Laurelhurst Fiber Art Studio & Urban Farm
Tablet Weaving * Ply-Splitting * Mindfulness * Permaculture
Sazigyo from Burma (Myanmar), with commentary by Ralph Isaacs
A very beautiful example of historic tablet weaving is the sazigyo. In Textiles from Burma, Ralph Isaacs explains, "Burmese Buddhists earned merit by commissioning palm leaf manuscripts for monasteries. Each sacred manuscript bundle had its own binding tape."
The long, narrow sazigyo was wound many times around the manuscript, and tied by a loop and cord. The weaving often included the text of a prayer, and a number of images, many with religious significance. In addition to holding the manuscript securely, the sazigyo also recorded the deed of merit.
These images are from a sazigyo which I purchased in San Francisco in February 2004. Click on any image for a larger view. Ralph Isaacs, who was Director of the British Council in Burma from 1989 to 1994, has generously provided comments on the images and their meanings.
"The weaving of these sazigyo was gainful employment, and Scherman (1913) tells how the women would breezily chat to each other as they worked! But there are also cases of devout ladies (including royalty) weaving their own sazigyo -- like the medieval pictures of the Virgin at her loom." -- Ralph Isaacs
This sazigyo is woven with fine cotton, and consists primarily of text, with several pictorial and geometric images. Excluding the loop and tie, it is 3/4" wide and 207-1/2" long. The text and images are woven in the double-faced structure consisting of 3-span warp floats in alternate alignment. There are warp twined stripes at each end. The starting loop, and a 16" long tube extending from the tapered end are also woven in warp twining.
Photos and graphs for weaving similar images are in Otfried Staudigel's book Tablet Weaving Magic.
"In broadcasting the deed of merit, the order of play is first, round bell three times; then flat bell three times; (these two alert humans and spirits of the air); the finally the staff thumping on the ground three times (for underground forces)." -- Ralph Isaacs
For more information, see the following:
Peter Collingwood, "Burmese Inscription Bands", in Strands 2004, Issue 11, Journal of The Braid Society, p. 6-12.
Ralph Isaacs, Chapter 5.2 "Burmese Textile Texts: Sazigyo", in Textiles from Burma, pages 102-113, Philip Wilson Publishers, 2003.
Kathleen Johnson, "Little Masterpieces: The Art of Sazigyo from the Collection of Herbert Haar", Sawaddi: Asian Arts & Culture by the American Women's Club of Thailand, p. 34-40.
Noel Singer, "Kammavaca Texts: Their Covers and Binding Ribbons", in Arts of Asia, May/June 1993.