Rabbi David Ben Baruch, amine (guild representative) of the jewelers of Essaouira, 1930. On his long coat, he wears a silk sash folded several times. Part of a man’s silk belt. Width: 40 cm. Dahan-Hirsch collection.
Art and the Jews of Morocco
Part of a man’s silk belt, woven in Tetouan or Ouazzane. Length of entire belt: 330 cm. Sonia Azagury collection.
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Jewish bridal scarf, worn in Tetouan, Tangier, and Fez. Raw silk dyed red, and weft of gold thread. Width: 53 cm. Sonia Azagury collection. Right page Jewish bridal scarf in red silk and gold thread, Tangier, late 19th century. Width: 57 cm. Dar Belghazi Museum, Sidi Bouknadel, Salé.
Weaving The Jews of Tetouan, Chaouen, Ouazzane, and Fez were still weaving these soft and shiny threads in the early twentieth century. They subtly juxtaposed colors to make the shimmering striped belts worn by the men, surprising accessories that broke up the severity of the rest of the Jewish male attire. For brides’ garments, they fashioned long, vibrant scarves of red silk and gold thread, which covered the head and trailed down to the lower back. They also made special fabrics worn only for ritual ceremonies in the synagogue or at home: “the
products made by the silk weavers were highly coveted.”3 “Fez brocade belts” are justly famous, since their weaving requires very complex looms. The beginnings of their use and the degree of Jewish involvement are not precisely known. During his diplomatic mission to Morocco in 1889, Pierre Loti observed the dress of the Muslim women in Fez and remarked, “Those high gold lamé silk belts, stiff as strips of cardboard, [which] support their breasts.”4 The Jewish women had in turn adopted this uncomfortable fashion.