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DESIGNS AND DYES IN BURMESE WEAVING

By Thweep Rittinaphakorn

Design

In Burmese weaving art the use of Acheiq (wave-like) design to adorn the textiles was considerable. This design was found not only in the tapestry weaving method in the making of Luntaya Acheiq textiles, it was also in embroidery work, supplementary weft work, brocade work, and even in block printing. From the end of the colonial period through Burmese independence, and later during the absolute military rule (1940s-1970s), machine-woven fabrics were overflowing the market. Brocade fabrics woven by machine using the Acheiq design were widely produced and supplied domestically. These were greatly popular especially among the middle and lower classes due to the much more affordable price than the authentic Luntaya Acheiq fabrics. Various colors and variations of designs were available to choose from.

Acheq design was not only produced in Burma to be used domestically, the popularity of the design extended to fabrics produced abroad, intended for the Burmese market. Several examples of fabrics or tube skirts were found,

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1 DESIGNS AND DYES IN BURMESE WEAVING Page 3 OKINAWAN BINGATA DYEING STEP BY STEP Page 5 BOJAGI - KOREAN WRAPPING CLOTH Page 8 A GLIMPSE INTO A PRIVATE COLLECTION OF INDONESIAN TEXTILES Page 10 ANIMAL MOTIFS ON TRADITIONAL CHINESE CHILDREN’S CAPS Page 13 SILK WEAVING IN ASSAM Page 17 LESSER KNOWN IKATS OF PALEMBANG

ABOUT US The Thai Textile Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study and appreciation of textiles, with particular emphasis on the textiles of Thailand and Southeast Asia. Based in Bangkok, the Thai Textile Society was founded in 2004. when Kathleen Florence Johnson, wife of U.S.Ambassador to Thailand Darryl Johnson, invited scholars, collectors, and other textile enthusiasts to establish a society dedicated to the study, appreciation, and preservation of the textile arts in the kingdom and the region.

Under the leadership of President Dr. Sathirakorn Pongpanich, the Society continues to host regular educational programs designed to promote appreciation of Asia’s rich textile heritage. The Steering Committee orgainizes regular lectures, trips, and other programs such as its popular Collector’s Corner series. Membership in the Thai Textile Society has grown steadily, and our emailing list now reaches more than 600 people worldwide.

The TTS enjoys and appreciates support from the Siam Society and the James H.W.Thompson Foundation.

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made of silk satin with brocade work from Hong Kong or Europe in the Burmese Acheiq design.

This picture shows vintage tube skirts made of imported silk satin fabric with brocaded Acheiq and floral designs in pastel blue and muted pink colors. Yardage of such fabrics were produced by factories in Hong Kong, mostly with motifs of Chinese auspicious symbols, with vast amounts imported to Burma during the 1950s -1970s. These textiles were popular among the local Chinese Burmese, the Shan, as well as the Burmese.

Dyes

From information gathered by J. D. Fraser and published in 1896 in “Account of Dyes and Dyeing in Burma”, we learn that the Burmese customarily had a great sense in creating color combinations in their weaving, providing a harmonious effect to the textile. However, as the Burmese were more inclined to save in labor and time, the arrival of imported aniline dyes from European manufacturers was gladly welcomed. Consequently, they began to abandon the traditional way of dyeing yarn with natural dyes, which was more tedious and complicated. Fraser further commented that these chemical dyes provided strong and bright colors which were very different from the subdued and artistic tones derived from local natural dyestuffs. Although the aniline dyes offered bright colors with less preparation in

the dyeing process, they faded quickly after being exposed to the sun, or ran when they came in touch with moisture. Fraser then concluded that the adoption of these aniline dyes had influenced and lowered the standard taste of the Burmese considerably.

Records of trade and imported goods also showed that “Imported aniline dyes have increased from 42,044 lbs. in 1890-91 to 53,350 lbs. in 1895-96.” By that time, tins of dyes of all colors were already widely available for sale in every large bazaar, farther east of the Shan States in Kengtung. This indicated the wide availability and popularity of aniline dyes already at the end of 19th century. The only traditional dyeing process still fully practiced at the time was by the hill tribes and people in remote areas.

