Not currently on display at the V&A

Bag

ca. 1920 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Shoulder bag (n'hpye) made of embroidered and dyed cotton. The front of the bag is embroidered in pinks, greens and navy horizontal rows of diamond shapes. Geometric patterns in red, yellow and white are embroidered onto the side panels. Made of a strip of unbleached cotton cloth (width 19 cm), of double thickness, folded in half with the fold forming the pocket, and a narrow strip of navy woven cloth (width 5.5 cm) also folded, forming the sides and carrying sling, and finished in twisted and knotted tassels.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Embroidered cotton, dyed
Brief description
Shoulder bag (n'hpye) made of embroidered and dyed cotton, Kachin State, Burma, ca. 1920
Physical description
Shoulder bag (n'hpye) made of embroidered and dyed cotton. The front of the bag is embroidered in pinks, greens and navy horizontal rows of diamond shapes. Geometric patterns in red, yellow and white are embroidered onto the side panels. Made of a strip of unbleached cotton cloth (width 19 cm), of double thickness, folded in half with the fold forming the pocket, and a narrow strip of navy woven cloth (width 5.5 cm) also folded, forming the sides and carrying sling, and finished in twisted and knotted tassels.
Dimensions
  • Length: 26cm
  • Width: 25cm
  • Tassels length: 6.5cm
  • Carrying sling length: 92cm
Credit line
Given by Mrs. M. F. Dunn
Object history
One of the articles (IS 16 to 20-1987) acquired in c. 1925 by the donor's husband, Wilfred James Dunn, during his time of service with the British Medical Corps in Burma. Dunn was stationed at Thayetmyo, Rangoon, Maymyo and Mandalay.

A white cotton n'hpye (shoulder bag) in plain weave worn by a person of the Maru an ethnic group of Kachin State, northern Burma. Decorated with side tassels and colourful geometric designs. ca. 1920. For similar example of a shoulder bag from Kachin State see 2357 (IS).
Historical context
The Maru, a farming people, are a major sub-group of the Kachins, who occupy the great tract of hill-country in Northern Burma around the headwaters of the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers.
Production
Previously thought to be from an ethnic group in the Shan States. Re-attributed to the Maru of Kachin State by Sandra Dudley of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University. 1999
Collection
Accession number
IS.18-1987

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Record createdMay 10, 2004
Record URL
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