Catalog (31)

Sumatra, Minangkabau, Padang

Handspun cotton (base), plied silk thread (embroidery), natural (mengkudu) dye, plain weaving, satin stitch embroidery, drawnwork

An exquisite square textile made by the Minangkabau for ceremonial occasions, embroidered with multicolored silk roosters, ducks, flowers and plants. The naturally dyed red cotton base is divided into squares by sets of fine white pinstripes, supplemented towards the edges by green and blue pinstripes t...

Indonesia, Sumatra, Lampung, c. 1900

Handspun cotton base, supplementary weft weaving, botanical dyes, gold-wrapped thread

A large, festive tampan with a colourful geometric design of interlocking parallelograms in saffron yellow, deep indigo blue and true red, woven in supplementary silk weft over an undyed cotton base. Although the coloured threads cover the base in alternating blocks, the base exposed so as to as to form hooked lines within each unit. Frami...

Indonesia, Bali, Buleleng, Singaraja, c. 1930

Silk, aniline dyes, weft ikat (endek)

An early graphic silk body-wrapper (anteng), woven in the Singaraja area in the regency of Buleleng in north Bali, with a fine polychrome weft ikat design. Its dynamic, continuous design of shimmering white lines radiating outwards from a central column of claret lozenges is made festive by accents in apple green, mango yellow and violet. Darker, overdyed aubergine provides...

Malaysia, Sarawak, Saribas region, 1950 or earlier

Cotton, silk, supplementary weft wrapping (sungkit)

A long solid red centrefield decorated at the ends in detailed silk sungkit, depicting two rows of finely worked spirits at one end, and one row at the other. Each set of spirit figures has a distinct design, and is framed by narrow bands of stars and triangles that make the cloth sparkle. The side stripes in red, white, yellow, black and red-brown add a ...

Indonesia, East Sumba, 1970-1990

Handspun cotton, commercial dyes, warp ikat, twining

A vintage example of one of the oldest ikat patterns for men’s cloths (hinggi) made in East Sumba, called patola ratu, that has a complex netting of geometric forms. The textile is constructed from two long identical panels hand-stitched together along the warp to form a double width. The primary motifs arranged in alternating red and blue-black columns are variations o...

Indonesia, Sumatra, Lampung, Komering, Paminggir people, c. 1900

Handspun cotton base, supplementary weft weaving, botanical dyes

A large tampan with an imposing design executed in dark terracotta red-brown on an undyed handspun cotton base. A branching X-shaped structure dominates the design, its grand scale suggested by the small figures it holds within its spaces. A pair of anthropomorphic figures is placed beneath a domed structure at the top level, and an...

Indonesia, Rote, 1900-1920

Handspun cotton, botanical indigo and morinda dyes, warp ikat

A fine antique ikat shoulder cloth made up of two panels, stitched together along the selvedges. It bears the quintessential Rote lattice of blossoms, leaves and sprigs in the centerfield, woven in cream with red highlights on a deep blue-black ground. The design is distinctive for the way its lattice is sketched, but allows sprigs and buds to interrupt the diagonal lines in a nice ...

Indonesia, Lombok island, Sasak people, 1900 – 1925

Handspun brown cotton, botanical dyes, continuous and discontinuous supplementary weft weaving

A rare ritual cloth woven in handspun cotton with a supplementary weft design of anthropomorphic figures within a geometric grid of lozenges. Set out in three successive rows in a centre pane, the figures are worked in solid colours of cranberry red, dark teal and pink terracotta, with a single eye in the middle of the h...

Indonesia, Sumatra, Toba Batak, Silindung Valley; mid 20th C

Commercial cotton, natural and commercial dyes, warp ikat, supplementary warp and weft weaving, twining

A single panel with an indigo centrefield of seven bands of very long white ikat pierced lozenges. The chevrons are piled up densely at each end, and show their delicate form in the middle bands. Lying over the ikat design and extending across the wine-red side panels are five bands of colourful supplementar...

