Dress Mat

Item number 2925/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Woven, almost square, patterned mat. Woven design is in shades of beige, light brown and black which form wide horizontal and vertical bands, diagonal bands along the edges and a dark and light H pattern in the horizontal bands. There is a thicker border woven over the mat on both sides, about 5 cm from the edges, that runs all the way around the square. The back is similar to the front except much of the black area is done in a light brown weave so the H design is in beige and light brown.

History Of Use

Traditionally worn as dress mats, called jaki-ed. Women made the mats, and wore them in pairs, one at the front and one at the back, secured with a belt. Men typically wore a single mat tucked into a belt at the front, passed between the legs, and tucked into the belt at the back to form a sort of loincloth. The weaving of this type of mat had declined but has now been revived by contemporary Marshallese artists.