Ceremonial handkerchief or dowry tray cover

Title
Ceremonial handkerchief or dowry tray cover
Year/Period
early 20th century
Region
Probably Sumatra, Indonesia.
Object Type
ceremonial handkerchiefs, dowry tray covers, handkerchiefs
Material
Cotton (drawn batik), metal thread, gold bobbin lace.
Dimension
Object size: 48.0 x 50.0 cm
Accession No.
2017-00064
Collection of
NLB Type
Furnishing

This handkerchief (sapu tangan) was probably used as a decorative tray cover that was placed over items presented on trays as part of a ceremony. The main square panel comprises hand-drawn batik design of animals and sea creatures in navy blue. It is enclosed by a border of drawn work embroidery made up of repeated geometric patterns, animals and sea creatures. The combination of batik tulis and drawn work embroidery is unusual. Its layout of the square decorative panel is comparable to the silk batik lokcan squares that were imported from Java to Sumatra. The edges of the cloth is bound by sawtooth borders worked in a variant of buttonhold stitch. The fridge of this handkerchief is decorated with gold bobbin lace.