Garments Textiles & Rugs

A hunter’s jacket from Mali, a dervish hat from Isfahan, a pilgrim’s hemp robe from Japan. Antique garments and ceremonial clothing here come from Central Asia, Iran, Japan, China, Southeast Asia and across Africa, mostly from the 20th century. Uzbek ikat chapans, robes and tunics in silk and cotton, some from Samarkand, show the bold dyeing the region is known for. Ceremonial tunics from Oku and Mankon in the Cameroon Grasslands are woven and sewn with hair and feather, and a Bambara hunter’s jacket comes from Mali.

Dervish hats from Qajar Persia sit beside Turkmen telpak and Tekke hats of wool. A Dong Taoist shaman’s robe with seven suns, a Karen beaded tunic, a Fulani yaake dance tunic from Niger and Berber dresses widen the range. Mount a tunic on a stand in a stair hall, or hang a chapan from a dowel like a painting. Clothes keep the shape of their wearers long after the wearers have gone.