Museum Explorer
Daily life in Africa
A wedding tunic
From: Jerba Island, Tunisia
Date: late 20th century AD
This tunic is worn as part of a Muslim woman's wedding dress. For one of the ceremonies in her wedding the bride wears seven of these tunics, one on top of each other.
Each of the bands you can see in the middle has a different name for its pattern, like beans, rice, heart, eyes, chair and figure of eight. These names show the bride's wishes for lots of children and happiness in the home. Above the two bands are perfume bottles and combs, woven in metal thread.
