Page:Burmese Textiles - 29.png

Rh the background shew between the threads of the pattern, because the group of silk threads used for the latter is so much thicker than the warp itself.

Both the large and small designs are based upon the lozenge, a large diamond, having a smaller one on each side occuring in each repeat. These lozenges are outlined in white, in the case of the larger ones by a fret border, and in the smaller by a line. A portion of the pattern has been enlarged in Figure 20a, (p. 25) and it will be seen that two different motives, and developments of them, are used as fillings for the diamond shaped spaces. The swastika occurs in its simple form outside the lozenges and in two more elaborate developments inside them. A star-like motive also occurs both inside and outside the diamonds, and is still further developed into a more floral looking spot and used as a filling for the largest lozenge.

An attempt has been made in Figure 20a to indicate the colours used in the design, but it is impossible to convey by that, or any description, the beauty and softness of the native dyes. These include brick red, rose pink, madder brown, beaver brown, porcelain blue, lemon yellow, golden yellow, dark grey, blue-green and pale yellow-green, with occasional fillings of a fine gold thread, making a perfectly harmonious whole. There is no recognised order in the arrangement of the colours, each repeat being varied according to the fancy of the worker. The ends of the cloth are turned down to form a hem, and the edge is strengthened by a binding of gold foil in the same manner as that described for the head-dress, GS 22 (Fig. 27b).

GS 21 (Figs. 21 and 21a, p. 26, 27). This gorgeously coloured piece of cloth is the edging for a woman's skirt, and belongs to a district bordering on the Chinese frontier. Chinese influence is discernable in the regularity of the pattern repeat, the great development of the square as the chief motive (Fig. 21) and the general lack of freedom in the treatment. As in the previous example, the main lines of the pattern, consisting of a border composed of a line and a row of tiny squares, are worked in white; the other colours are used at the discretion of the worker.

Magenta, red, cerise, lemon yellow, orange, royal blue, emerald green and grass green, as well as gold thread and white, are used in working the pattern, and the brightness of the aniline dyes produces a handsome and striking effect. The ends of the cloth are frayed to form a short fringe.

GS 24 (Figs. 22 and 23). The closed skirt shewn in Figure 22 (p. 28) is similar to the one worn by the woman in Figure 3, and is a fairly common type. It is, however, interesting from two points of view, the great variety of imported material used in decoration, and the beautiful border of folded cloth appliqué at e in Figure 22, which has been enlarged to shew the detail in Figure 23. The garment consists of four widths of black native cloth, each 39 cm. wide and about 95 cm. in length. At the lower hem two folds of cloth are applied to represent tucks, and just above them is the wonderful little border made up of hundreds of tiny squares of cloth, each folded twice, as shewn in Figure 23 at the left hand side of the diagram, and then stitched in place so as to overlap its predecessor. In this way a pattern of diamonds in yellow, blue, red, green and gold foil is produced, each being surrounded by a row of