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I have just had an email from Marla Mallett asking if the forum could give her some feedback on an Indonesian ikat which she acquired with some pieces from Sumba. She is not sure that this striking indigo ikat is from Sumba or whether it is from another island.

Any thoughts...?

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

At first glance I immediately thought Sumba. I am not sure where else it would be from. It is not my specialty area, so I could be wrong.

Bill

Hi Bill - good to 'hear' from you!

I agree re this textile and Sumba. I have just had a look in 'Decorative Arts of Sumba' published by the Pepin Press ISBN 90 5496 050 7. It has artefacts, including many textiles, from the collection of the Museum voor Volkenkunde (Museum for Ethnology) in Rotterdam. In the book there are three or four all indigo hinggi on pages 88-89 there is one in particular which has a very similar 'look' although different designs and it is 'hinggi, man's mantle, East Sumba, c1940, warp ikat, handspun cotton, 152.5 x 57 + 57 cm.' Elsewhere in the book there are images of people/frog men similar in style to the images in Marla's hingii notably page 74 where the image is woven in by supplementary weft, as oposed to being in the ikat, of a woman's lau (sarong).

If I find anything else of interest/relevance I will post.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

In 'Splendid Symbols: Textiles and Tradition in Indonesia' by Mattiebelle Gittinger ISBN 0 19 588956 8, in the section on textiles from Sumba, it is suggested that some textile types changed character in the first half of the 20th century with the most obvious change being in spatial organisation with more modern cloths having a single, large field. That might suggest that this hinggi is older in style.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Lovely piece! It would be helpful to know two things about this piece: the size, and whether it is woven in one or two panels. In the past I had a similar piece that I was told was from Timor. It was much smaller than a 'hinggi' from Sumba, and it was a single panel. Normally, 'hinggi' are woven in two narrow panels about 2+ meters long, and stitched together down the center.

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Susan Stem

http://www.tribaltrappings.com
http://tribaltrappings.blogspot.com/

Marla says:

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

I would be surprised if this ikat was Sumbanese although I have read that special blue and white pieces were reserved for the nobility.The only Sumbanese blue and white pieces that I have or have seen (other than in books) have been more recent and possibly imitations for a western market. This piece looks to be from Timor and also appears to have a reasonable age to it. Is it handspun or machine thread? That information would be helpful. Regards, Jim

Having been consumed by a sense of "I know that design,but can't quite remember where I last saw it" since I made the last post, I have been trawling through books to no avail and finally upended a large basket of textiles.Success!I have an almost identical piece. Definitely Timorese, purchased from Julie at Timor Treasures some years ago. Check out her website http://www.timortreasures.com if you aren't familiar with it already. Regards once more, Jim.

Jim,

Many thanks! That certainly seems to settle the matter!

Best wishes,

Marla Mallett