Detail of brocaded motif on hipstrap loom woven skirt fabric from Colotenango, Guatemala Central America.
Detail of eyedazzling woven woollen blanket from Quechua peoples of Santiago del Estero in the Chaco region of northern Argentina, South America.
Bhutanese brocaded fabric with supplementary weft brocading. Woven on a hip-strap loom. Bhutan.
Bhutanese brocaded fabric with silk supplementary weft brocading. Woven on a hip-strap loom. Bhutan.
Brightly coloured woollen textile with Buddhist iconography. Bhutan.
A stack of Bolivian woven woollen textiles as sold in La Paz, Sucre, Tarabuco and Potosi; also sold in Cuzco, Pisac, Lima (Peru); and San Pedro de Atacama (Chile).
Close up of hands and woven shawl tied around red poncho of a Quechua speaking man in distinctive hand woven tribal costume. Tarabuco is famous for its Sunday market. Bolivia, South America.
A stack of Peruvian & Bolivian woven woollen textiles as sold in La Paz (Bolivia), Cuzco & Pisac (Peru).
Tapestry woven silk luntaya. Burmese skirt cloth. Burma.
Sequined, appliqued & embroidered textiles called kalaga were traditionally used as coffin covers, Mandalay, Burma. Elephant design.
CHINA. Detail of a sumptuous dragon robe, brocaded with golden threads and silk on an indigo ground. Silk tapestry weaving, Kesi. China.
Felt and applique fabric from Xinjiang, China. Sold in Kashgar and routes along the Karakoram Highway. Kashgar is at the Chinese end of the Karakoram Highway, running from Islamabad, Pakistan. Uyghur, an ethnic minority of mixed Turkish decent which ruled northern Mongolia in the 7th and 8th centuries. Kashgar has been a fabled city on the Silk Road for thousands of years and is home to one of the world's great Bazaars. Every Sunday locals and tourists travel great distances to come to the Bazaar.
Detail of an applique decorated fabric with the eye of Horus on a red background with green trim. Luxor, market. Egypt. An ancient symbol of wisdom.
Detail of an Asafo flag, Fante people, Ghana. Insignia from peoples militia. African textile FREEDOM.
An Asafo flag, Fante people, Ghana. Insignia from peoples militia. African textile. A steam train and colonial figure form part fo the design.
Brocaded bird on handwoven textile. Nebaj, El Quiché, Guatemala. The quetzal is a national symbol. Woven by the Photographer.
Colourful, embroidered blouse ('huipil') from San Mateo Ixtatan, Huehuetenango, Guatemala.
Selection of brightly coloured, woven shawls ('zutes') for sale at market, Chichicastenango, Guatemala.
Detail of a silk embroidered Pulkhari textile from India. Depicting Indian women in Saris.
Detail of an applique shrine textile from northern India, depicting a ruler being carried on a palanquin.
Detail of a silk embroidered Pulkhari textile from India.
INDIA. Rare textile from the little visited Naga hills area of India. Geometric brocading in wool. Nagaland, India.
Embroidered Banjara fabric with geometric star shaped patterning India.
Printed Indian textiles for sale in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India.
Printed Indian textiles for sale in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India.
Detail of Rajasthani textile, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India.
Detail of Rajasthani textile, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India.
Woven wool textile with Geometric motifs from Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalayas.
Prayer flags at a mountainside monastery, Leh, Ladakh, India.
Detail of geometric motif on hipstrap loom woven ikat decorated shawl from Timor, Indonesia.
Tie dyed fabric Plangi decorated silk fabric, Bali, Indonesia.
Detail of Tapis skirt from the Lampung region of Sumatra, Indonesia. Paminggir or Abung people. Southeast Asia.
Ceremonial cloth and sacred heirloom. Dodot. Silk plangi decorated textile from Lampung, Sumatra. Indonesia.
Detail of anthropomorphic motifs on a Sumbanese hinggi. Ikat patterned textile. Sumba, Nusa Tengarra, Indonesia.
Plangi (a tie-dye method) decorated silk fabric, Bali, Indonesia.
Plangi (a tie-dye method) decorated silk fabric, Bali, Indonesia.
Grinsing / geringsing. A rare double ikat woven fabric from the Bali Aga village of Tenganan, Bali.
Beadwork textile depicting anthropomorphic motifs. Decorating a baby carrier from Borneo. Iban people of Kalimantan. Also used in neighbouring Sarawk, Malaysia.
Hand waxed batik from Cirebon, Java, Indonesia. Inspired by Chinese ceramics. Southeast Asia.
A colourful woven and embroidered Kurdish textile, probably from northern Iraq. Sold throughout the Middle East and an exquisite example of the textile traditions of this part of the world.
Tie dye Plangi textile on raffia. Dida panel, Ivory coast, West Africa.
Obi. A broad, woven sash used to tie round a kimono, laid onto a tatami mat in in a traditional Japanese home, Nara prefecture, Japan. Tatami is constructed from finely woven rushes. Japanese Rooms are measured by how many tatami they can accommodate.
Stack of sumptuous silk kimonos, Japan.
Brocaded ceremonial banner at Kiyomizu-dera (Kiyomizu temple) One of Kyoto's main attractions sights. Japanese textile. Temple on this site since 778 AD. Kyoto, Japan.
Selection of Masai textiles as used in Kenya and Tanzania. Photographed in Kenya, Ambroselli National park.
Intricately decorated tribal costume from the hilltribes, Laos.
Warp ikat from Borneo. Detail of an Iban fabric with anthropomorphic motifs from Sarawak, Indonesia.
Warp ikat from Borneo. Detail of an Iban fabric with anthropomorphic motifs from Sarawak, Indonesia. The textile type is called a Pua Kumbu.
Embroidered fabric, made by Moroccan Jews, Morocco.
Detail of red and indigo blue brocading on an Oshugbo secret society textile from Nigeria. African textile Yorubaland.
Detail of a Yoroba tie dyed indigo stitch resist adire textile from Nigeria West Africa.
Ornately decorated Hazara matrimonial pillow covers Silk embroidery Katawaz Cushion Cover Acquired in Swat Valley Pakistan.
Stack of everyday and ceremonial, hand embroidered silk and woven fabrics from Pakistan.
Appliqué decoration applied to blouses (Molas's) of the Kuna Indians, San Blas Islands, Panama.
Appliqué decoration applied to blouses (Molas's) of the Kuna Indians, San Blas Islands, Panama. Scorpion motifs
Appliqué decoration applied to blouses (Molas's) of the Kuna Indians, San Blas Islands, Panama. Lobster motif.
Andean fabric from Peru as sold in the markets of La Paz, Bolivia and Cuzco & Pisac, Peru.
Ancient preColumbian tapestry fragment from Peru. Ancient textiles have survived in the arid conditions of the coastal deserts of Peru and northern Chile. South America.
Kuba Cloth, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire).
Tapestry ribbon from the Cusco area, Peru.
Double headed eagle motif on a hip-strap loom woven huipil from Nahualá
Detail of supplementary warp brocading on a Sumbanese fabric Sumba Indonesia.
Silk embroidered textile, Hmong hilltribes, Northern Thailand.
Detail of Tapis skirt from the Lampung region of Sumatra, Indonesia. Paminggir or Abung people. Southeast Asia
Selection of hand woven carpets laid out outside a shop, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Suzani. Silk embroidered textile from Uzbekistan.
Antique embroidered textile on an indigo ground, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Embroidered caps, Urgut market, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Flower Hmong textiles for sale on a market stall, Coc Ly, Vietnam.