I recently acquired this silk, weft ikat sarong. When and where it was produced are the primary questions and both may perhaps be answered by its colors. The previous owner attributed it to Palembang, Sumatra. However, its palette of six colors would seem to preclude that as the basic color scheme of Palembang was dark red and blue and their over dye, burgundy. On rare occasions I have seen yellow used and in the last days of decline after the arrival of chemical colors lots of chrysoidine orange. In Palembang they liked the glitter of gold and many of their textiles were all gold brocade without any ikat. When ikat was used, I believe it was always in combination with gold brocade borders and/or end fields. Textiles with only ikat patterns were perhaps too mundane for flamboyant Palembang.
A palette of light blue, green, yellow, red and over dyed burgundy might point to Muntok on the Island of Bangka where the best ikat textiles with five, light, bright colors were produced for the wealthy of Bangka and Palembang. These silk, weft ikat textiles, however, usually had gold brocade though often less than Palembang. Furthermore, production of these fabulous textiles seems to have ended abruptly with the decline of the pepper trade, either prior to or without adopting chemical colors. I can't remember ever seeing a textile from Bangka with chrysoidine orange, which replaced natural yellow, or methyl violet which are found in silk textiles throughout SE Asia.
Other centers of weft ikat production, Lampung, Pasemah, Minangkabau and Riau either don't have the color range or the sophistication and clarity of ikat. The one thing that all of these production centers do have in common is Malay immigrants and influence. I therefore believe this sarong was produced on the Northeast coast of Malaysia perhaps in the state of Kelantan. In the 19th C. very precise weft ikats were produced in five bright natural colors in this area. Some splendid, all ikat sarongs with very similar patterns and colors can be found in the Textile Museum of Canada. They are attributed to Northeast Malaysia.
Now for a production date. Early Malaysian, weft ikats had all natural colors. The natural bright yellows were eventually replace by chrysoidine orange which was first produced by Heinrich Caro in 1875-1876 at BASF in Germany. Although chemical dyes were first produced in England, often by German chemists, by the 1870s Germany had gained dominance with the return of many of its chemists from England. Caro himself returned in 1866 to work for BASF. Germany was not a great seafaring nation, however, and the dyes they produced were probably marketed by the Dutch and English East India Companies. I have a Malaysian, silk weft ikat limar in which natural green is used in the ikat but a chemical green stripe separates the main and end fields. These threads were probably marketed pre-dyed with methyl green discovered in 1872. Another early Malaysian textile in my collection was originally dyed with natural colors and decades later chrysoidine orange was painted over some white areas to keep up with fashion trends.
The textile I have posted has both a natural yellow and chrysoidine orange indicating perhaps an early transitional stage before natural yellow was abandoned altogether. The rather large blocks of ikat and slight blurriness also show the beginnings of decline. Chemical dyes were being imported to India by the early 1870s and by 1887 began to destroy the natural dye industry there. The timing in Malaysia must have been similar. I would date this textile in the range of 1880 to 1890 and would guess that by 1900 natural dyes had for the most part been replaced by gaudy, orange, purple, green and pink chemical dyes. The ikat technique itself survived into the 1920s or 30s perhaps when it was also abandoned.
It is possible that this textile was collected in Palembang having travelled there in trade or a bride's dowry but I believe it was made in Malaysia. Other ideas or information about the spread of early chemical dyes, silk, weft ikats or this textile would be most welcome.
Best regards
[Can I please remind forum members that images when posted should NOT be wider than 600 px to stop the forum being distorted when read. I have resized the overall image and rotated the detail image. Thank you, Administrator]
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