tribaltextiles.info

Hello

I would be very grateful for help with the identification of this textile. According to the collector it is from Sulawesi, but I think it is a Mandaya (Warp) Ikat from Mindanao, made of abaca fibres.
Could anyone confirm this or give me further information on it? Do you know if there was a lot of textile trade between Sulawesi and Mindanao? And what age do you think the textile could be? It was collected around thirty years ago.
According to the collector the red color was achieved with ochsblood... could this be possible?

Thanks for your help!

Elisabeth

Hello Elisabeth,

Your textile is Mandaya.

I can't really speak definitively to its age, but would estimate mid-late 20th century (1950s-70s).

The red coloration comes from the boiled roots of the loki (also called loko or loco) tree.


Best,
Marbel

Elisabeth, Yes, indeed this is a Mandaya textile from Mindanao woven from abaca. I am not sure what ochsblood is but these textiles were dyed with vegetable dyes. May I ask where you saw this textile? Do you know where the collector acquired it? Southern Mindanao is very near the Sangir-Talaud islands northeast of Sulawesi and even today people go back and forth between Indonesia and the Philippines by boat so it is possible that abaca textiles from Mindanao made their way into Indonesia via this route. I have also seen abaca textiles from Mindanao in Bali, probably brought by a dealer to sell. In the past abaca textiles were produced in Sangir (Sangihe) and Talaud where they are known as KOFO. As far as I know, the ikat dyeing technique was never used in the Sangihe-Talaud islands where they do supp. weft woven patterns.

It is hard to say how old the textile is but if it was indeed collected about 30 yrs. ago then it could be 40 or 50 years old. It seems to have all natural dyes which would indicate age as newer pieces often use chemical dyes in the stripes. What size is the textile? Normally a long panel is cut in half and sewn into a two panel skirt. If you search for Mandaya or abaca on this site you will find other posts on this type of textile. Attaching a photo of a rare abaca textile probably produced in Sangihe in the early 20th C. It is unique in having crown motifs and fringes and may have been gifted to a Dutch administrator for use as a table runner perhaps.

Best regards

Hello Marbel and MAC

Thank you very much for your quick replies as well as the information and the confirmation of it being a Mandaya abaca cloth. Thanks also for posting the very different but interesting example of an abaca textile, MAC.
A private collector offered this textile to the museum. She apparently acquired it around 30 years ago from a man from Sulawesi whom she had met in India. He told her it was dyed with the blood of an ox and was used as a rain cover.
It consists of two panels, which are sewn together and measures 144 cm x 133 cm.

Thanks again!

Best
Elisabeth

Elisabeth, From the size and the fact that it is two panels I would say that it is a woman's skirt that has had the side seam opened. The seller in India doesn't seem to have known anything about the textile and the story about ox blood, rain cover, and Sulawesi was most likely made up to promote the sale. The motifs are typical of Mandaya ikat textiles and quite intricate but the ikat is a bit blurry. The Mandaya live on the remote slopes of Mt. Apo and being rather isolated are one of the few groups that continue to produce abaca ikat textiles, another being the T'boli in the lake Sibu area.

Best regards

Yes, I also thought the story with the ox blood sounded a bit strange and was an invention to make the textile more attractive

Thanks again for the help!!!

Best
Elisabeth