- Hanging
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Hanging
- Place of origin:
Burma (made)
- Date:
ca. 1890-1920 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown
- Materials and Techniques:
Wool with appliquéd embroidery in coloured felt, wool, cotton, braids and sequins, partly painted
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by W. Braxton Sinclair
- Museum number:
IS.3-1963
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This fine Burmese pictorial textile hanging known as a kalaga was obtained by the donor, a British architect working in Burma in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It would have been used as a decorative wall hanging, a room partition, or as a screen hung outside the house on festive occasions. This example, illustrating scenes from either Burmese legends or from the Buddhist Jataka stories (which is yet to be identified), is made of stitch-work and appliqué of partly painted coloured textiles on a red wool ground. The costumes of the figures are depicted in the stylised tradition of Burmese theatre and relate to the fashions worn in the Mandalay Court of about 1880.
Britain's control of Burma extended as the 19th century progressed, and the country was annexed in 1885. The extravagant style of kalagas appealed to Burmese and Europeans alike and their popularity soared in the mid 19th century.