In this example of mid-19th century Luntaya Acheiq textile, a dash of fuchsia yarn (supposedly with chemical dye) is used minimally to create tiny accents in the overall motifs. Geometric and simple motifs ensemble that characterized an early version Luntaya Acheiq design are visually clear. This concurs with J. D. Fraser’s observation of the earlier gentle color combination practice of the Burmese before the mass popularization of chemical dyes. In fact, the color combination and motifs ensemble in this example could possibly epitomize what the author of this 1896 note called “the most harmonious effect”.

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OKINAWAN BINGATA DYEING STEP BY STEP Text and photos by John Toomey

Bingta garment with red peony design on white ground

In mid-February of this year, 2018, the Tokyo National Museum featured a special hands-on presentation of Okinawa’s ancient and unique bingata technique of resist stencil dyeing. Bin is a form of the Sino-Japanese Beni, which means vermillion and a kata (meaning shape, changed to gata for euphony) indicates a template in this case a stencil. Kimonos and other textiles of bingata were originally reserved for the royal court, especially as garb for a dance performed with castanets by a young princess before the king or emperor. The three kingdoms of old Ryukyu (a former name for Okinawa) were unified by conquest into the one Empire of the Ryukyu Islands chain (Ryu and Oki meaning floating whereas kyu or nawa are the Chinese and Japanese words respectively for a chain or rope) under the first Emperor King Shō Hashi, a tributary state to China in the 15th century. The art of Bingata blossomed in the 19th century, three centuries after the Ryukyu Empire was seized by the Japanese lord of Satsuma in Kyushu. The museum’s project’s team for this presentation chose as a model for its study a kimono in a design of masses of peony flowers (in northeast Asia the peony represents the king), buds and leaves, all in red with green on a

white cotton ground. This intricate pattern with its vivid colors gave the team the opportunity to explore to the fullest these superb dyeing techniques that could produce such minutely detailed flowers and leaves, and the experience of understanding the kind of culture that nurtured this unique style of beauty. During the time of the presentation visitors had the chance to view the documented fieldwork and research, and participate in hands-on reproduction, copying the designs of the model kimono onto paper, which they could take home. Before starting the reproduction process, the museum team visited the studio of the Shiroma family, one of the leading families who have continuously crafted bingata since the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The head of the family graciously offered invaluable advice, sharing the secrets of the traditional techniques. Customarily, such trade secrets of the traditional arts in Japan are handed down only in the family and to tuition-paying apprentices, and are never revealed to others. Since the traditional ingredients for the coloring are no longer easily available, the team decided to use currently available materials, powdered minerals, to create their reproduction for this presentation. It allowed the visitors to the project to appreciate the beauty of the traditional expertise.

The Steps

The first step is known as kata-hori, carving the stencil. The paper used is traditional Japanese washi (made from the bleached inner bark of the mulberry tree, also used for currency notes), which is placed on top of a block of dried bean curd soaked in oil, called a rukuju, that serves as a cutting-board base. The paper is cut with a special chisel known as a siigu.

The second step is placing the stencil on the material to be dyed. Then the resist paste, made of kneaded glutinous rice, rice bran and salt is spread with a spatula into the cutout areas of the stencil, so that it can penetrate the material

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and keep those areas from absorbing the dye, areas that will remain as the white ground. The parts protected by the stencil paper, without the paste, will later be colored by hand.

Working the resist paste into the cutouts of the stencil

In the third step a short-haired brush is used to apply the colors mixed from pigments of powdered minerals and soybean milk, working from pale to darker shades, into the areas not covered by the resist paste. The fourth step is shading to create a 3-D effect. The fifth step is steaming to set the color and the sixth is washing out the paste, leaving the completed textile.

Applying color onto the material

Shading with a short haired brush to get the 3D effect

Rinsing out the paste Hands-on Pre-carved woodblock patterns, colored inks and washi paper were provided at a table for participants to experiment with inking the blocks and printing them on the paper, forming their own creative compositions. This author was privileged to see a visiting Western boy about 10-years old working with his father on their design. To protect the privacy of individuals, especially children, Japanese photo protocol does not permit the publishing of photos of the visiting participants engaging in the hands-on activities.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is distributed free to TTS members and subscribers, and it is accessible free to all website visitors in the hopes of encouraging interest and scholarship in textiles and is the sole property of TTS. Personal opinions expressed in this newsletter are strictly those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Thai Textile Society.

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With new financial affluence due to expanding tourism in Okinawa, bingata is making a comeback in the life of Okinawan people, who are now wearing it more and more; and bingata’s beauty is also extending to other parts of the globe where world cultures and textiles are appreciated.

