1928.69.453

Collection type

Object

Description

Orange body cloth with black stripes and a central white panel with lozenge and triangle patterns in orange supplementary weft.

Long description

Orange body cloth with black stripes and a central white panel with lozenge and triangle patterns in orange supplementary weft. The cloth is formed of two lengths of orange cotton textile, with a narrow length of white cotton textile stitched in the middle with white thread. One of the orange panels has eleven evenly spaced black lines, including along each edge, each comprising four or five warp threads. The other orange panel has eighteen black lines, including along each edge, each comprising four or five warp threads and getting increasingly closer together towards the selvedge. The short ends of each orange panel have four transverse black stripes, each comprising three to five weft picks. The central white panel has a repeating pattern of elongated lozenges and triangles, these formed by floating supplementary wefts, where each pick is composed of four or five orange threads. There are also five decorative warp lines of black flanked by orange, which form lines of symmetry for the pattern. The lozenges are arranged in rows of three, with another half on either side, and all have a central black line of floating supplementary weft. The triangles are arranged in opposing rows of four. Each has a black line along the base from which four tiny triangles descend. At both ends are more lines of black and orange bundles of supplementary weft, each floating over the weave to create tiny lozenge motifs. At one end this is followed by four transverse lines of single orange supplementary weft, at the other six lines of the same. The warp ends of the cloth have been loosely twisted to form a fringe at each short edge. [JC] The textile comprises three panels (two side panels and a narrow strip of band in the middle. Each panel is attached to one another edge-to-edge using simple looping stitches. All panels are woven in warp-facing plain weave. All yarns are in Z twist. On average 13 warps and 7 wefts are counted in 1cm2 on side panels, while 17 warps and 8 wefts are counted in 1cm2 on the middle panel. Fringes are a series of loosely S-twisted bundles. On average 24 warps are twisted together create a fringe, approximately 80mm im length. Both side panels are woven predominantly with orange-ochre and black thread warp ends and orange-ochre weft threads. The narrow central band is woven using black, orange-ochre and off-white warp threads and off white weft yarns with orange-ochre and black supplementary wefts. Please see annotated image for further details. [MT 23/07/2021]

Geographical reference

India

Asia > Southern Asia > India

Cultural groups

Ao Naga

Person

Field collector James Philip Mills

PRM source James Philip Mills

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1923

Date collected

By 1923

Acquisition information

Loaned: 10/1923 Donated: 1928

Materials and processes

Material Cotton Seed Fibre Textile Plant, Material Cotton Seed Fibre Yarn Plant, Material Wool Yarn Animal, Process Woven, Process Dyed, Process Supplementary Weft Woven, Process Stitched

Dimensions

Length: Max 1640 mm, Length 1495 mm excluding fringes, Width: Max 1172 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1928.69.453

Associated publications

Reference: Naga Textiles Design, Technique, Meaning and Effect of a Local Craft Tradition in Northeast India, Main author: Marion Wettstein; Stuttgart, 2014, Page: 137

Search terms: Textile, Clothing, Status, Body Cloth