Over Dress Item Number: 3486/139 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
A red over dress (aksu) composed of two cloths that are sewn together along the horizontal centre. The top cloth features three decorative bands with diagonal hooked motifs in off-white against an orange and dark red background, separated by solid dark-blue bands. The bottom cloth features four decorative bands with a diamond and hook motif worked in off-white against a dark red background, and alternating red and dark-blue triangles, separated by red and dark-blue bands. The bottom border has a dark-blue band and a thin red band decorated with off-white 's' shapes, and the top border has a red band with a thin red band decorated with off-white triangles.
The aksu is an asymmetrical garment that is worn over top of a full dress made of bayeta. The lower panel generally has more coloured and patterned bands than the upper panel. The upper panel is worn folded over the bodice and pinned at one shoulder. The aksu wraps only partly around the woman’s body with the seam at the waist, over which a belt is worn. It displays the typical patterns and colours of the community where it was woven and worn.
Purchased by the donor in 1983 in Sucre, Bolivia from the shop of Elizabeth Rojas.
Woven in a complementary warp weave on an Indigenous loom, probably a staked-out ground loom.