Skirt or Sin Koh, Tai, Northeast Laos, 1890-1920.
Elaborately decorated skirts of Tai women function as garments and as ceremonial covers during funerals.
The motifs possess protective qualities, shielding the living from malicious spirits. The symbols are also thought to lead and protect the deceased’s soul on its journey to heaven or the ancestor world.
Photography by Pattana Decha,
© Tilleke & Gibbins Textile Collection.