A Length of Indigo Dyed Hemp: Northern Thai Miao People

contemporary
86" x 11 3/4", 218.5 cm x 29.75 cm

The cloth comes from the Hmong people who are native to the mountainous areas of Thailand, Laos, China and Vietnam. This heavy weight length is machine finished on both its short ends and was once used as the bottom of a Hmong traditional skirt.

This long piece of indigo dyed hemp is decorated with subtle resist dyed work--you can see the faintly resisted interlocking linear design that has been hand applied before dyeing.

This length was intended to be used as an elaborately pleated skirt, part of an elaborate, traditional costume.

In the center of the channel of white, undyed cloth that is a dominant design feature of the cloth and which runs down the entirety of the cloth; the contrast of this wide area of undyed cloth is in striking contrast to the delicate lattice work of the resist dyed indigo on either side of it.