Fragment of a belt (hizam) (1800s): Art, History and Details

Fragment of a 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:

This silk textile with a lampas weave features alternating designs of eight-pointed stars, ogival (curved) medallions, and floral patterns. This fragment would have likely once been part of a wider belt, called hizam, worn by elite Moroccan women over their gowns.

Object facts

• Title: Fragment of a belt (hizam)
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: Africa, North Africa, Morocco, Moroccan weaver
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk, dye
• Dimensions: Overall: 24.1 x 32.3 cm (9 1/2 x 12 11/16 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1918.192

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.