Mandau is a stripe at mid scale, named after the ceremonial sword of the Dayak people of Borneo. The bands are woven in silk satin against wool, so the stripe is drawn as much in texture as in colour: one passage lustrous and smooth, the next soft and matt, the eye moving between the two.
The cloth is 67 per cent silk and 33 per cent wool on a 132cm width, a light satin of around 31gsm. With a rub result of 6,000 it is a decorative rather than a working cloth, best kept for curtains, blinds and cushions, where the contrast between satin and wool does its quiet work.
