Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
Museum and the Online Archive of California
Creation Place:
Bali
Creation Place:
Indonesia
Creation Place:
Nusa Penida?
Title:
Textile; kamben cepuk; dance costume. Indonesia
Date:
Collected 1930s
Materials:
handwoven
Materials:
weft ikat
Materials:
cotton
Materials:
fabric
Dimensions:
277.5 cm by 78.0 cm
Current Location:
Fowler Museum of Cultural History. University of California, Los Angeles.
Address:
Los Angeles, California 90095-1549
Object ID:
UCLA FMCH X74.300
Subject:
- "patola"
- handwoven weft ikat cotton fabric
Heading:
Content/Description
Notes:
REMARKS COMPILED IN 1987 BY ROY HAMILTON ON BASIS OF EXISTING RECORDS, EXAMINATION OF OBJECT, AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: "Kamben cepuk" with handspun cotton thread and natural dyes. "Kamben" signifies an outerwear hip wrap cloth. "Kamben cepuk" are a particular style of weft ikat cloths, well known in Bali where they are put to a variety of ceremonial uses. They are best known as part of the costume of the witch Rangda, who symbolizes evil in Balinese mythology and theater. They are also used as offerings in a ceremony for a newborn, to turn away dangerous powers from adolescents at the time of thier tooth filing ceremony, and at purification ceremonies for the dead. They additionally serve as temple decorations and offerings to devine powers. "Kamben cepuk" are generally associated with manufacture on the offshore island of Nusa Penida, although they were also made in other parts of Bali. No matter where they were made, "kamben cepuk" were valued as sacred objects all over Bali. This cloth is particularly large, with precise ikat work and unusually clear moifs. The motif configuration of this cloth strongly reflects the influence of "patola" trade cloths manufactured in Gujerat, India and highly valued in eastern Indonesia for ceremonial purposes.
Collection Description:
METS ID:
ark:/13030/ft6199n9w 2

Textile; kamben cepuk; dance costume. Indonesia