Black cloth with 2 panels each representing a dancer embroidered in silver and gold thread and sequins; figures created with appliqued-on different coloured pieces of cloth. No Ipswich number.

Collection type: Object
Description: Black cloth with 2 panels each representing a dancer embroidered in silver and gold thread and sequins; figures created with appliqued-on different coloured pieces of cloth. No Ipswich number.
Geographical reference: Myanmar (Burma)
Asia > South-eastern Asia > Myanmar (Burma); Mandalay
Person: Field collector G.R. Long; Field collector Geoffrey Rogers Long; PRM source Ipswich Museum; PRM source Patricia Margaret Maclaren Butler
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1966
Date collected: By 1966
Acquisition information: Purchased: 1966
Materials and processes: Material Textile, Material Silver Metal, Material Gold Metal, Material Sequin, Material Pigment, Process Dyed, Process Woven, Process Appliqué, Process Embroidered
Dimensions: Width 660 mm, Length 820 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1966.1.1213
Research and responses: The card and accession book entries say 'Possibly Burma'; it is almost certainly Burmese. The possible Mandalay provenance is mine (kalagas were largely made in the Mandalay area). [SD, 1996]. This is a kalaga, used by royalty or commoners as a hanging in a house or monastery, or as a coffin-hanging for royalty or other important personage (e.g. a venerated monk). Nowadays (1990s) this technique is used largely for making hangings to sell to tourists [SD]. For full text of Accession Book introduction (from Collections XVA Ipswich Ethnography A) see entry for 1966.1.1. See also 1966.1.1212 [OD 11/6/2001].

Search terms: Textile, Figure, Religion, Furniture Dwelling, Death, House-ornament