Title
Ceremonial shoulder or head cloth
Year/Period
Early mid 20th century
Region
Northeastern Laos
Dimension
Object size: H:240.3(with tassels) x W:41.5 cm,
Gross measurement: H:218.3(w/o tassels) x W:41.5 cm
Gross measurement: H:218.3(w/o tassels) x W:41.5 cm
Accession No.
T-0689-A
Collection of
This long silk shoulder cloth made by the Tai Neua people is known as ‘phaa biang'. It consists of a central section of plain red, while the other end has a large red diamond motif that is thought to represent the third-eye. During rituals, the cloth is folded lengthwise in three and the centre of the large diamond is set on the forehead. The rest of the cloth has elaborate decorative ends with motifs of 'saang hong' (half elephant, half bird) and other geometric motifs.Northeastern Laos, which includes Sam Neua (Houaphan Province) is known for colourful and intricate supplementary weft weaving using raw home-grown silk, cotton yarns and natural dyes.
