Peacock tea service
Fifteen pieces, a peacock on every one, and more gold than anything else we have.
$117
Dumbara ceremonial hanging
$1,400
Nine weeks, four patterns, and the only piece of its size she makes in a year.
Materials & dimensions
- Undyed hemp
- Natural black and rust dye
- Signed reverse hem
90 × 2 × 210 cm · 1.3 kg
Care
Hang out of direct sun; hemp holds its colour well but nothing survives a south-facing window. Do not wash — air it and brush it with a soft brush. Professional textile cleaning only, and tell them it is undyed hemp with natural dye.
Shipping & duties
Free standard shipping
Express $51.30
North America · 1.3 kg
Import duties and taxes are set by United States, not by us. They are not included above, and your carrier collects them on delivery.
The story
This is the piece Karunawathi builds a year around. Four of her nine patterns run in bands down its length — the elephant, the running lotus, hansa puttuwa, and a border figure she calls the rope — and each band has to be counted independently while keeping the beat consistent across all of them, because a hanging is seen flat and any drift in density shows as a shadow.
Nine weeks at the loom, not counting the warping, which takes another four days and is the part she says she dislikes. She weaves one of these a year. The pit loom her grandfather dug in 1948 is not wide enough to take two.
Edition of twelve, and she is not weaving a thirteenth. Each is signed on the reverse hem in ink and carries its number on the artisan card that ships with it.
Karunawathi Menike
Thalagune, Udu Dumbara, Central Province · working since 1986
