Weavings with a Touch of Royalty

 

by Dagmar Painter 

 
 
The artistic shawls from Thailand and Laos in the Swan Ways collection are woven of handspun silk in the ancient tradition of those lands.  Weavers from Luang Prabang offered their intricately patterned shawls as tribute to the royal court.  Raising silkworms on mulberry leaves, boiling the cocoons and then laboriously teasing out strand by single strand of silk, the weavers painstakingly prepare the silk for spinning and dyeing.  Thai and Lao weavers work in similar styles, with regional variations.
 
Patterns are woven in two ancient methods, that of ikat and of supplementary weft.  In ikat weavings, the thread is wound onto the loom vertically to form the warp.  Then bunches of thread are tied together with twine knots to form a pattern.  The warp is then unwound from the loom and dipped in dye.  All the areas not tied will absorb the dye. The warp is rewound on the loom, knots are untied and retied in other places, and the warp is again dipped in another color dye.  This process is repeated until a complete pattern emerges.  The warp is then restrung and weaving proceeds with the horizontal weft threads woven in.  The result is a lovely unfocused pattern deriving from the slight seepage of dye under the knots.
 
Patterns have lovely names such as "falling rain" (little flecks of light color).  Commonly seen are hooked patterns, diamond shapes, star shapes and wavy lines. All of which combine with colors to make stylized designs such as trees,  dragons, snakes, turtles, flowers and peacocks.  These symbols come from everyday life, myths, Buddhist offerings, and good wishes.  Peacocks, for example are often used in wedding textiles because the birds are thought to mate for life.
 
An especially beautiful motif appears on the Khmer influenced textiles, that of hong birds, the Thai swans.
 
Supplementary weft technique involves inserting pattern sticks into the warp to pull forward certain warp threads, for example every third, fifth, seventh, etc. Different colored weft threads are then inserted in these areas.  There can be hundreds of these patterns inserted.  They are known as supplementary because they are woven in addition to the regular in and out weft threads, creating a dense pattern that looks embroidered.
 
The woven stoles, called pha biang, feature geometric motifs including elephants, royal lions, flowers, baskets, and propitiatory patterns used for guests, to bless the household, or in Buddhist ceremonies and monastery presentations. 
 
A particularly graceful pattern is that of the "third eye," a diamond shaped motif found in the center of the shawl.  This was said to aid in meditation.  An unusual use of color also often distinguishes these shawls.  Rather than use color to outline or enhance the motifs, scholars say the weavers often change colors abruptly and do not repeat colors, so as to divert the viewer and enhance the meditative experience.