Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Unknown |
Nationality or Tribal Affiliation |
Hmong |
Title |
Flower Cloth |
Type of Object |
Needlework |
Date |
Late 1970s; prior to 1988 |
Medium |
Cotton/Cotton Blend/Thread |
Collection |
Missoula Art Museum Collection |
How acquired |
Gift of Susan Lindbergh Miller in honor of Montana's Hmong Community |
Object ID |
2011.10.156 |
Statement about this object |
This flower cloth is possibly a small table cloth with prominent snail motif. Snails indicate that the work is made the Sam Neua tradition or by a maker from that region. Traditionally, the snail pattern symbolizes family, with conjoined snails, as seen here, suggesting fecundity or fertility. The surrounding triangle pattern is the mountain motif, which may symbolize strength. The cloth was purchased in Missoula it is representative of the Hmong entrepreneurship that emerged in the refugee camps, and may have been made there. Before the Vietnam War, women were able to sew only after daily farm chores were complete; the resulting flower cloths were small, ideal for use as pockets, panels, and borders on important garments. At the same time that the refugee camps displaced the Hmong agrarian lifestyle, an influx of foreign tourists and soldiers were looking to purchase souvenirs. Women used these as opportunities to create larger cloths that were functional, such as table cloths and bed spreads, or purely decorative, such as wall hangings. Relatives who had relocated oversees also sparked new interest from Western buyers, and embroiderers in the camps would export their cloths to generate income. |
Subjects |
Patterns (Design elements) Snails |