floor felt; numdah; textile

Rectangular cream floor felt ('numdah') with multicoloured chain stitch embroidery. The whole textile is fringed with tufts of fleece felted into the edges. The decoration is arranged in a centre panel and a narrow border. The centre panel is decorated with 4 birds, 5 four-legged animals (including a liona and a horse), 2 unidentifiable creatures, floral motifs and trees. They are surrounded with by grass. The border consists of 3 lines of elongated chain stitch. The centre one is pink and creates a zigzag. It is framed with green lines.

Felt mat, Numdah. Single face, wool. Face: natural ivory ground with animals, birds, trees and leaves in grey, brown/red, pink, green, blue and yellow in chain stitch. Border of chain stitch, fringe of ivory wool.
39 ½ in. x 30 in.
See M E Burkett, The Art of the Felt Maker, p. 94.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
1984.81
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 41.9291 x 32.0866 in.; 1065 x 815 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wool (textile); wool (hair)
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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