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Cultural Context

clothing; ceremonial

Specific Techniques

The motifs are developed through a couching process where metallic threads of gold and silver are laid onto the woven fabric and stitched into place. Also supplementary weft technique is used to create decorative strips on fabric.

Description

Sarong of heavy cotton woven cloth in rectangular shape formed by two pieces sewn together. Striped with supplementary weft with red and brown silk on the weft. Decorated with gold thread in bird, fish, and abstract motifs in between supplementary vertical stripes on the blue cloth. Two multicoloured bands at each end. One end has gold couching with red thread. Embellished with sequins. One edge is unfinished.

History Of Use

Wedding sarong from south Sumatra, worn by Minangkabua men. In pre-republic times only the highest members of society were allowed to wear the best designs and most expensive materials. Now they are used by all levels of society. Ostentatious cloths are almost entirely covered with imported gold threads. Textiles such as sarongs have aesthetic, ritual, and economic significance; a person's work and occupation could be indicated by the textiles he, or she, wore. Valuable for trade. Textiles have traditionally been women's labour and are the most prestigious items in ritual exchanges, such as between marriage partners. Metallic sarongs are normally commissioned from commercial weavers, rather than produced by the women of the family.