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West Timor | early 20th c ikat sash (sikap) | Indonesia
Indonesia, West Timor, Malaka, Manulea, 1920—1940
Commercial cotton and dyes, warp ikat
A very fine, striped ikat men’s sash (sikap) woven by the Atoni people of Manulea in Malaka, West Timor in wine-red tones. The central ikat band is executed with great precision and delicacy: a grid of interlocking hooked rhombs (the kaif fundamental to Timor textile design), with green diamonds, flows down its length.
Setting off this central band is a rippling body of stripes, arranged in rhythmical, even sets of plain pinstripes combined with broken meander ikat and dash ikat stripes—paired white / blue and green / yellow pinstripes are interleaved with the dominant wine-red and beige to create a rippling color-texture. The luxuriously long textile is finished with finely twisted and knotted fringes. a lovely refined example of the festive weaving of West Timor.
Context: Manulea is the informal name for a group of districts that form an Atoni area within the otherwise Tetun Malaka, which is the heartland of the Tetun people who arrived in Timor in the 14th c. It has a distinctive textile tradition that reflects Manulea’s political separation from the dominant central / eastern Timor culture since at least the mid 18th c, the trademark of these textiles being their rich red-brown color (also found in other Atoni areas) and very fine weaving. Manulea striped ikat men’s cloths are a classic type of Timor textile, prized for their unusually detailed, sharply defined ikat. Their use of green is a distinctive characteristic of Manulea weaving. See Yeager and Jacobson, Textiles of Western Timor, White Lotus, 2002, 319, 320 fig. 226.
Sashes are used as belts and as places to stash weapons. Still used by men in present day Timor Tengah Selatan, they are worn wrapped around the waist, then knotted in front with the ends hanging down. Often, three or four belts are worn “tied with elaborate, bulky knots, as were used by the meo warriors, possibly as a protection against stabbing. Rajas and gentlemen used a slimmer knot.” (Yeager and Jacobson, 39)
Condition: The sash is in excellent condition, there are no tears, holes or stains. The colors are rich, clear, and glowing, and the cotton is soft to the touch, with a slightly sandy texture.
Length: 298 cm plus 6 cm fringes at each end. Width: 31.5 cm.
Indonesia, West Timor, Malaka, Manulea, 1920—1940
Commercial cotton and dyes, warp ikat
A very fine, striped ikat men’s sash (sikap) woven by the Atoni people of Manulea in Malaka, West Timor in wine-red tones. The central ikat band is executed with great precision and delicacy: a grid of interlocking hooked rhombs (the kaif fundamental to Timor textile design), with green diamonds, flows down its length.
Setting off this central band is a rippling body of stripes, arranged in rhythmical, even sets of plain pinstripes combined with broken meander ikat and dash ikat stripes—paired white / blue and green / yellow pinstripes are interleaved with the dominant wine-red and beige to create a rippling color-texture. The luxuriously long textile is finished with finely twisted and knotted fringes. a lovely refined example of the festive weaving of West Timor.
Context: Manulea is the informal name for a group of districts that form an Atoni area within the otherwise Tetun Malaka, which is the heartland of the Tetun people who arrived in Timor in the 14th c. It has a distinctive textile tradition that reflects Manulea’s political separation from the dominant central / eastern Timor culture since at least the mid 18th c, the trademark of these textiles being their rich red-brown color (also found in other Atoni areas) and very fine weaving. Manulea striped ikat men’s cloths are a classic type of Timor textile, prized for their unusually detailed, sharply defined ikat. Their use of green is a distinctive characteristic of Manulea weaving. See Yeager and Jacobson, Textiles of Western Timor, White Lotus, 2002, 319, 320 fig. 226.
Sashes are used as belts and as places to stash weapons. Still used by men in present day Timor Tengah Selatan, they are worn wrapped around the waist, then knotted in front with the ends hanging down. Often, three or four belts are worn “tied with elaborate, bulky knots, as were used by the meo warriors, possibly as a protection against stabbing. Rajas and gentlemen used a slimmer knot.” (Yeager and Jacobson, 39)
Condition: The sash is in excellent condition, there are no tears, holes or stains. The colors are rich, clear, and glowing, and the cotton is soft to the touch, with a slightly sandy texture.
Length: 298 cm plus 6 cm fringes at each end. Width: 31.5 cm.
price:
SOLD