Finished product

Gradations of color creating 3D effect

BOJAGI - KOREAN WRAPPING CLOTH An Exhibition in Bangkok

Text and Photos by Ruth Gerson

Bojagi is a traditional wrapping cloth most basic to Korean life and culture. As Koreans traditionally believe that wrapping items protects and bestows good luck on them, these cloths have become central to their lives. They are designed to cover, carry and store items. Bojagi are generally square in shape and made of various materials, although silk, hemp and ramie (cloth made of a flowering plant of the nettle family) are the most commonly used. Measuring from 35 cm and up these cloths are utilized in everyday life, the larger ones serving as table cloths and bed spreads. Bojagi however is best known as a gift wrapping cloth for all occasions marking special events, including weddings, engagements and Buddhist rites. Much thought is given to the items wrapped as well as expressing respect for the recipients of the cloth. In a royal wedding hundreds, and often more, pieces of bojagi were presented.

The Thai Textile Society welcomes articles from you, our members and readership.

Please request Guidelines for Submission of articles at:

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‘I Love Korea’

‘Splendid Outing’ silk embroidery’

‘Korean Traditional Colors’

There are a few techniques in making bojagi such as embroidery, printing, painting and gilding, but the most common form is done in patchwork, known as jogakbo, widely used as domestic wrapping cloth by all Koreans. While wealthy people created their patchwork from new materials, ordinary folks used scraps of cloths to make theirs. This however did not inhibit the work, as many attractive pieces were sewn together from bits of material.

The patchwork jogakbo has been a favorite for covering and wrapping food. About a hundred years ago, these were distinguished by the strings attached to them – small loops at the center for easy removal, and at the corners designated as table cloths, the strings were to be tied to the table legs, thus keeping the cloth in place. The weight of the cloth for covering food was according to the season in which it was to be used. Summer cloths were made of thin

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material, allowing for the circulation of air, while winter materials were heavy and often padded, to keep the heat in. A significant use of small bojagi is for tea covers, looking like rounded pouches.

’Rainbow’ tea set pouches of Oksa silk

The use of bojagi was first noted in the 14th century. Its popularity declined for many years, and only in the late 1960s people began to regard these works as more than just plain domestic cloths, but rather as objects of art. Their striking contemporary designs were admired, resembling the abstract work of contemporary artists. In recent years, these cloths have been recognized as traditional Korean form of art with pieces finding their way to foreign museums, inspiring new generations of people.

Bangkok has been fortunate to have jogakbo cloths displayed at the Korean Cultural Center that is located on Sukhumvit Road between Sois 15 and 17 from mid-March to the end of May of this year.

Abstract design on silk

‘Flower of Red’

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A GLIMPSE INTO A PRIVATE COLLECTION OF INDONESIAN TEXTILES

This private collection of Indonesian textiles was gathered during the period of twenty years, starting almost thirty years ago. They represent the diversity of the textile culture of the vast island nation with silks and precious metal threads from Sumatra, Java batiks, heavy handspun cottons in Savu, silk sarongs woven with silver thread from Aceh, and hangings from Sumba with figurative themes. These textiles represent the rich collection that was amassed over the years with keen interest, knowledge and love.

Batiks from Java

The island of Java produces some of the finest batiks in the world. Cotton and bees wax are used in this resist system creating geometric, floral as well as figurative designs. In Central Java in Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo) the craft came under the patronage of the Sultans, with many designs that were used for various occasions. The batiks from the coastal regions had designs that were influenced by traders and show Chinese, Indian and Dutch influence.

East Java batik, black bird on cream ground

East Java, red and white batik

East Java batik

Java, a batik sarong

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Sumatra silks

Sumatra has produced some of the finest silk weaves, often woven with gold into the fabric. Here are two fine examples, below Photo 1 is a geometric design with ornate lines that run the length of the cloth in gold thread. The rich blue silk cloth in Photo 2 has a broad gold band at the bottom and small designs woven into the body of the textile.

Photo 1 - Sumatra, silk with silver thread

Photo 2-Sumatra, silk with gold thread

Songket from Aceh

Sericulture did not succeed in Indonrsia, but there was some silk grown in Java for a time, while silk cultivation was more successful in Aceh, but there too, it did thrive just briefly,

around the 16th century. Songket is a brocade weaving on silk or cotton done in intricate designs. Here we have a deep blue silk cloth woven with silver thread.

