The decoration and design of domestic textiles in traditional Moroccan culture since the early ages of trade with African, Middle Eastern and European countries is tied to its many influences of religion and culture that have grown within its borders. Moroccan textiles bridge the urban and rural spheres, and is primarily an art form practiced by women. Embroidery, or the decoration of a textile (or leather) with needle and thread, was the “only pastime of the upper middle class women” in Moroccan cities who used in their embroidery natural fine silk floss dyed in shimmering colors, derived from both animal and vegetal sources. These women learned to embroider textiles at a young age, and as they grew up used the skills they developed to decorate their marriage trousseaus, or the personal possessions of a bride usually including clothes, accessories, and household linens and wares. Women continued to embroider for their new house once they were married, or in some cases in harems where multiple wives and their children lived together with a single husband. In these such extended families, women learned different techniques and exchanged ideas with the network of women they shared a household.[1]
Even women with lesser means who lived in cities produced embroidered textiles on commission, with their clients paying for the materials. Unlike other artisans in the city, these women would not have been part of a highly organized commercial industry, as they worked out of their homes, often in the company of other women, family members and neighbors. This added to the social dimensions of their activities.[2]
The home, largely the domain of women, was often covered and decorated in various fabrics that would be embroidered: rugs, tensifa (wall decorations), mhedda (large floor pillows), and curtains translucent enough to let in light and allow women to see out, while obscuring the views of outsiders looking in. Clothing, like swaddling cloth, tunics, headscarves, and even death shrouds were also decorated, meaning that the art of embroidery encompassed life from cradle to grave. There were many different styles of designs not only from city to city but also from other continents and countries as harems often held foreign women that brought their new techniques and skills with them.[3]