build a bustling medina. 

At this time Fez was known for its green ceramics & most

famously its tiles that still adorn the roofs of its mosques,

(see plate. 2. & 4.). Green is used on roofs because of its

relation to the Muslim interpretation of heaven. It is believed

that these craftsmen from Fez were the ones who initially

brought the green glaze to Tamegroute, now known as

‘Tamegroute green’.

Today Tamegroute remains the only rural pottery in Morocco

using oxidised copper which creates its famous colour.

Its potteries are also the only location where you will find  

their unique forms, mainly tiles (Karmoud) (see plate 2. & 4.),

bowls (Zlafa) (see plate 3.) & oil lamps (Kandil).

The process however remains much the same. Clay is dug up

from the  local Draa river banks, thrown by hand & fired once in

kilns built into steep slopes. 

Tamegroute is again a small village. It still has strong links

to the Sufi Naciri brotherhood & there is a new religious

school & library in the same historic location. It’s the

pottery that has become the big attraction for visitors, it’s

pieces are collected & sold worldwide with Tamegroute green

remaining the dominant colour.

Plate. 1. Source unknown

Plate. 2. 'La Terre est un Jardin'

Plate. 3. 'Tea in Tangier'

Plate. 4. 'Souvenir Chronicles'