Aceh, sarong with silver thread

Sumba and Savu handspun cottons

Sumba and Savu textiles were woven with handspun cotton. The Sumba people designed both geometric and figurative designs, seen here is the modern weaving of two monkeys, while the Savu piece is in stylized floral motifs.

Sumba modern weave in cotton, detail

Savu heavy cotton weave

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ANIMAL MOTIFS ON TRADITIONAL CHINESE CHILDREN’S CAPS

Text and photos by Patricia Bjaaland Welch

Author of Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery. Tuttle Publishing, 2008.

When you think of protective head gear, do you think of a cyclist’s helmet, or a broad-rimmed sun hat, a baseball batter’s steel-lined cap, or a construction worker’s hard hat? But if you had been a Chinese male child born in the 1800s or early 1900s, the protective bonnet your mother would have placed on your head could well have featured dog ears. Equally possible--if she had had high hopes for your future—would have been a fish, tiger or even a rooster.

Infant boys’ caps in traditional China served several roles including those of protecting a precious son from the real and imagined dangers of the world, to inspiring him to study hard to one day become a successful scholar and prestigious government official. Because of their colorful details and symbolic origins, these traditional caps have become highly collectible and offer fascinating insights into pre-modern Chinese culture.

Child’s cap with fish

Take for example, the practice of depicting a fish on a child’s hat or slippers to inspire him towards perseverance in his studies. This practice stems from an old Chinese belief that

during the third lunar month of each year, carp would swim up the Yellow River, with those that succeeded in passing the rapids in Hunan (known as the ‘Dragon Gate’) turning into dragons. Carp therefore represent determination, perseverance and eventual success, the lesson being that even little boys can turn into successful officials if they work hard.

Depictions of roosters played a similar role because their distinctive red comb was believed to resemble the red button on the top of a court official’s hat that indicated high status. Court hats in imperial China were topped with special ornaments that designated rank (the top two ranks, that of a prince and a first-rank official, were designated by a clear red glass jewel and simulated red coral). This is another reason why the plant known as a coxcomb was a favorite decoration on ceramics, snuff bottles, and such items as a scholar’s embroidered eyeglass case or slippers.

Cap with rooster, courtesy of Sun Yat Sen Nanyang

Memorial Hall museum, Singapore

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Silk collar with embroidered rooster

Because roosters also play a symbolic role as the dispatcher of darkness with their morning crow, they were also believed to possess protective powers, and one child’s garment in my collection depicts an embroidered rooster looking over its shoulder at a bright red sun that encloses the Chinese character meaning ‘sun’ (ri 日).

Child’s Tiger cap

Tiger faces, stripes, whiskers and tails are another decorative feature due to their protective qualities. Tigers represent strength, power and courage—all attributes any parent would wish their son, hence their appearance on many articles of traditional Chinese children’s clothing (I even spotted a little dog in a ‘tiger sweater’ on the Shanghai bund last winter).

Because the Chinese believed that the character for ‘king’ (wang in Chinese, 王) appears naturally on all tigers’ foreheads, it also appears on boys’ caps.

Child’s Tiger caps

Dog ear cap, courtesy of Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall museum, Singapore

Dogs are far rarer than the usual goldfish and carp, tigers and other motifs that are meant to either protect their wearers or inspire them in their studies, but dog ears can appear as ‘dog ear or dog head caps’ (goutóumào 狗頭.) These caps feature two little ears that top the cap’s crown to deceive evil spirits and keep them from spiriting away a family’s prized son by making them think that little crawling animal on all fours is just a family’s pet dog. They are also known as ‘dog wind bonnets’ as their main function, shared by many of these caps, was to protect a child’s head in chilly or windy weather.

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Children’s caps were home-made, sewn by mothers, grandmothers, older sisters and maids following traditional patterns but often showing a sense of flair and individual creative touches. They were usually made of silk, and were padded with additional layers of silk or cotton wadding (or in the case of several of the caps in my collection, newspaper). Some caps also contained stiffened material and cardboard to help hold their animal shapes. Larger features such as appliquéd animals or attached noses, tails and rooster combs were stuffed with cotton. It is doubtful these caps were ever washed as their shape would have been severely challenged, and they are not color-fast (as those in my collection that had the misfortune to have been the victims of water damage prove).

