Naga Beaded Wrap / Skirt

A black cloth stitched with tiny white dots and rows of thread drips.

This Naga beaded wrap or skirt in wool and shell is Naga, from Nagaland, Northeast India, and dates to the 20th century. The Naga are related peoples of the hills of Nagaland and neighboring areas, and their woven cloths often indicate clan, status and community through color and pattern. A wide rectangle of near-black fabric with a faint gray stripe across the lower half. Small white dots line the upper area, each with a thin red or orange stitch trailing downward in uneven lengths. It is 51 inches wide and 30 long.

Sparse, dark, and precisely as dramatic as it needs to be.