Bhutanese Bedspread

This Bhutanese bedspread was woven in the 19th century. It is strip woven, composed of three individually woven panels. It is decorated with red, yellow, white, and green stripes and sequences of repeated geometric designs.

When Bhutan began its program of modernization in the 1960s, the government made efforts to ensure that Bhutanese weaving traditions would not be shunted aside in the name of ‘progress’. Their endeavor has been largely successful, and as a result textiles have remained an important component of religious and secular Bhutanese life.