Ha Li ceremonial skirt

Chinalai Tribal Antiques, Ltd.

Ha Li cotton and silk tube skirts like this circa 1900 example from Hainan, China, tell the story of ancestors, lineage, community and communal events like the procession, very likely a wedding, depicted in the wide band just above the middle displaying guardian figures wearing horned headdresses (whether soldiers, deities or both), and an occupied palanquin. In supplementary weave with some embroidery, mini figures, whether representing those in attendance or Ha Li ancestry, occupy the band of diamonds above and in multiple narrow rows below: they look very much like the rows of ancestors in ritual “ghost covers”. Many of these figures appear to be dancing, as would be appropriate for a wedding or other ceremony or festival. The skirt is constructed of four joined sections of cloth likely woven on a backstrap loom.

$3,900.00

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