Artwork Page for Belt (Hizam)

Details / Information for Belt (Hizam)

Belt (Hizam)

1800s

Africa, North Africa, Morocco, Fes, Moroccan weaver

Medium
Silk, dye, metal
Measurements
Overall: 396.8 x 38 cm (156 1/4 x 14 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1999.253
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Women sometimes added starch to stiffen these belts.

Description

Elaborate wedding sashes woven in Fez, Morocco, are distinctive for their multiple colors, designs, and uses. Folded lengthwise, they are wrapped around the waist so that the colors and designs coordinate with the attire worn during and after a wedding. Typically, the colors vary on each half although the designs are the same. Luxury textiles with elaborate patterns were woven on large looms called drawlooms that automatically repeated designs. The weaver operated the structure, inserting horizontal wefts, while the drawboy activated the programmed pattern. However, this wedding sash has ten programmed designs, which required considerable expertise.
A horizontally long silk belt has four quadrants, with tassels on either side, corresponding to the dominant colors of the quadrant they extend from. The left two quadrants feature red, orange, purple, green, and black floral patterns. The upper quadrant has a grass green background, the lower one white. The right two quadrants feature patterns over orange, the upper blocks of a squared flower in red, and the lower purple circles with a spiked circle within.

Belt (Hizam)

1800s

Africa, North Africa, Morocco, Fes, Moroccan weaver

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