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Ikat from Savu, Savu Group, Indonesia
 

175 Savu Group, Savu


Selimut (shawl)  magnifiermicroscope



Locale: Seba, identified on the basis of boda as exclusive motif, and the number of dini, seven.
Period: 1930-1940
Yarn: Cotton, commercial, fine, double-ply
Technique: Warp ikat
Panels: 1
Size: 78 x 178 cm (2' 6" x 5' 10")   LW: 2.28
Weight: 370 g (13.1 oz), 266 g/m2 (0.87 oz/ft2)
Design: Hi'i wo hepi, huri wo pidu. Field decorated with thirteen ikated bands: seven wider bands, huri, separated by six narrower ones. All are decorated with boda motifs executed in white on indigo. Two of of the narrower bands, numbers two and four, stand out as they are executed in a much darker indigo. The two outer huri are flanked by pinkish bands, called dini, with seven fine stripes running in parallel, separated by six pinstripes of only two threads wide. It is a wo hepi as only two colours were used. It is a huri wo pidu because it has seven main bands.
Comment: This finely made selimut confronts us with a paradox. The type is commonly made of two panels, and asymmetrical, one wider than the other. The kind of asymmetry seen here - using colour variation on a single panel cloth - suggests that it resulted from a calamity which destroyed ikated yarns for two of the six narrower bands so they had to be replaced – with yarns in a darker tone, perhaps borrowed. But the fact that this hi’i consists of a single panel only was certainly planned. The quality of the ikat in the huri shows the hand of a master weaver. The finest patterns, in the dini, are just two threads wide. The cloth is very soft, and shows intensive usage by being a little thin in parts - but not to the extent of forming holes. From old Dutch collection.
Background: Chapters on Savu Group and Savu.
Compare: 135 031 139 029
Sources: The notion of calamity as the reason for the inclusion of the darker bands was suggested by Savu-expert Geneviève Duggan.
  
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