01/28/2023
Good Saturday morning world. Thank you God for this new precious day and for the Freedom, Joy and blessings that I enjoy by your Grace. I hope everyone had a safe and blessed night.
Today we will continue posting selective pieces from the Asian Cultural Art Collection, on hand at culturalpatina. Please visit culturalpatina.com and culturalpatina.etsy.com to see this extensive collection.
Our first piece in the collection for the morning are Two Pieces of Vintage Hand Woven and Dyed Cotton Table Runners from Chiang Mai, Thailand. These were purchased some 45 years ago in Chiang Mai from local hill tribe weavers. They are hand made on a back strap loom and dyed with natural dyes.
Condition: In mint condition.
Dimension: 59" x 19" in size.
Our second piece for the morning is a set of Three Vintage Hand Made Extra Large Silk Pillow Shams in Homong Patterns from Chiang Mai, Thailand. Purchased some 45 years ago from a silk weaving shop in Chiang Mai. My wife originated the design and specific colors. These were then hand made from Thai Silk, at the shop from their own silk worms. Four of these were made, one of these ended up being framed professionally and now hangs as a piece of cultural art in our guest room. These are the remaining three, one of a kind pieces in really great colors.
Condition: They are in mint condition and a real piece of art.
Dimensions: 19" x 19" in size.
Thai silk manufacturing process: from silkworms to silk fabric: Thai silk, like any other silk in the world is made from the cocoons of silkworms. Silkworms are the caterpillars or larva of the domesticated silk moth (Bombyx mori, family Bombycidae).
The production of Thai silk begins by raising silkworms on a steady diet of white mulberry leaves (Morus alba). This process is known as sericulture. For the first month the silk worms feed on mulberry leaves. Only after the whole month of growing the caterpillars form the cocoon containing the silk.
At this stage the cocoon is taken from the mulberry plant and boiled, to separate the silk thread from the silk worm. Since a single thread of silk from the cocoon is too thin to be used alone, Thai weavers combine more threads to obtain silk thread for handmade weaving. To do this silk weavers hand-reel the threads onto a wooden spindle to produce a uniform strand of raw silk. The process is very labor intensive, as it takes nearly 30 hours to produce a 0.5 kg (around 1 pound) of Thai silk. Did you know that a single cocoon can produce up to 1.5 km (almost 1 mile) of silk thread!
Natural Thai silk can have a variety of colors, ranging from yellow to green. Even though most of the time light golden is characteristic of the region. The next step is to dye the silk thread. In the past, the only dye used was from aniline plants which made the fabrics blue. Today many chemical dyes are used and more colors are possible. One of the most unique characteristics of Thai silk is the color variation depending on the angle you look at silk fabric from. This shimmering appearance is given by the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fiber which allows Thai silk fabric to refract incoming light at different angles thus producing different colors.
Thai silk fabric is then produced with a bamboo loom. The techniques vary depending on the type of silk that is being produced. For instance, plain weave is the simplest method of weaving; the weft thread passes over and under each ward thread, then under and over on the following line. And from here beautiful Thai silk fabric travels directly to local manufactures to use.
Our third and final piece for the morning is a Exceptional Vintage Chin beaded Tunic from Inle Lake, Myanmar, Hand woven cloth, adorned with small red glass beads and cowrie shells in an intricate pattern.
Condition: One small repair on the back side of the tunic which adds to its cultural uniqueness. In very good condition given its age, which is estimated to be the mid to very early 1900’s.
Chin is one of the ethnic groups in Myanmar. The Chins are found mainly in western part of Myanmar in the Chin State and about a population of 1.5 million. They also live in nearby Indian states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur and Assam. Owing to Mizo influence and Baptist missionaries' intervention, 80%-90% of the population are Christians. However, a sizeable minority of the Chin adhere to their traditional tribal beliefs and Theravada Buddhism. Traditionally, the Chin were animists.
The Chin are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in Myanmar. The Chin people are Tibeto-Burman groups and they probably came to Myanmar, especially the Chindwin valley in the late 9-10 century A.D. Most Chin people moved westward and they probably settled in the present Chin State around A.D 1300-1400 A.D.
There are many tribes among the Chin people such as Lai, Tedim, Asho and Cho. Three major tribes of the Chin are Tedim, Falam and the Hakas. For want of a more acceptable common name they are usually called the Chin-Kuki-Mizo people, bringing together the three most common names for them whether given by outsiders or themselves. Bawn tribe in Southern Mizoram State and Bangladesh are descendants of the Lai tribe. This Chin, Mizo, Zomi, and Kuki people are scattered into three countries-Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India.
The realization that these are of one and share common dialectical root and customs even though separated by international and state boundaries brought about movements for Unification of the occupied territories and of the people. (Source:Myanmar People. Net)
