Antique Teak Hamsa Heddle Pulley, Stand, Burma/Myanmar (11298B)

Description

Burmese carvings are known for fine craftsmanship, masterful decoration, and functional items that include carved heddle pulleys used in strip-weaving. This process used small handlooms producing narrow strips of cloth sewn together to create larger textiles like blankets and ritual cloths. The loom’s portability allowed weavers to carry them to the person commissioning the textile to see the progress on his work. Used in pairs at the top of the loom, heddles were both functional and aesthetic and were often decorated with auspicious images symbolizing figures or animals that protected the weaver, assured good quality in the weaving, and pleased the gods and spirits, an ideology from Burma’s past of animism and shamanism. This one portrays a hamsa, a frequently used motif in Burmese art. It is a Swan/Goose-like sacred Buddhist symbol of wisdom and appears in the Jakata tales about the life of the Buddha. It is also the Hindu god Brahma’s vahana (vehicle). Carved from Burmese teak, it has an unusually long thick tail curving to its head. It stands on two connected heart-shaped panels hiding the moving thimble between them. This piece is in very good condition, is wonderfully weathered,  with minor losses with a fine patina covering its originally painted surface. Hamsa images are seen on both sacred and functional items as independent woodcarvings and images on carved reliefs and as metal “opium” weights. Although there are many contemporary copies of carvings, this heddle pulley and other antique Burmese carvings have become increasingly rare.

Click here for the blog Burmese Heddle Pulleys: Functional and Aesthetic Weaving Tools