Belt (Hizam) (1800s): Art, History and Details

Belt (Hizam) (1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Belt (Hizam)
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: Africa, North Africa, Morocco, Fes, Moroccan weaver
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk, dye, metal
• Dimensions: Overall: 396.8 x 38 cm (156 1/4 x 14 15/16 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1999.253

A detail from the museum

Women sometimes added starch to stiffen these belts.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Gebremedhen, Helina. “Arts of the Maghreb: North African Textiles and Jewelry – Curatorial Reflections.” Journal 18, Issue #19 (Spring 2025).
• Paydar, Niloo Imami, and Ivo Grammet. The Fabric of Moroccan Life. Indianapolis, Ind: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2002.
• Alaoui, Rachida. Florilège de la broderie marocaine. [Milan]: Skira, 2011.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.