Hunting trousers

These trousers are part of a three-piece outfitconsisting of a shirt, trousers, and cap. The base fabric of narrow, hand-wovencotton strips joined together to form a fabric surface is just as interestingas the sewing material: synthetic threads that were presumably obtained fromsynthetic fibre packaging tarpaulins. The motifs applied to the finished garmentwere not only intended to camouflage the wearer, but also to protect them fromthe spirits of slain animals. This type of painting is a version of the ‘stainresist dyeing technique’: The motifs were painted and printed with apredominantly plant-based paste and the fabric was then covered withmineral-rich mud. Only the painted areas turned black due to a chemicalreaction, while the unpainted areas took on a light brownish colour.