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VISITS
24
Mary Kinipple’s collection of Tibetan textiles
Eleven of us gathered at Mary Kinipple’s cottage on the Ridgeway on Saturday 18 August to
view her collection of Tibetan textiles, Our hostess describes herself as a weaver, but she is much
more than that: she has a small flock of sheep whose wool she spins herself and dyes with the
product of plants grown in her garden.
Mary has made four extended visits to Tibet, the most recent being last year, and she
clearly has an affinity with the Tibetan people. As about half the group had also visited Tibet,
they were able to add much informed input to the discussion, making it an altogether memorable
occasion.
Tibet, as we could see from the excellent map she had on display, is a much bigger country
than I had realized, and Mary’s travels have been mostly confined to the south and west of the
country, the most populous part; even so, she has covered about 2000 km in all.
She opened the proceedings by giving a talk, lavishly illustrated by colour slides,
which showed not only spinning, weaving and dyeing being practised, but the finished products in
use in a context of home, celebratory situations and the wide open spaces, shown in stunning photographs.
Most hand-weaving is done on narrow looms, producing a cloth about 30 cm wide
or even less, and although wool is the most common fibre, some ramie is also used for
lighter weight fabrics, while tents are invariably made of yak hair, which can also be used
for rugs and saddlecloths.
The yak is a very useful animal, providing as well, transport, milk and meat, and the huge
whisk of hair at the end of its tail is a prominent decorative feature, especially on horse trappings.
Pile textiles are used a lot not only for carpets but for bedding and clothes, the pile being on the
inside for greater warmth. You will recall that Chris Buckley wrote an article on Tibetan pile
Mary with her Tibetan hosts on one of many trips to investigate weaving techniques