the MAIWA JOURNAL: Wool

Wednesday, November 13, 2019 No comments

CARAVAN BLANKETS

FROM THE INDIAN DESERT

Nights in the desert can be cold. When the sun goes down and the heat of the day leaves the earth, everything goes quiet. The air can be chilly, but nomadic pastoralists keep themselves warm with these robust and dramatic wool blankets.

Caravan blankets are woven from the naturally coloured wools found in Western India's Kachchh Desert. This local wool is known as "deshi" (country) wool. It is hand-spun by elders of the Rabari community. Rabari are themselves a fabled nomadic group with a formidable presence. Their caravans can still be found on highways of western India.

These blankets are new — made in the traditional way using traditional materials and techniques. Maiwa has commissioned them especially to keep the caravan blanket alive. The weaving is done by the Vankar community who also live in India's Kachchh desert

SEE THE CARAVAN BLANKETS

A Rabari caravan on the road. Married women wear a black wool headscarf patterned with bandhani resist and embellished with embroidery. Rabari women are exceptional embroiderers with an innate sense of design.

Rabari men on the road. The young children ride on top of the baggage with the newborn animals. Rabari men carry a traditional shawl woven from light coloured wool worked with black figures.

THE CARAVAN BLANKETS

The three-panel blanket. For when you need to cover your largest bed. This piece is woven in three panels, stitched together using a decorative blanket stitch. This piece measures approximately 9 feet x 8 feet. 108" x 96" (275 x 244cm).

The two-panel blanket. This piece is woven in two panels, stitched together using a decorative blanket stitch. This piece measures approximately 4.5 feet x 8 feet. 54" x 96" (137 x 244cm). We have two slightly different versions of the two-panel blanket. See both here.

A single panel, this piece is worked in the same deshi wool, in the same pattern as the caravan blankets, however, it is too small to be considered a blanket. This piece works as a throw on the bed or the couch, or as a large shawl. This one measures approximately 3 feet x 8.5 feet. 36" x 90" (91 x 228 cm).

THE SPINNERS

Wool spinning is done by hand by the elders of the Rabari community. They often work in groups of two or three in an open courtyard protected from the sun. Here they can chat and work together. A lifetime spent working with fibres has given these women an incredible dexterity and skill.

THE WEAVERS

These caravan blankets are still woven by the Vankar community of Bhujodi. The Vankars are heredity weavers who have followed the same traditions for many generations. In modern times the family have taken their skill in new directions - expanding the range of natural dye use and the diversity of fibre types.