Once easy to find, they have now virtually disappeared from most antique markets and beware—some modern copies have been spotted priced as antiques. Luckily, there are excellent collections in many ethnographic and historical museums and reappear from time to time in special exhibitions.

Red buttons for top of hats

Chinese girl wears hat with flowers photographer: John Thomson (1865-66)

Court hat with red buttons The above-described caps were worn by infant and young boys only. Although Chinese decorative art includes hundreds of propitious good luck symbols (ranging from plants to animals to insects), apparently only a chosen few motifs were judged appropriate for a child’s garment. Girls’ caps were either plain or decorated with embroidered or appliquéd flowers--interpret from that, what you will.

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SILK WEAVING IN ASSAM Text and Photos by Ruth Gerson

Assam is one of the far northeastern states of India referred to today as the Eight Sisters, being almost cut off from the bulk of the country, connected to it by merely a narrow strip of land. Known for its tea plantations, wildlife and silk, Assam has its distinct character. The village of Sualkuchi, renowned for its local silk production, is a place where the entire population is involved in the silk industry. It lies on the north bank of the mighty Brahmaputra River about thirty kilometers from Guwahati, Assam’s major city. A variety of silk is woven here, some native to Assam and not woven anywhere else in India. These silks include the golden Muga and the light beige Eri also known as Endi silk, with claims that these are the “exclusive monopoly of the people of Assam”, and a variety of Assamese mulberry silk that is ivory white in color and known as Pat.

Husband and wife threading the loom

Sualkuchi was traditionally a multi-craft home industry village producing pottery, oil processing, gold making and handloom weaving. It became a silk weaving village in the

17th century after the local Ahom dynasty defeated the outsider Mughals who had ruled there for a short while. However, silk weaving was not new to Sualkuchi, it has been traced

back to around 10th-11th centuries when King Dharma Pal of the Pala dynasty sponsored the craft by bringing there weavers as well as growers of the Pat silk worms. While the other crafts in the village began to disappear, weaving remained dominant and in time became synonymous with Sualkuchi. Until 1930 the weaving industry remained confined to the weaving community, after which people of other trades took up weaving as their main source of income. These included farmers, fisher-men and people from Brahmin communities

Over the years Sualkuchi weaving village grew in prominence drawing expert weavers from other areas to come and work there. At present many migrant weavers are employed in the village with women weavers outnumbering the men.

Weaver using punched cards for design

The men are chiefly involved in twisting the thread onto the spools while women weave the silk threads on the looms that are found in almost every home in the village. Silk remains the prominent product while some cotton and

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khadi, also known as khaddar, are woven there as well. Khadi is a handspun cotton often woven with silk or wool. Walking down the narrow streets and village alleys the rhythmic sound of the looms is unmistakably audible.

Man twisting silk thread onto spools

Let us have a closer look at the three indigenous Assamese types of silk. Muga and Eri are non-mulberry silks while Pat is mulberry silk. These silks are categorized according to the kind of silkworms from which they originate. A wonderful Assamese legend gave rise to these three types of silk. It tells of a poor Brahmin widow who had given birth to three sons after the death of her husband, but was expelled from her community for allegedly being unchaste. In her distress the woman looked for help from a hermit, who took pity on her and turned her sons into three silk worms - Eri, Muga and Pat.

Muga Silk

Muga is a naturally golden colored silk produced by the silkworm Antheraea assamensis, cultivated solely in Assam, expressed poetically by its people as “The pride of Assam and nature’s gift to the state.” The golden shade of the silk is so unique that it became known as muga color. Muga silk is durable and has a soft sheen which improves with each wash, as does the texture of the cloth that softens each time it is laundered.

Muga silkworms are wild and have not been cultivated having therefore undergone few genetic changes. They are tough and are able to survive in harsh climate which is important as they are bred outdoors on the trees, where they go through the entire developmental process from egg, to silk worm to cocoon. The tree is covered by a protective net to ensure their survival from various predators. If the worms have depleted the leaves on the tree on which they grow, their grower may move them to another tree. Muga worms are fed mainly on the leaves of the som tree (Machilus bombycina) and sualu tree (Litsaea polyantha). Muga silk is one of the most expensive silks in the world, and very much desired by Assamese women who fashion it into their traditional garment the mekhala chaddar or into a sari. This prized possession is valued as much as the women’s gold accessories. In 2017 Muga silk was given the Geographical Indication tag (GI) which is a form of patent.

