From the Land of the Thunder Dragon – Textile Arts of Bhutan –

“Bhutanese textiles are among the last of the major arts of Asia to gain recognition in the West, and this is the first book to present this outstanding art form in its cultural and historical context. Bhutan’s textiles, especially the intricate brocades and complex supplementary-warp patterns, are unmatched anywhere in the world. This art, with a steadily growing and devoted following in the West and Japan, has become Bhutan’s most powerful emblem abroad.

Textiles are integrated into  all aspects of life inthis Himalayan kingdom – fashioned into clothing and various kinds of containers and covers. Wild wilk, cotton, nettle, wool, and yak hair are the fibers basic tot he region. Gifts of cloth markt important social transitions such as career promotions and marriages. Textiles are critical for the practice of Buddhist ritual, providing images of deities and markers and adornments for sacred spaces. Testiles are prestige, commodity, wealth, forms of payment, and capital, as well as expressions of religious devotijn. Weavers, always women, are esteemed as artists for their highly skilled and visually stunning mastery of color, pattern, and composition. Men, often monks, embroider and appliqué religious images and assemble shrine furnishings with great skill. …”

This volume, first published in 1994 (now reprinted in 2008) in conjunction with a special exhibition organized by the Peabody Essex Museum of Salem, Massachusetts, covers all aspects of Bhutan’s textiles and weaving heritage, from the central role of women – more than 80 percent of Bhutanese women contribute to their household’s income by weaving – to fibers, dyes, and looms, to the functioning of beautiful cloth as an item of trade and an indicator of historical change and social identity. This copiously illustrated book reveals the richness, originality, and striking beauty of Bhutanese textiles. Examples come from the Peabody Essex Museum, which holds the largest such collection of any North American museum, and public and private collections in Bhutan, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The illustrations are supplemented by field photographs and rare archival images.”