Indonesia, Bali, Singaraja, early 20th century

Imported silk, aniline dyes, tie-dye (pelangi) and stitch-resist (tritik)

A stunning silk pelangi wrapper tie-dyed in Singaraja in north Bali. Its luxurious length of 3 metres is divided along the diagonal in a bold format of different coloured triangles in plum, grape purple, soft pistachio green and mandarin orange. The colours are marked off by broad lines of stitch-resist (tritik) that produces an i...

Lau o’o mimireke

Timor Leste, Baucau or West Lautem, 1970s

Warp ikat, supplementary warp weave, discontinuous supplementary weft

A festive red tubeskirt (lau o’o mimireke) woven in the Baucau or West Lautem municipality, constructed by stitching two panels together. The wide body of multicoloured stripes is followed at each end by a design band of orange and dark brown ikat, and a solid plum band decorated with two large flowers woven in s...

Java, Solo, second quarter of 20th century

Commercial cotton, botanical indigo and soga dyes, batik tulis (hand drawn batik)

A graceful, sophisticated batik, hand-drawn in the court city of Solo and dyed in golden brown botanical soga with indigo accents on a cream ground. The main motif is a floral variant of the slanting parang (knife), one of the most foundational of batik motifs. The gently curving lines of this variant make it resemble a...

Lembata, Lamalera, Lamaholot people, mid 20th century

Handspun cotton, botanical indigo and morinda dyes, warp ikat

This is a lovely panel, made up of bands of ikat in three colours—indigo, morinda and natural—interleaved with solid rust-red bands and deep indigo stripes. The broadest ikat band has a composite figurative motif tena tuba moku (boat harpoons manta ray) representative of local life. A large fishing boat (tena, seen in cross-section) carri...

East Flores, Ili Mandiri, Bama, Lamaholot people, 1920 – 1940

Handspun cotton, natural morinda and indigo dyes, warp ikat

Woven in handspun cotton with fine 3-colour ikat bands on a mangosteen red ground, this kewatek méan (woman’s red cloth) is the most prestigious type of the ceremonial cloths made for marriage gift exchanges. It is fully covered in ikat bands executed on an overdyed dark purplish ground, the widest bearing a detailed lozenge motif within ...

Indonesia Java, Banyumas, mid 20th century

Commercial cotton and dyes, hand-drawn batik (tulis)

A dramatic ceremonial square that contrasts the cherry red square diamond (tengahan) reserved in the center with a surrounding hand-drawn design of diagonal bands alternating between rows of parang klitik (small broken knife), and an organic flow of leaves and butterflies. Overlaying the diagonal bands are ground plants with large red flowers. The geometr...

Indonesia Java, Banyumas, 1920 – 1940

Commercial cotton, natural dyes, hand-drawn batik (tulis)

A graphic breast wrapper (kemben) hand-drawn with a distinctive batik pattern in the town of Banyumas in central Java. The striking ceremonial format contrasts the deep red elongated diamond reserved in the center with a surrounding batik design of natural motifs (a type of pattern called lung-lungan), in classic Banyumas colours of dark indigo and man...

Java, Solo / Lasem / Pekalongan, 1950s

A fine waistcloth (kain panjang) hand-drawn separately in Solo, Lasem, and Pekalongan to create a beautiful design that blends their 3 distinct styles. The sparkling blue leaves, petals and birds drawn and dyed in Pekalongan are filled with fine, feathery patterns, enhancing the richness of the design; the vivid red leaves and flower centres drawn and dyed in Lasem have bold, dramatic white designs; and the warm, golden-brown soga...

Dowry cloth, pillow cover

Rajasthan, Jaisalmer, Sindh people, Mahar group, 20th century

Hand woven cotton, cotton and silk floss, mirrors, khaarek, interlacing and jat embroidery

A highly decorative squarish piece of lavish embroidery on handwoven red cotton, pieced from three pieces of cloth (see image 2 for the joins). Its design consists of a central square surrounded by 8 squares, all patterned with khaarek silk embroidery in differ...