Chinalai Tribal Antiques, Ltd.

po box 815, 52 woodville road, shoreham, ny 11786
tel. (631) 821-4272, fax (631) 821-4272, chinalai@optonline.net

TEXTILES

While we consider ourselves fortunate to have the opportunity to handle a variety of indigenous material, a big chunk of our hearts has been given over to textiles and costume.  We have especially enjoyed helping to build collections for museums and private collectors with the capacity to group pieces together: the textiles then reflect not only technical and esthetic diversity, but a diversity of geographic and cultural backgrounds, group customs and individual talent and sensibility.

It is impossible to illustrate that diversity here since a collection can range from the microcosm of one sub-tribe, village, family, or even individual, to the macrocosm of a tribal group, state, province or entire region or country.  With this in mind, we nevertheless begin with a very fine and clear silk ikat pidan (altar hanging) from Cambodia (today's Kampuchea) and end with a Miao embroidery from China.