Collection Zaira et Marcel Mis, puis par descendance

Collection particulière belge, acquis en 2023

Anne-Marie Bouttiaux, Frieda Sorber, Anne van Cutsem, Costumes et textiles d'Afrique: des Berbères aux Zulu : collection Zaira et Marcel Mis, Milan, 2008, Cat. 18, pp. 38-39

This magnificent mirror cover belongs to the tradition of tensifa-type Maghrebi embroideries, characterised by the use of silk threads and a stylised floral decoration arranged in registers. These pieces, intended to adorn and protect everyday objects, reflect a refined domestic use and a continuity of textile techniques between Algeria and Morocco (see no. 355).

This type of veil, recognisable in particular by its brilliant silk fabric—yellow or blue—and its floral decoration concentrated at the ends of the stole, is associated with productions from Tetouan in northern Morocco. These large textiles are often identified as “mirror covers”, intended to cover the mirrors of newlyweds for a period of forty days, in order to protect them from the evil eye. See comparable examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 45.114.2), the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. T.11-1967), and the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (inv. 71.1967.33.24 and 71.1908.23.1896). Other examples were sold at Christie’s, London, 13 October 2004, lot 152, and Paris, 6 May 2015, lot 128.