Obj. ID: 39248
Sacred and Ritual Objects Tefillin bag, Tangier (Tanger), circa 1880
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
This very elaborate bag for the Tallit, with a matching bag for Tefilin, are among the most elaborately embroidered textile objects known from Jewish Morocco. Shelomo ben Olioel (b. 1850), the man whose name is embroidered on both bags, was a member of a well-know Tangier family in the last half of the 19th cnetury. He was the founder of the Alliance school in Larach and later the director of the Alliance boy's school in Fez. It seems probable that these were made for him as a special gift - a tribute, perhaps - by people connected the that educational enterprese. The condition of the textile is almost perfect, precluding extensive use of the bag for objects of daily prayer. This type of gold embroidary was a special craft of Morrocan Jews, largely at the hands of male artisans. The density and delicacy of the work on this particular bag represents the height of the craft. There is a companion piece, a container for the Tallit, that was clearly part of a set with the same owners name and identical workmanship.
Inscription: SHELOMO OLIEL