Early-Mid 20th Century Karen ‘Sgaw’, Women’s Ceremonial Tunic, Burma / Myanmar

Typically used in weddings and other formal occasions, woman’s tunics from the Sgaw Karen ethnic group in Burma were primarily decorated with applied Job’s tears on a hand-spun indigo cotton ground. This example incorporates detailed rows of cotton embroidery between the vertical bands of Job’s tears, with a band of red cotton running horizontally across the bottom of the tunic. Some loss of Job’s tears.