Title
Shouldercloth
Year/Period
Turn of the 20th century
Region
Indonesia - South Sumatra
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 280.0 x 60.0 cm
Accession No.
2018-01015
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A.C.R. van der Mandele-Vermeer. Presented to the ACM by the City of Delft, Netherlands.
This shoulder cloth in a songket fabric is composed of bands of three-blossom flowers and rhombus patterns on the side edges, and a centerfield of multicoloured silk and gold-wrapped thread executed in a supplementary weave technique. The inclusion of multiple types of threads in a single cloth could be a result of contact between people from the mountainous regions inland and those living in the coastal areas, which resulted in the transmission of different weaving techniques. Such textiles are often used as gifts during life-cycle ceremonies or used in combination with other objects to create symbolic meanings in ritualistic practices.
