Naga Cotton Blanket, India

Dense with pattern, quiet from a distance, loud up close.

Naga weavers of Nagaland, Northeast India, produced this cotton blanket in the early 20th century. Blankets like this were commonly worn as shoulder cloths and marked occasion, rank or clan. Deep burgundy borders frame a cream band at the center that is worked with small stepped motifs in dark tones. Between them run bands of tiny dashes in white and gold on indigo-black. The weave is tight and flat, the fringe long and dark at the edges.

About 62 by 43 inches. A textile that rewards a second look and then a third.