Assamese Silk Lampas

Lampas is a compound weave used to produce luxurious figured silks.It is an ancient technique that developed in the 11th century. It combines two structures formed from plain weave, twill and/or satin.Lampas juxtaposes two faces created from two of the above structures to create three dimensionality and lends itself well to incorporating stiff metallic threads into the fabric.Lampas silk were produced in the Indian kingdom of Assam as early as the 16th century well into the 18th century.This fragment, quite austere colorwise, has alternating gray and red rows of stylized flowers against a tan ground.