Not currently on display at the V&A

Blouse

late 19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Sleeveless long indigo coloured blouse. The lower half of the garment from below the armpits is covered with bands of seed of coix lacryma (Job's Tears) and a single band of red cloth rests on the hips. Neckline and armholes are highlighted with red cloth and Job's Tears.

Made by sewing together two lengths of cloth , to form a central seam and then folding the fabric in half (the fold forming the shoulders). Holes are left in the upper corners for the arms and another opening left in the centre seam for the neck.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Plain weave cotton, indigo-dyed, embroidered with Job's tears seeds and thread
Brief description
A long blouse of a woman of the Sgaw, a sub-tribe of the Karen. Indigo blue, plain weave, heavily decorated with bands of Job's Tears and red cloth. late 19th century.
Physical description
Sleeveless long indigo coloured blouse. The lower half of the garment from below the armpits is covered with bands of seed of coix lacryma (Job's Tears) and a single band of red cloth rests on the hips. Neckline and armholes are highlighted with red cloth and Job's Tears.

Made by sewing together two lengths of cloth , to form a central seam and then folding the fabric in half (the fold forming the shoulders). Holes are left in the upper corners for the arms and another opening left in the centre seam for the neck.
Dimensions
  • Shoulder to hem length: 76.2cm
  • Width: 61cm
Credit line
Given by Mrs. C. Fitzroy
Object history
1882 Register describes this as a jacket and that it is decorated with rows of a kind of grass seed called "Job's tears" (coix lacryma), obtained in the Kassia Hills, Aracan (former name of Rakhine State of Burma).
Received 2 January 1882
Production
Sandra Dudley, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. 1999 attributes this blouse to a woman of the Sgaw a sub-tribe of the Karen who live mainly in the south and south east of Burma.
For further examples see IND.LOST.472:1; 6550 (IS); 05436 (IS); and Pitt Rivers ACC;1957.1.23: BOOK NO: XVI 157
Bibliographic reference
Kopania, Izabela; South-East Asia: Studies in art, cultural heritage and artistic relations with Europe; Polish Institute of World Art Studies & Tako Publishing House, 2012, ISBN 978-83-62737-27-7 p. 189, fig. 4; Sau Fong Chan
Collection
Accession number
IS.25-1882

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Record createdFebruary 23, 2004
Record URL
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