Belt
Rabat, Morocco
Museum of the Udayas
Hegira 12th-13th centuries / AD 18th–19th centuries
D 239
Silk brocade woven on a draw-loom.
Length 135 cm, width 32 cm
'Alawid
Fez, Morocco.
This type of long brocade silk belt, or lampas, woven on a draw-loom in the workshops of Fez, appeared in the early AH 12th / AD 18th century. Worn on top of a kaftan by aristocratic and middle-class women, it was wrapped several times around the waist. Folded in half, it could be used on either side. This piece is narrow and flexible like the older examples. On a red background, brocade decoration consisting of five differently coloured motifs inspired by the decorative Moroccan-Andalusian repertoire of is embellished with elements borrowed from Persian and Ottoman art: geometric knotwork whose interstices are decorated with flowers, fleurons and palms, ovoid motifs reminiscent of the fruit of the citrus tree tronjia, and friezes of arcades decorated with flowers similar to the designs found on wall hangings. These motifs appear on their own or combined in repetitive alternating transverse bands.
The two ends of the belt are decorated with several stylised hands and eight-pointed stars, or Solomon's seals, considered in esoteric Moroccan tradition to be prophylactic symbols. Between the large motifs that make up the main decoration of the fabric and the two ends of the belt, a narrow band decorated with small tulips arranged head-to-foot is the mark of the workshop.
The long cords that finish the belt are knotted at the front to keep it around the waist.
This sort of long silk-brocade belt would have been worn above a kaftan by the wives of important dignitaries and the bourgeoisie. It would have been wrapped around the waist several times and could be worn either way around.
By its decoration, the length and width of the belt and the flexibility of the fabric.
Purchased.
According to the studies carried out on the subject and the work of historians, brocade workshops were set up in Fez from the Marinid era until the early 20th century.
Golvin, L., 'Les métiers à la tire des fabricants de brocarts de Fès', Hespéris, 1950, 1st & 3rd quarters, pp.37-48.
Vogel, L., Soieries marocaines, les ceintures de Fès, Paris, 1920.
Naima El Khatib-Boujibar "Belt" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;ma;Mus01_B;48;en
MWNF Working Number: MO 73
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