Panel c. 20th century

This textile panel was anonymously woven, and we can tell from its presence in this museum that someone, somewhere, valued it highly enough to preserve it. Its simple beauty invites us to reflect on the world of its making. The horizontal stripes, the bands of simple geometric patterning, and the knotted fringe, all speak of patient labor, a careful hand, and a practiced eye, though of course, it’s hard to say exactly what specific cultural traditions and beliefs may have given rise to the panel's design. Textiles like this, crafted from hand-spun and hand-dyed materials, were once far more ubiquitous than they are today. By attending to the rich details of the weaving itself, we are in a position to learn about the social and economic conditions surrounding its creation. Comparing such panels to others found in museum collections and tracing surviving records of textile production may help us to know it better.