In Jebeniana, a town on the Tunisian coast, young women wear shawls called ajar.
The ajar is woven using natural black and white wool and typically has horizontal bands decorated with supplementary-weft patterning. The supplementary-weft patterning is executed using wool and white cotton. After weaving, this shawl was dipped in a red dyebath. The cotton did not absorb the dye and therefore remained white, whereas the white wool turned red. The spots of yellow and orange seen against the red background have been tie-dyed. Before the textile was dyed, the weaver placed small pebbles or chick peas on the textile and put a small amount of yellow or orange dyestuff around it. The weaver then formed a little pouch by tying a piece of yarn around the object. The textile was then dipped into the red dyebath; this created the small circles of orange or yellow color on the red background.

The Textile Museum 2000.39.28
The Irmtraud H. Reswick Collection

© 2003 THE TEXTILE MUSEUM

Each month we will highlight a different textile from the Museum's collection.