Vintage Tay Silk Quilt from Vietnam

From the mountains of Northern Vietnam, resides the Tay ethnicity. Some may refer to them as “White Tay”. The people of this ethnicity are typically known for their technical embroidery and handwoven blankets, used by the people for warmth during the rainy season of Vietnam. Where temperatures can get well below freezing. Their textiles can be most commonly recognized by their diverse range of colors from dyes that they produce from surrounding plants and trees in the environment. A few examples are betel, mango, and coffee leaves. What makes this quilt so impressive is that the textile is woven from silk. A single cocoon of silk from the silk worm will create a thread roughly 2000 feet long. However, it takes over 4,000 cocoons to create a single pound of silk. The silk worm is only alive for roughly 1 week before it begins its transformation into a moth. Silk worms are only active from the late spring to early fall months due to their intolerance to heat and cold. Thus it is an outstanding effort on behalf of the community to create such a wonderful textile. This textile features a stunning central woven panel consisting of two bands roughly 13″ each. Many blankets in their full form will have a boarder around the central panel to increase its size. Sometimes the boarder may be removed before selling, or replaced with a newer boarder when the previous gets old. The approximate age is over 50 years. This quilt measures 66″ x 47″ (168cm x 119cm). Interior dimensions measure 55″ x 27″ (138cm x 68cm)