Catalog: Vintage Arts (65)

Finely detailed woman’s full length three paneled tube sarong from Ende, Flores Island, Indonesia. I bought this in 1988, this was used when I bought in Ende and has remained in storage since then. All natural dyes and handspun, hand woven cotton. Pristine condition with soft and comfortable weave. W: 150cm/59in and L: 1400cm/55in.

Phallic charm from Lamphun Northern Thailand- serendipitously enough, where they have an annual sausage festival...

Nice old red and black lacquered Cambodian “siri” box, with lovely incised scrolling fern pattern This piece predates the Khmer Rouge regime and circa 60 or 70 years old. In good condition, there is no significant damage other expected signs of use and wear and the lid is a bit warped...

Semi antique, large woman’s sarong from the Stieng/Xtiêng ethic group Vietnam. Over 60 years old, this is woven from all handspun cotton threads. There is a patch, 7cm x 2cm fray on one edge and small 1cm hole. L: 203cm/79on39.8in and W: 94cm/37in.

Woman’s breast cloth from the Chin or Rakhine States, Myanmar- from the Khumi, Khami or Mro- Chin subgroup. Good condition- there is one tiny pin hole and a couple of stains. Circa 1950. L: 70cm/27.5in and W: 34cm/13.2in.

Women’s skirt from the Bahnar (Ba Na) ethnic group from the Central Highlands of Vietnam, woven from fine handspun cotton using all natural dyes. The weaving is very intricate and refined, note the use of narrow warp ikat bands throughout this piece. This is one single panel which would have used to make three other skirts. See last enlargement for a complete example. L: 2.9meter/9.5feet and W: 66cm/26in. I have two complete skirts- please contact if interested.

Rare woman’s skirt (pukhang) from the Kachin/Jingpo ethnic group, Northeast Burma. This is two panels with supplementary weft trim on the ends made of dog hair. Mostly natural dye and indigo. It is quite a durable weave with denim like feel. There is some staining, one small hole as well as a bit of dye bleeding. I could only find examples this in “Textiles of the Hill Tribes of Burma”: Michael C. Howard (plate 107) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Accession Number: 2002.312...

Large vintage “bush knife” from Lanna Thailand, this is an all purpose tool with a thick spine and very sharp edge- quite heavy as well. The blade is fixed with a steel collar and woven rattan and comes with a bamboo basket type sheath. Total L: 54cm/22.2in (blade L: 29cm/11.5in and handle L: 25cm/10.5in). This is an artisanal village made piece and not mass produced.

Basket from Northern Burma probaby from the Rawang or other Kachin related group. . Approximately 50 or 60 years old. Increasingly difficult to source, this is a fine example of Burmese tribal basketry. Condition: good natural polished feel to the surface, a couple of “breaks” on upper rim of basket. The hole in the handle lid seems to intentional, as it has the same wear as the rest of the piece. Dimensions: 20cm/8in height 15.5cm/6.2in diameter.

Beautiful Miao woman’s apron with black calendered cotton cloth, and green commercial border, and fine silk embroidered center panel with hand woven silk embellished apron ties, from Guizhou. The colors in center panel are particularly luscious and I would date this piece 40 to 60 years of age. W: 40cm/15.8in and L: 43cm/17in. Free shipping Hong Kong Registered Airmail

Rare semi antique supplementary warp silk embroidery on handspun indigo cotton, blanket from the diverse Tai ethnic group Vietnam/Laos. I collected this in Chiang Mai around 15 years ago and would date it around 50 to 90 years old. Nowadays you just can’t find this sort of textile anymore. Some minor embroidery losses but overall in very good condition. Dimensions: 80cm/31.5in x 137cm/53in.

Good woman’s skirt panel or apron from a Yunnan ethnic minority, approximately 50 to 70 years old. All the elements in this piece are hand made, even the ribbon along the border which is often machine made (even in old pieces). The beads along the edge are made of seeds. This piece has some old repairs which I have noted in enlargements. The overall embroidered pattern is a combination of white cotton while the greens and reds are either silk or a cotton and silk blend...

Exceptionally rare early 20th century small, complete betel box with za-yun pattern, emulating English embroidery stitching. There are some cracks on the lacquer surface as well minor losses on the edge (especially on the inner box) all visible in enlargements. This is a specialist’s collector piece, for real lovers of Burmese lacquer. H: 8.4cm/3.3in and D:11.6cm/4.4in

Unusually large lacquered betel container with two inner trays, from Karen ethnic group. Circa first half 20th century, some loss to the bottom. H:11.5cm/4.5in and D: 12.6cm/5in.

Women’s jacket from the Dong minority in Longsheng Terraces, Guangxi Zhuang, China. The black outer cloth is commercial denim, the lining is handmade indigo cotton with a beautiful purple hand embroidered panels on the back and upper sleeves. Some damage (please examine enlargements) but repairable or very wearable as is. Chest width 50cm/19.5in, total end to end arm length 153cm/61in and shoulder to bottom height 72cm/28.3in...

