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056 Flores Group, Lio
Semba (man's shawl)  
| | Locale: | Nggela. | | Period: | Early 20th c. | | Yarn: | Cotton, hand-spun, very fine | | Technique: | Warp ikat | | Panels: | 1 | | Size: | 71 x 189 cm (2' 3" x 6' 2") LW: 2.66 | | Design: | Rare luka semba with continuous patterning. Normally these cloths have a plain centreband (where the warp ran over the warp beam). In this case the weaver shifted the warp so that she could first ikat the centreband, and then moved it back into place over the warp beam (as Sumbanese weavers do routinely.) Selenda sinde motif: patola style jilamprang designs with tumpal borders: an almost perfect patola imitation in brownish yellow (ayar kayu), two shades of morinda red and violet black (red with indigo) with a few accents in indigo. | | Comment: | Old luka semba, male ritual leader's shawl, to be worn once a year on the four day adat festival. Excellent example of the fine Nggela technique. Very tight weaving, producing strong patterning in subtle hues. An akar kayu kuning bath has provided a warm undertone. Some very slight fraying on one edge, at the fold. A true pusaka. One of the finest pieces known through publication. Note th absence of the usual plain bar on the horizontal axis: the weaver first ikated the centreband, then shifted the warp to put bindings on the rest of the warp. This technique is common on Sumba, but not common in the Lio region of Flores. | | Background: | Chapters on Flores Group and Lio. | | Exhibited: | Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, 2014/15.
Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery, 2017. | | Published: | Woven Languages, 2014.
Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago, 2018.
| | Compare: | 054 055 | | Sources: | Nearly identical, but somewhat smaller piece depicted in Khan Majlis, Woven Messages, Fig. 168. Similar specimens but with plain centreband are depicted in Gittinger, Splendid Symbols, Fig. 128, and in Hunt Kahlenberg, Textile Traditions of Indonesia, Fig. 52, held in County Museum of Art, M.77.93.3. Roughly half of another example is shown in Robyn Maxwell, Textiles of South East Asia, Fig. 23, but the centreband is not shown. | | |
©Peter ten Hoopen, 2025
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