i. The Tbourida saddle
The traditional Moroccan saddle is the saddle of the Tbourida — that equestrian spectacle inscribed by UNESCO in 2021. Built on a wooden tree, lined with several layers of leather, it is embroidered with silver thread, sometimes gold, in floral and geometric motifs. A ceremonial saddle can weigh several kilos and cost tens of thousands of dirhams.
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Video · The gesture in motion
to be replacedThe saddlers — srraj — are concentrated in Fès (Sraja souk) and Meknès (Place El-Hedim).
ii. Damascening of Meknès
Meknès is the only city in Morocco where one still meets artisans practising damascening — the art of engraving on steel that allows the making of vases, jewellery, saddle ornaments. The technique consists of hollowing grooves in patinated steel, then inlaying gold or silver threads with hammer blows. The steel becomes a black ground against which a luminous motif stands out.
This technique is part of the 2023 UNESCO candidacy on engraving on metals. In Morocco, it probably developed through Ottoman influence via Algeria in the 18th century.
Ceremonial saddle or working saddle?
The Moroccan saddle is emblematic of equestrian spectacles. It has also become a collector's object. A few Fès workshops still produce saddles destined for practising Tbourida riders — that is the primary market.
Sources
- UNESCO, Tbourida (2021) — https://ich.unesco.org/en/state/morocco-MA
- Wikipedia, Damascening — https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damasquinerie