I had not realised that the full title of the book book 'Textiles from Burma' was, in fact, 'Textiles from Burma: Featuring the James Henry Green Collection' and it is edited (rather than written by) Elizabeth Dell and Sandra Dudley. You may ask why this makes any difference. Well, the Green Collection is located in Brighton, Sussex in the UK. Some of you may have seen the beautiful book 'Burma: Frontier Photographs 1918-1935" also from the James Henry Green Collection and this was edited by Elizabeth Dell.
I discovered this further information, not from my copy of what will be a very well travelled (and expensive) book arriving from the US but from a very interesting review of the book in the February 2004 Newsletter of the Oxford Asian Textile Group of which I am a member. I have asked the editor if I can quote in full as I found it a particularly interesting review. When I get a response I will either quote in full or just some snippets depending on the response.
I have not yet visited the Green collection in Brighton but it is on my list of 'things to do' - and this has pushed it further up the list. I decided to have a look for web information on the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery website where the Green collection is housed.
http://www.brighton.virtualmuseum.info/ ... index.html takes you directly to the James Green Gallery of World Art. A link to James Green
http://www.brighton.virtualmuseum.info/ ... ctors.html has a nice outline on James Green. A Kachin textiles link on that page takes you to
http://www.brighton.virtualmuseum.info/ ... tiles.html this talks of a very interesting project to creat new (Kachin) textiles - 17 wedding outfits. Near the bottom of this page, was a small photo of two bags - a new and an old one - which are very similar indeed to Bill's puzzling bag and its 'friends' that have appeared on this thread. (Unfortunately it seems that I missed what must have been a fascinating exhibition of the textiles in 2002/03).
I have slightly enlarged the photo of the two bags which appears on the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery website. The text by the photos says:
Quote:
Some Kachin weavers own older textiles that they use as records of traditional designs. The bag on the right has been in Gwi Kai Nan's family for more than four generations. She used it as an inspiration for the new bag on the left, which was commissioned by the Museum. The design is one of the most difficult to weave and today few people know how to reproduce it. Gwi Kai Nan has been asked by many people, including foreign dealers, to sell the older bag but recognises its value as a record of her cultural heritage.
There is no reference to the particular Kachin group i.e. Jingpho. I do enjoy these 'journeys of discovery' into which these mystery textiles can lead us!
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Pamela
http://www.tribaltextiles.infoon-line tribal textiles resource