Hi all,
As I couldn't find anything on the forum about Sumbawa I thought I would start a new thread with this sarong called a Kre Alang from West Sumbawa. These sarongs were woven by aristocratic families of the Semawa ethnic group whose language seems to be related to that of the Sasak of Lombok. Textiles are predominantly cotton but some silk, probably imported from Makassar, was used. Woven patterns were produced in supplementary weft and tapestry weaves often using imported threads of silver and gold. Silver seems to have been preferred. I have never seen ikat textiles from Sumbawa. Motifs show strong Islamic influence but retain some older elements usually not found in Islamic art such as human figures and birds. Motifs of ships speak of the long history of trade with Makassar, European powers and Majapahit in East Java. Sumbawa was famous for its horses, sappan wood for red dye, rice, wax, honey and salt. Little research has been done on the textiles of Sumbawa and they rarely appear on the art market.
Best regards
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Sarong, Kre Alang, Cotton, Silver Thread Brocade 133 x 78 cen.jpg [ 460.24 KiB | Viewed 12448 times ]
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Sarong, Kre Alang, Cotton, Silver Brocade, 133 x 78 cen.jpg [ 465.89 KiB | Viewed 12448 times ]
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Sarong, Kre Alang, Cotton, Silver Brocade 133 x 78 cen.jpg [ 206.28 KiB | Viewed 12448 times ]
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Sarong, Kre Alang, Cotton, Silver Brocade UP 2014-02-03.jpg [ 417.42 KiB | Viewed 12448 times ]
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Sarong, Kre Alang, Cotton and Silver Brocade UP 2014-02-03.jpg [ 459.99 KiB | Viewed 12448 times ]
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