Mandaya textile (composite dagmay) (c. early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Mandaya textile (composite dagmay) (c. early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This textile strikingly fuses two different weaving traditions and materials: abacá ikat (dagmay) for the patterned sections, and commercially or locally dyed cotton for the plain-weave intervals. This combination is an inventive Mandaya solution for creating a cloth that retains ritual meaning through its abacá ikat components, while achieving comfort, flexibility, and drape through the inclusion of cotton.

Object facts

• Title: Mandaya textile (composite dagmay)
• Date: c. early 1900s
• Culture: Philippines, Mindanao
• Type: Textile
• Technique: plain weave hemp, dyed
• Dimensions: Overall: 320 x 67.3 cm (126 x 26 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1917.747

A detail from the museum

Abacá, a banana fiber, is associated with protection, balance, and the presence of umagad (ancestral spirits).

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. G. Field Adams

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.