Textiles from Indonesia

Most Sumbanese textiles are decorated by using an ikat technique. In Bahasa Indonesian and Malay, ikat means to knot. Handspun threads are sometimes used but store-bought cotton is most typically used. The process of making an ikat textile begins with the making of a mock-up on a warping frame. Sections of threadss are then bound together using lengths of raffia. Each binding is tight enough to resist the dyes into which the threads are placed. It is from this tying process that the technique gets its name.The length of each knot seals a section of thread and the pattern of knots forms the intended design. Two sets of knots are used to produce the basic three-color design. All knots resist the initial indigo dye and only unknotted areas become blue. After one set of knots has been opened the threads are re-dyed red: this dyes the newly exposed white sections an earthy red, and over-dyes the indigo with red to produce a blue-black. Opening the second set of knots reveals sections of thread that have received neither dye and will be white in the woven textile. A pure blue is obtained by returning the threads to the warping frame and tying a third set of knots over the indigo work before the red dye process begins. To obtain a light blue this must be done part way through the indigo dying process. . In traditional work, only natural dyes are used. Blue and red predominate. The indigo blue is from the young leaves of the leguminous indigo plant (indigofera tinctoria). The red is made from the bark of the roots of the morinda tree (morinda citrifolia). Each set of threads receives up to a a half-a-dozen applications of each dye. Indigo is only collectable during the annual monsoon when new growth blooms. Conversely, morinda root is harvested during the dry season when the dye-bearing sap retreats into the roots. To achieve a deep saturation of color the dyer will often need to work through several seasons across a number of years. Time consuming though the tying and dyeing processes are, it is the slow curing of the dyes that takes the most time. Dye lots are often stored for many years while waiting for these colors to mature. . The weaving itself is done on a continuous-warp backstrap loom. The arrangement of the warp on the loom, around the breast and warp beams, replicates its orientation on the warping frame and recreates the intended pattern. The weft is of a single color and is obscured by the warp as the cloth is woven. Most of the other islands' weaving is woven with single colored threads, that were also colored with natural dyes.

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" 88" X 46" Blanket dyed with the Ikat technique from Sumba. The crown-like depictions and general complexity of this piece are said to be used by the king as symols of his powers.
$864.00

Detain of royal blanket.


" 96" X 32"Blanket dyed with the Ikat technique from Sumba
$555.00


" 108" X 52" Blanket dyed with a verycomplex Ikat technique from Sumba
$640.00


Detail of Sumba blanket with complex ikat pattern


" 96" X 32"Blanket dyed with the Ikat technique from Sumba. This ikat seems to have a motif honoring the Buganese of Suluwesi. The Buffalo horns and captain's hat indicate a very rare motif. It may be for royalty.
$640.00

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