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Colorful Eri silk woven in intricate designs

Cultivated Eri silk worms

The other native silk to Assam is Eri produced from the Samia cynthia ricini silk worm and is also known as Ahimsa silk, as its production allows the development of the pupae into adult moths that are not destroyed as is done in other silk processing. Moths are destroyed so that they would not break the long continuous silk threads as they work their way out of the cocoon. Ahimsa means non-violence and therefore the silk acquired the name of ‘peace silk’. The pierced cocoons are spun rather than reeled and produce a fine pale beige soft silk

that somewhat resembles wool or cotton in appearance.

The Eri silk worms are reared indoors and fed on leaves of the castor plant (Ricinus communis) that is their principal food, thus Eri silk is also known as castor silk (era is castor is Assamese). Eri silk is coarse but soft, it is durable but lacks the sheen of muga silk. Its light weight and warmth make practical winter wear for the people of Assam, used mainly as shawls. To accommodate today’s market, Eri is woven in finer texture and lighter weight suitable for summer stoles. Furthermore, the rising price of the silk has some weavers include cheaper imported yarn with the Eri fibers making the cloth more affordable.

Pat silk is white or ivory-white in color produced from the Bombyx textor or Bombyx mori silkworms that are fed exclusively on mulberry leaves. Also known as Mulberry Silk in Assam or ‘nuni pat’, this silk is given different names in the various regions of the country and the world. Because of its luster and fine texture, Pat has been attractive and valuable to nobility and the wealthy. It is produced in smaller quantities than the Muga or Eri silks, as not many mulberry trees are grown in Assam, requiring the weavers to import the silk threads.

Early motifs woven into the Assamese silk were angular and geometric. Later designs have been inspired by the various flowers and animals found in the state including peacocks, butterflies, deer and rhinoceros. In the old days when royalty ruled Assam, only zari (gold thread) was used for the woven motifs. In later years when the demand for these cloths grew the motifs were woven into the silk with silk threads and later even cotton.

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Fine Pat silk woven with animal designs

Design punch cards akin to old computer cards

The designs are woven in with the help of rectangular punched cards like the Jacquard in Europe, and practically the same as those used for data input in the early days of computers. The motifs are first drawn on graph papers, then transferred to the cards by means of punching holes corresponding to the design.

Although this article is about silk, it would not be complete without the mention of Assam’s ubiquitous cloth, the Gamosa. It is a white cotton cloth woven with red borders on all four sides and designs at both ends of the piece. Though not large in size its functions are numerous, from everyday tasks to the use in important ceremonies. It is the cloth with which visitors in Assam are greeted, considered a great honor. Although Gamosa are commonly woven of cotton they are woven of Pat silk for special occasions. The word ‘ga’ means body and ‘mosa’

means wipe in the Assamese language, indicating Gamosa’s main use as a towel. It is also worn as a head wrapper and as loincloth for men, but worn around the neck during prayers. Culturally, young women weave such a cloth themselves and present it as a symbol of love to their beloved, it is given by younger people to their elders as a show of respect, cover altars and scriptures, worn by dancers and is used to cover musical instrument. It is truly the all-around Assamese cloth.

Silk at a Sualkuchi silk workshop

Gamosa showcased at Assam State Museum, Guwahati

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LESSER KNOWN IKATS OF PALEMBANG John Ang

Whenever we talk about south Sumatran ikats, the first thing that comes to mind are the beautiful and fine ikats called kain limar from Palembang and the nearby city of Mentok, on Banka island, about 50 kilometers east of Palembang

Photo 1: Map showing a location of Pelambang and Mentok in Bangka Island

These ikat are exquisite and can be said to represent the highest technical weaving achievement of the region. When looking at some examples it seems that tiny details and complicated curves have never been an obstacle for the highly skilled weavers of Palembang or Mentok, in the nearby Bangka island.

