This long silk shoulder cloth made by the Tai Neua people combines white supplementary weft yarns onto an indigo-blue woven cotton ground. Plain indigo make up one end of the cloth while other end has motifs of elephants and lions, centipedes, small dragonships, abstract flowers, and a centre diamond design. The cloth is used as a coffin cover while the corpse is carried to the crematory.Northeastern Laos, which includes Sam Neua (Houaphan Province) is known for intricate weavings with supplementary weft (sometimes called ‘weft brocade’) designs that use raw home-grown silk, cotton and natural dyes. The intricate design weaving of phaa biang indicates its use on special occasions such as weddings.
