Woman's head cloth (kiet)
Cambodia
age unknown; perhaps first half of 20th century
resist tie-dyed silk
width 36 1/2 x length 77 inches
provenance: collected in Cambodia by Jack Daulton
Inv. no. 23
The central field features a pagoda motif with naga (serpent) finials on the upturned eaves.
These tie-dyed head cloths are associated with the Cham or Malay (Muslim)
minority in Cambodia, but the presence of the pagoda motif suggests that this head cloth was made for a Cambodian (Khmer) Buddhist market.
References:
Gillian Green, Traditional Textiles of Cambodia (Chicago: Buppha Press, 2003), 172-179.
Gillian Green, Pictorial Cambodian Textiles (Bangkok: River Books, 2008), 61-73 (see, esp., 71-73).
