Waist Wrap c. 1890

This waist wrap was woven anonymously, and we aren't certain exactly when or where it was made. We can however consider its potential function and its presence in this museum as clues. The horizontal bands of color are created with dyes from the natural world, so this piece connects us to the geography and material culture of its origin. Garments such as this one are often tied to traditional practices that have been passed down through generations. In many cultures, textiles have been used to communicate social and political messages, often in codified form. Here, as in similar examples, the weaver would have been working within a specific set of inherited conventions, and would have had to work to meet communal standards of taste. A museum context has the power to change how we engage with and interpret it. By looking at examples of similar textiles and researching the cultures in which they were produced, we can begin to understand more about their symbolic meaning.