tribaltextiles.info

I am new to your forum and know very little about textiles - so please excuse any errors. I have been seeking help on identifying some textiles that have been in my family since the 1950s and are likely older than that. I have been communicating with Pamela who suggested that I post my request on your form. She thought that the major piece is a Jingpho woman's skirt from Kachin state in Myanmar. I will attempt to attach a photo. The piece measures 59 X 27 inches (150 X 70 cm) and is made up of three strips, 8, 9 and 10 inches wide. It was originally part of a more complete costume but other parts have been lost over the years. I will also include a photo of a bag that went with the costume. It is a little the worse for wear having been used as a tote bag back in the 1960s. The wicker flask also came with the costume. It contains dry leaves. I don't know if it is part of the set or was simply used to keep insects away. I do remember the costume originally included a necklace made of hoops of plant material and decorated with small buttons. Any further information any of you can give on the origins and function of these pieces will be appreciated. As children we never figured out how it all went together.

Not sure if I have added the photos correctly. There should be 4 of them. These are all low resolution files so the detail is not that good.

Congratulations on your first post - with photos! I slightly edited the detail shot to reduce the width and increase the quality.

I have just been searching the forum for 'Kachin' and found this thread with the remnants of an old tunic/blouse which has similar weaving to your skirt viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1440&hilit=kachin

Also, have a look at this long thread - several pages - for a 'puzzling bag' which is probably the most looked at thread on the forum. The bag turned out to be Kachin and there are some others from the same area. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=108&hilit=kachin Not quite like your bag but with some similarities. I put together a photogallery of Kachin bags http://www.tribaltextiles.info/Gallerie ... n_bags.htm and gave some background on Kachin (a word used both as an place and a group - which has several sub-groups) including Jingpho.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

The image of the kachin tunic that Pamela posted looks very similar to my skirt. I don't know how old mine is. It certainly was old when we acquired it in the 1950s. Although the bag has many difference from the posted images - one similarity is that the strap continues on to form the edges of the main body of the bag. Both pieces of fabric have a black background with periodic stripes of coloured thread in the warp. Each stripe has outer threads in one colour and an inner one in in a different colour. Other patterns can be seen superimposed over these.

http://www.marlamallett.com/b-6713.htm I found an image at this link that looks very like my bag. It is a commercial site but shows a man' bag from Kachin area with very similar colours and decoration to mine. The buttons that decorate it are very like those I remember from the necklace mentioned in my first post. Thanks Pamela for the input.

Indeed. In years past Marla has contributed to the forum. She deals with a considerable range and depth of textiles. Her Kachin attribution fits with what is emerging for the rest of this group of your textiles. The back view of Marla's textile also echos the motifs in your skirt.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource