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240 Timor, East Timor
Beti naek (men's wrap)   
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| Locale: | Oecusse/Ambenu, the East-Timorese exclave in West-Timor; Taiboko village, Atoni people |
| Period: | Late 19th to early 20th c. |
| Yarn: | Cotton, hand-spun, medium |
| Technique: | Warp ikat |
| Panels: | 2 |
| Size: | 94.5 x 112 cm (3' 1" x 3' 8") LW: 1.19 |
| Weight: | 740 g (26.1 oz), 699 g/m2 (2.29 oz/ft2) |
| Design: | Six ikated bands, a number typical for Ambenu men’s cloths, carry motifs that represent crocodiles. The crocodile is a totem animal that many Timorese regard as a proto-ancestor; it figures prominently in their myths of origin. Forty-eight narrow ikated stripes are grouped so that three are running to the left of the seam (indicated with an arrow), two to its right—a ‘Savunese’ style of asymmetry that took root in Oecusse, where many Savunese settled over the ages. Five tiny rectangles and lozenges executed in sotis mark the cloth’s horizontal axis. |
| Comment: | Rare men's wrap of advanced age. 'Full asli': hand spun thread and vegetable dyes. A noble cloth, that in its restraint, its forsaking of displays of virtuosity, holds great strength. |
| Background: | Chapters on Timor and East Timor. |
| Exhibited: | Timor: Totems and Tokens, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, 2019/20. |
| Published: | Timor: Totems and Tokens, 2019.
Ikat Textiles of Timor: Indonesian and Timor-Leste, 2025. |
| Sources: | Similar pattern on Ambenu sarong in Yeager and Jacobson, Textiles of Timor, Plate 189. Also similar to Ambenu beti on Plate 198. Both these examples are from Taiboko, and equally have six main ikated bands and numerous ikated stripes. Likely Taiboko origin confirmed by Aja Bordeville. The crocodile motif is curiously similar to Tanimbarese motifs shown in Van Vuuren, Fig. 65, 129, that she identifies as fish-man. Blow up of area around the seam shown below.
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©Peter ten Hoopen, 2024
All rights reserved.
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