Hand weaving has traditionally been an important women's industry among the various Malagasy peoples. In addition to silk, they weave cotton, bast and raffia fibers or combinations thereof into cloth for clothing and for burial shrouds.
The pattern in this finely woven cloth is carried in the warp, where narrow and wide stripes of brown, natural, green and black alternate. The natural color of the weft is invisible. The cloth is composed of two panels joined together to create a symmetrical pattern. The subdued colors derive from natural dyes.
Both men and women wore warp-stripe cloths like this one wrapped around their upper bodies. Called a lamba by some Malagasy groups, such everyday garments were removed only to execute the most vigorous tasks.
Description:
Warp stripe cloth composed of two panels joined together, with invisible natural ground (weft). The pattern is carried in the warp where the narrow and wide stripes of brown, natural, green and black alternate.
Provenance:
James Freeman, Kyoto, -- to 1987
Published References:
Fee, Sarah. 2002. "Cloth in Motion: Madagascar's Textiles Through History." Objects as Envoys: Cloth, Imagery, and Diplomacy in Madagascar, edited by Christine Mullen Kreamer and Sarah Fee. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 19, no. 19.
National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 177, no. 132.
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