Nice piece Chris. I am no expert and actually feel like I know little about Lao textiles, as there is so much to learn and much is still not known due to lack of research. I have, however, been privileged to have had two old shaman cloths of the type called 'Phaa Phii Mon' ("phii mon" is a shaman in Lao; in Thai it would be "maw phii") , and can only offer some observations. First, the use of silk warps, if colored with indigo, is surprising. It is widely known in Laos that indigo corrodes silk over time, and consequently only cotton is dyed with indigo. If the warps are silk, and are dark blue, they are probably not indigo, hence the use of synthetic dye. Older Lao textiles did not use synthetic dyes. I cannot state categorically when these dyes became prevalent, but in my experience, the older textiles (40+ years?) all use indigo on cotton, and usually the cotton is handspun. That said, your piece appears to have hard use, so one would perhaps think it an older piece... a bit of a conundrum here. Interesting that you mention the silk possibly becoming fuzzy with scrubbing: fuzzy silk is only found on newer Lao textiles... I do not know why, but it's not because of washing, tho it may have something to do with the handling of the threads/yarns before weaving. I'm not saying yours has this quality, just noting that it is a feature to look for when trying to determine relative age.
Another way in which it does not conform to the old pieces is patterning: the old pieces (19th century/early 20th century) are lushly covered with imagery in a natural cream colored silk with very random color accents. The randomly colored accents are typically used only on shaman cloths, according to Patricia. Your piece is colorful by comparison.
The lack of fringe is consistent- the old pieces were finished at each end with applique bands of colored cotton and edged with small knots with clipped ends forming a very short fringe.
The pieces I had were from Houa Phan Province and were Tai Daeng. I think Tai Daeng attribution may be more likely considering the quote Pamela cites and the fact that they produced most of the shamanic textiles. Your piece could well be a shaman's scarf, but woven more recently (later 20thc.) as an evolution from the earlier style, or from another area in northern Laos. Attribution can be difficult as small communities may do things differently from their neighbors and may be remote from certain influences.
A published example can be found in Textiles and the Tai Experience in Southeast Asia by Gittinger and Lefferts; p.221 and 227. It has a similar appearance to the old pieces I've had, and the materials also are the same, with "blue black cotton warps".
I think you are really brave in washing it, tho I understand your thinking. I'm glad it worked out. I like to use baby shampoo, tho it may not clean as well as detergent.
|