Slutsk Belt
Woven silk belt produced from the mid-18th century at the Slutsk manufactory of the Radziwiłł family in present-day Belarus, worn with the kontusz coat by Polish-Lithuanian nobility. Double-sided silk with gold and silver thread, floral and checkered borders and maker's marks woven into the ends; genuine Slutsk belts were prized across the Commonwealth and are now a national symbol of Belarus. The manufactory, founded around 1758, employed weavers from Persia and the Ottoman lands, and its belts imitated the prized sashes of the East so well that Polish nobles asked for 'Slutsk belts' in place