Object-Woman's skirt / Hta-mein
Date- ca. 1850
Techniques- Silk luntaya ('100 shuttles' interlocking tapestry weave) cloth, cotton muslin and plain cotton weave
Place-Burma
Dimensions
Length 140 cm
Width 116 cm
Current Location-Victoria & Albert Museum
Width 116 cm
Current Location-Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number-9757(IS)
This is a beautifully patterned cotton and silk wrap-skirt known as a hta-mein. Dating to before 1855, it would have been worn by a fashionable Burmese woman on festive occasions. She would have worn it overlapping slightly in the front, revealing a portion of her leg as she walked. It would have formed an ensemble, with a fitted jacket, open in front, known as an ein-gyi, under which she would have worn a
yinzi (breast cloth). Typical of hta-mein, the central area is the focus of decorative interest and displays the unique '100 shuttles' interlocking tapestry weave known in Burmese as acheik-luntaya in lime, navy, yellow and white on a coral background. From this flows a striped coral train--the graceful management of which would have been an acquired skill.
This entry was posted
on Mar 25, 2009
at Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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Mandalay/Last Dynasty of Burma
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