Photo 2: 1920s example of a kain limar shawl of plain weave silk weft ikat with natural dyes from Mentok,

Bangka Island, Southeast Sumatra, Indonesia. 97 x 123 cm

Such limars however, have always been expensive and were mostly used by the rich elite of south Sumatra for court and religious ceremonies, weddings and New Year festivities. Besides these exquisite limars, there is a group of ikat that very few people are aware of, even though in Sumatra they are well known and are still being used. These ikats are known as blongsong, tajung and gebeng. Instead of using the traditional backs-trap loom, they are woven on the frame loom called Alat Tenun Bukan Mesin (ATBM) - non machine weaving hand loom. Such ikats are much cheaper to produce and were created just after World War II in the late 1940s or early 1950s. This was when Palembang was recovering from economic setbacks and people were not able to afford the expensive limars. All three ikats used a combination of silk and nylon and with the addition of mechanical levers on the frame loom, a wide array of complicated designs was achieved at a faster rate than those woven with a back-strap loom. This with the introduction of chemical dye colors resulted in a new range of ikats for men and women that become very popular in Palembang. According to some locals these more affordable ikats may have been inspired by the checkered ikats of the Bugis, of which a large community still reside not far from the city of Palembang

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Photo 3: Frame loom called Alat Tenun Bukan Mesin (ATBM)-* hand loom for weaving blongsong, tajung

and gebeng ikats.

Photo 4: 1960s silk checkered and ikat* Bugis sarong from Makassar. 114 x 98 (x2) cm

The blongsong is a silk and nylon weft ikat patterned sarong which is always accompanied by a shawl called selendang of the same pattern and color scheme and used by women only. The patterns are of repeated floral motifs that cover either only the head, kepala or narrow section of the sarong, or both the head section and body, badan section of the sarong. The colors always bright and of chemical dyes, generally tend to be in various shades of pink, purple, blue and green.

Photo 5: 1960s vintage photo of a Palembang

Selendang blongsong with chemical dyes. Palembang. Sarong: 124 x 101(x2) cm;

Selendang: 51 x 189 cm Photo 6: 1960s silk and nylon sarong and lady wearing a

sarong & selendang blongsong

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Photo 7: 1960s silk and nylon sarong and selendang

blongsong, with chemical dyes. Palembang. Sarong: 112 x 97(x2) cm;

Selendang: 48 x 113 cm

The tajung is also a nylon/silk fabric used for sarongs for men of all ages. Their ikat patterns can be woven from weft or from warp ikat or of compound ikat where a combination of the two types of ikats are used.

Photo 8: Old black and white photo showing young boys in tajung sarongs.

Generally the colors of tajung ikats are not as bright and often contain green or blue colored patterns over a checkered base pattern. Different names are given to these tajung ikats according to the size of their checks. They are used only by men and of all ages, at semi-formal occasions, like at family

gatherings at Hari Raya Idul Fitri (Hari Lebaran) or by bridegrooms at their Akad Nikah or marriage oath swearing ceremony but not at the main wedding ceremony where songkets of gold supplementary weft threads are preferred.

Photo 9: 1960s silk and nylon sarong Chemical mical dyes,

Palembang.107 x 93(x2) cm

Photo 10: 1960s silk and nylon sarong tajung oikat and

check pattern. Che-tajung of ikat and check pattern Palembang. 117 x 100(x2) cm

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TTS NEWSLETTER

Vol. VI Issue No. 1

SPRING 2018

Photo 11: Undated vintage photo taken from a display case of the Sultan Badaruddin II Museum showing a wedding

celebration in Palembang where all wear tajung sarongs.

The gebeng, also of nylon and silk, are woven for older married men. These are worn for less formal occasions and even as everyday informal clothing. Since they are not completely of silk, they are very suitable for wearing to the mosque. This is because silk, an item of luxury, is not encouraged for use when worshipping in the mosque. Patterns of gebengs often feature lozenge shapes composed of short colored ikat lines or dots and are of subtle pastel colors.

Photo12: 1960s silk and nylon sarong gebeng

Chemical dyes Palembang 114 x 100(x2) cm

Photo 13: Silk and nylon sarong gebeng.

Chemical dyes Palembang. 115 x 87(x2) cm

All three types of ikat seemed to have risen in popularity after World War II during the 1950s and 60s. This may perhaps be because they were reasonably priced and very comfortable to wear. Today, however, with all kinds cheaper imports from China, India and Pakistan appearing in the market, demand for these fine local hand-woven ikat has gradually become less.

Today, it seems the only places that have documented these textiles are the Balaputradeva Museum and the Sultan Badruddin II Museum in Palembang, but these two collections are small and definitely do not represent the range of colors and designs of this fascinating group of textiles. It is therefore important that more of these cloths are properly recorded, so that we can have a clearer idea of this interesting fashion trend that gained wide popularity for a short period of time in the history of Malay fashion.