Detail View: Museum and the Online Archive of California: Textile; selimut; man's clothing. Indonesia

Collection: 
Museum and the Online Archive of California
Creation Place: 
Indonesia
Creation Place: 
Timor
Title: 
Textile; selimut; man's clothing. Indonesia
Materials: 
handwoven
Materials: 
warp ikat
Materials: 
embroidered
Materials: 
cotton
Materials: 
fabric
Dimensions: 
165.1 cm by 93.3 cm
Current Location: 
Fowler Museum of Cultural History. University of California, Los Angeles.
Address: 
Los Angeles, California 90095-1549
Object ID: 
UCLA FMCH X81.26
Subject: 
- anthropomorphic bird - handwoven warp ikat embroidered 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: "Selimut" or man's hip or shoulder wrap. Consists of two panels sewn together. All three pattern bands in each panel are decorated with very fine cross-stitch embroidery. The central band in each panel has an indigo and white ikat ground; the lateral bands have plain black grounds. Row of twining at ends of cloth. Commercial cotton thread; commercial and natural dyes. Thread count: warp 80 e.p.i. (double yarn); weft 20 e.p.i. For a general discussion of Timorese weaving, see Schulte Nordholt 1971:41-46. On the basis of the available literature, it is not possible to assign this cloth to a particular domain on Timor. The bright commercial dye stripes are a long-standing feature of cloths of the Atoni people of West Timor. The use of embroidered zoomorphic motifs is more characteristic of the Tetum people of the Belu region in central Timor. It is uncommon to see embroidered design worked in conjunction with a warp ikat ground. Whatever the specific provenience, the manner of wearing would be the same as that illustrated in Gittinger 1979:174. In addition to serving as clothing, cloths on Timor traditionally played an important part in exchange cycles among allied kin groups, particularly at weddings and funerals [Gittinger 1979:21-22; for a detailed analysis of a typical Timorese alliance exchange system, see Forman 1980:155-177].
Heading: 
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Notes: 
Schulte Nordholt, H.G. 1971. THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE ATONI OF TIMOR. The Hague, Netherlands, Marinus Nijhoff.
Collection Description: 
METS ID: 
ark:/13030/ft767nb44n