Royal KAIN RAJA HINGHHI Ikat - Antique Textile from Sumba Island Indonesia, MINT

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Royal KAIN RAJA HINGHHI Ikat - Antique Textile from Sumba Island Indonesia, MINT:
$375.00

Magnificent Antique KAIN RAJA Hinghhi Sumba Island Ikat in Mint Condition

Provenance: Sumba, Indonesia; mid 20th Century. I purchased this ikat 21 years ago in Sumba and it has been stored under museum conditions since then.

Method: Handspun and commercial cotton, hand woven, vegetable dyes, warp ikat and twining. The colors in the piece are ecru (natural cotton color), the prized kombu red from the mengkudu tree and indigo. The dark background color is red over-dyed with indigo.

Size: 85 inches x 36 inches without the fringe.

Description: Fine edge work and twining on the ends, see close ups. The dyeing of the cotton itself takes between 6 to 12 months before the weaving begins. Like almost all Sumba ikat hinggi, the textile is constructed from two long identical panels hand-stitched together along the warp to form a double width. This width is limited by the size of the backstrap loom that is used in traditional weaving. This magnificent ikat has some beautiful depictions as well as traditional geometric shapes.

Use: There are different types of Sumba weaving. The hinggi ikats are rectangular textiles worn by men around their waists and as sarongs with matching ikat wrap draped over one shoulder. The designs can be geometric or organic for example animals or skull trees. By contrast, kain raja, royal textiles, are very high quality weavings that are reserved for nobility. This piece was described as a piece that was ceremonially hung behind an officiating chieftain.

In general, Sumba textiles were traded between the coastal regions where they were made and the interior, where the making of textiles was proscribed, and many of them were made for the nobility who at one time had the sole right to wear decorated textiles. As prestige clothing and gifts, textiles were used and given in large quantities on ceremonial and ritual occasions, and marked the prosperity of the ruling class and thus of the society as a whole. The display of exceptionally rich colors and bold motifs on these occasions makes a visual statement of the physical and social universe, and affirms the working of that universe by the show of wealth and vitality (M. Gittinger, Splendid Symbols, OUP, 1990, 159).

Condition: Excellent condition

I will be listing one more ikat; these are my final two ikats