Good Karen basket waterproofed with natural tree lacquer, good condition- i.e. no damage. Circa 40 to 50 years- purchased in the 1990s in Mae Hong Song, along the Thai/Burmese border. I was back there recently and old baskets have all sold out. See last enlargement for reference.

Nice old Cambodian lacquered basket. Very few things survived the reign of the Khmer Rouge which makes old baskets quite rare. Circa 70 years old, there are some old repairs noted in the enlargements. D: 30cm/11.8in and H: 11cm/4.2in.

Nice old Karen woven bamboo lacquered box from the Thai/Burma border region, this has a few old repairs but overall good condtion. Circa 40 to 60 years old. D: 13.25cm/.2in and H: 8.53cm/33in.

Nice old black and red lacquered cylindrical woven bamboo box from Northern Thailand No holes or broken bits. L: 19.5cm/7.2in and D: 4.5cm/1.8in.

Nice antique bags from Afghanistan with exquisite silk embroidery. Bought these in Peshawar in the mid 90s. There is red satin on the larger bag is new and can be removed the smaller bag has a stain but may wash out (never tried so no guarantees). Small bag 10.7cm/4.2in x 10.cm/4.2in, larger bag is 14cm/5,5in x 16cm/6.3in.

Very old (over 50 years) which is ancient by Burmese lacquer standards. This was possibly made by the Shan who favored dramatic geometric designs over the more figural Burman style. This has some fritting on the lacquer. H: 24cm/9.5in D: 18cm/7.1in.

Very rare complete jacket back panel from the remote Miao Jiupang group from Jiahe County, Guizhou province (see last enlargement), with purple embroidered pattern between the spaces in the tin decoration. This style of decoration is unique to this group and very difficult to make, as every tiny bit of tin has to be individually cut and crimped. Recently acquired from a private Hong Kong collector, these are the first examples I have send of these I have seen in the past 10 years...

Fine and rare old Yao/Mien all hand spun and woven cotton wedding veil with silk thread embroidered geometrical design, circa 50 years old. This piece is from Kim Mien group and was originally collected in Northern Laos. The colors on this piece are subtle and restrained (please note the use of shades of brown and blue in enlargements) and the brown and white tassels. Except for a couple of tiny holes this piece is in excellent condition. W: 47cm/18.5in and L: 75cm/29.5in.

Rare semi antique supplementary warp silk embroidery on handspun indigo cotton, blanket from the diverse Tai ethnic group Vietnam/Laos. I collected this in Chiang Mai around 12 years ago and would date it around 40 to 80 years old. Nowadays you just can’t find this sort of textile anymore. Some embroidery losses and a hole along the edge (noted in enlargements) but overall in very good condition. Dimensions: 84cm/33in x 145cm/57in.

Fine and rare five paneled skirt, from the Meifu subgroup of the Li people Hainan Island, circa mid 20th century. These kinds of textiles are unique among Chinese minority weavings as they combine supplementary weft brocade and tie dye ikat techniques. The colored threads in the brocaded panel are a combination of cotton, and polyester while the rest of the skirt is hand spun cotton and indigo in an abstract and zoomorphic design- pulled apart at the seam on top, no rips or holes...

Fine and rare four paneled skirt, from the Meifu subgroup of the Li people Hainan Island, circa mid 20th century. These kinds of textiles are unique among Chinese minority weavings as they combine supplementary weft brocade and tie dye ikat techniques. The colored threads in the brocaded panel are a combination of silk, cotton, and polyester while the rest of the skirt is hand spun cotton and indigo in an abstract and zoomorphic design. There is one negligible small hole...

Fine and rare four paneled skirt, from the Meifu subgroup of the Li people, Hainan Island, circa mid 20th century. These kinds of textiles are unique among Chinese minority weavings as they combine supplementary weft brocade and tie dye ikat techniques. The colored threads in the brocaded panel are polyester and commercial white thread while the rest of the skirt is hand spun cotton and indigo. There is some minor even fraying at the bottom and a few negligible small holes...

Elegant ebony wood carving of a Balinese beauty circa 1960 to 1970- possibly older. This was obviously created for the tourist market and panders to the Western ideal of the female form of the time. I traveled to Bali in the 80s and 90s and found their arts and crafts leaning more to the impressionist side, where figures looked like the Navi from Avatar. Given its hardness and cost, ebony is usually only given to master craftsman to carve from...

Old Chin skirt, circa 1950, from the Khumi subgroup in Burma. The design is called “amtosa” although deceptively simple is really extremely complex; please note in enlargements that the reverse side of this textile does not show any of the pattern on the front. This is made on a backstrap loom of very fine homespun cotton with a beaded open work border along the selvedge. Three small repaired holes. L: 1.8m/6ft and W: 40.5cm/16in.