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Ikat from Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia
 

035 Borneo, Sarawak


Pua kumbu



Locale: Saribas, lower Layar, Iban people.
Period: 19th c. or very early 20th c.
Panels: 2
Design: This early masterpiece of Saribas ikat weaving carries the famous Berinjan design, which is occasionally confused with other types given titles like Sempuyong, Rang Jugah and ‘Sepepat’. End borders (dotted rhomboids) probably represent eyes of green pigeon, outer section other birds of unidentified species. One end decorated with unusual faded indigo dashes of unknown significance. For additional information provided by Vernon Kedit, click here.
Size: 93 x 214 cm (36.6 x 84.2 in)
Weight: 470 g (236 g/m2)
Yarn: Cotton, hand-spun, fine
Comment: Pua kumbu with excellent weaving, panels well aligned. According to Kedit a 'very fine execution of the genre'. No chemical dyes in borders. Very fine hand spun cotton. Three very small indigenous repairs. Kedit: 'An excellent example of how Iban weavers combined word-play, metaphors, and patterns to compose a design that makes absolute sense to the Iban mindset but has eluded naïve Western ethnographers.'
Background: Additional information in chapters on Borneo and Sarawak.
Published: Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago, 2018.
Compare: 034 036 037
Sources: Gittinger, Splendid Symbols, Fig. 168, Khan Majlis, Indonesische Textilien, Wege zu Goettern und Ahnen, Fig. 686. Also Gavin, The Women's Warpath, Plates 46, 35, 36. Chaddon c.s., Iban or Sea Dayak Fabrics, Plate XVIIk.
  
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