Lu woven cloth from Houa Khong Province

Photographer

Bowman, James

Date

• 1973

Summary

• Red, black and white cloth like this is woven by the Lu women of Muang Sing and Luang Nam Tha in Houa Khong Province. The cloth is customarily used as a mattress cover or bedcover. Sometimes two or three pieces of cloth are sewn together and hung to separate sleeping areas in the house. The designs are traditional Lu. This close-up shows the black designs woven into the red and white fabric. They are mythological figures which could be dragons, monkeys, horses or other stylized motifs inspired by legends and ancestors.