CIRCA: 1950 / mid 1900’s
A five panelled woollen blanket from the far north-western Dolpo region of Nepal – a (once) very remote region behind the Himalayas bordering on Tibet – which was first woven in long narrow strips on a back-strap loom in the weft-faced weave technique, and the strips then cut to size and stitched together once off the loom. It is made from fine glossy highland sheep’s wool and a mix of aniline and natural dyes – the red being finely abrashed throughout – and the size is 205cm x 112cm. There is a very small tear at one end, and a few very very very small spots of moth damage (to gauge the small size of the spots, one can be seen in the red panel lower left photo) that were there when collected (note; the piece has since been treated so is free of those pests), and some smudges of the natural dyed red colour (that was not solidly ‘fixed’ when in the dye bath); otherwise it is in good condition. it was collected in Nepal in the mid 60’s when the Dolpo region was not only undeveloped for tourism, but strictly off-limits / forbidden for foreigners to visit unless given special Nepal government permission, which at the time was only granted for scientific or ethnographic studies. Because of the remote location where they were made these particularly coloured blankets became know as ‘Dolpo blankets’ and are referred to as such. This is the first time on the market since being collected, having been in the one collectors hands since then.