Complete Description

A Silk Brocade Belt (Hzam),

Fez, Morocco, 19th Century

Brocard de soie polychrome et fils de métal, décorée de plusieurs motifs tels que des mains de Fatma, des étoiles à huit pointes, des palmettes boteh, et des semis de petites croix et sequins, les extrémités frangées, usures le long de la couture centrale.

Dim. : 192 x 26 cm (sans les franges)

Provenance:

Collection Zaira et Marcel Mis, puis par descendance

Collection particulière belge, acquis en 2023

Bibliography:

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. 13-14, pp. 32-34

Comment:

The belts known as hzam (nos. 352 and 353) occupy a central place in traditional Moroccan dress, both for their practical function and their ornamental value. Made of coloured silks with the addition of metal threads, they are distinguished by floral designs, palmettes, or boteh motifs, reflecting the combined influence of local traditions and broader Eastern visual repertoires.

Numerous comparable examples are preserved in the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, including a belt attributed to Tétouan with a floral motif on a purple ground (inv. 74.1971.14.10) and another from Fes (inv. 74.1966.5.13) decorated with boteh palmettes, both dated to the nineteenth century. Several similar belts from the Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent collection were also sold at Artcurial, Marrakech, 31 October 2015, lots 20 to 35.