Ritual Cloth,
Nusa Penida island, Indonesia,
Cotton, silk
19th/early 20th Century
81x56 in/206x142 cm
Amongst the most subtle and compelling of Indonesian "abstract" textiles, these cloths were suggested by some to be used in tooth filing ceremonies as a blanket to ritually cover the body of the person who was being initiated. An alternative view suggested by a very knowledgeable researcher is that this type of cloth was used in the sikut karang ritual as a means to measure and define sacred space for funerary rites.

The white threads running in weft direction are all white silk (usually a pair of three silk threads separated by 6 cotton threads, followed by 20 cotton threads). In addition, the cotton threads have a supplementary very thin thread of blue silk every second cotton thread. The warp is cotton, with every 8th warp (or so) two silk warps.

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