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  • Full-view of the yellowed shirt’s front, densely populated with illustrations of mythical characters, grids and symbolic writing. It has a placket secured by ties and a round collar.
  • Detail-view of the yellowed shirt’s front, populated with illustrations of mythical characters, grids and symbolic writing in red and black. Its placket is secured by ties and has pockets.
  • Detail-view of the yellowed shirt’s front, populated with illustrations of mythical characters, grids and symbolic writing in red and black. Its placket is secured by ties and has pockets.
  • Detail-view of one sleeve of a yellowed shirt, densely populated with illustrations of mythical characters, dragons, geometric symbols, rectangular grids, and writing in red and black.
  • Detail-view of the front of one sleeve of a yellowed shirt, embellished with four grids separated by illustrations of mythical figures holding flowers, rendered in black and red.
  • Complete view of the back of a yellowed shirt, densely populated with a symmetrically arranged composition of mythical characters, Buddha, dragons, geometric symbols, grids, and writing in black and red.
  • Detail-view of one sleeve of a yellowed shirt, densely populated with illustrations of mythical characters, geometric symbols, rectangular grids, and writing in red and black.
  • Detail-view of the shirt’s back with a circular diagram with a seated figure at the center. Various grids, organic lines, and illustrations of people and animals surround it.
  • Detail-view of one sleeve of a yellowed shirt, embellished with a wide rectangular grid filled with small symbols and surrounded by mythical characters and a dragon figure.
  • Detail-view of the shirt’s back with a circular diagram with a seated figure at the center. Various grids, organic lines, and illustrations of people and animals surround it.

Unknown Maker, Burmese

Yantra (talismanic shirt)

Maker

Unknown Maker, Burmese

Culture

Burmese, Shan

Title

Yantra (talismanic shirt)

Year

mid 1900s

Medium

  • Silk; plain weave,
  • painted,
  • inked

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Silk; plain weave,
  • painted,
  • inked

Materials

silk

Geography

Place Made: Myanmar

Dimensions

49.5 x 154.9 cm (19 1/2 x 61 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2002.11.7A

Type

  • Costume

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World
Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

In many parts of Asia, garments worn for rituals often include depictions of natural elements considered sacred and divine. Worn by high-ranking Daoist priests during formal rituals, jiangyi are usually adorned with auspicious designs. This example is covered with cranes and mythical animals.

People of the Shan State in Myanmar and Northern Thailand use yantras, or geometric diagrams with animal designs and inscriptions, to ward off evil spirits. Yantras are commonly painted on textiles, as seen on this undershirt, or tattooed on the body.

—WC

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Burmese
Yantra (talismanic shirt), mid 1900s
Silk; plain weave, painted, inked
49.5 x 154.9 cm (19 1/2 x 61 inches)
Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 2002.11.7A

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Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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