striven for intricate, finely worked patterns, the thickness of handspun thread and the finished fabric is a desirable feature of these protective Kodi cloths (Geirnaert-Martin, 1990).
89 An early twentieth-century photograph of a Gaddang man in ceremonial costume
87
86
The beadwork still practised in many isolated parts of insular Southeast Asia relies on beads from a variety of foreign sources. The Maloh have adopted an extensive range of colours using beads now widely available from Europe and Japan. So, too, have the women of Irian Jaya whose dance aprons retain ancient key and spiral designs and sometimes anthropomorphic motifs in rhombic and triangular grids.34 Elsewhere in insular Southeast Asia the characteristic red, black and white colour combination has prevailed, even though other colours are often available. The headwork of Mindanao is spectacular yet often conservative in colour, with the Bagobo, for example, adding fine red, black and white seed-beads to a variety of objects made from woven abaca fabric, including pants and shirts, bags and bands.
88
Jewellery, including ornamental earrings, are among the objects that have been recovered from prehistoric sites in Southeast Asia. Like beads, items of jewellery are symbols of wealth and prosperity and since textile decoration is not an isolated art form, the metal earrings and head-pieces that are used by a number of Southeast Asian people on ceremonial occasions also appear as symbols of wealth on traditional fabrics. Golden head-dresses repeat the upturned buffalo horn or boat shape and are decorated with similar images to the textiles. On the island of Sumba, gold jewellery, like textiles, plays an important role in marriage settlements, and displays images such as the fighting warrior, the cosmic tree, the domestic fowl and the horned buffalo. Jewellery motifs, in particular head-dresses and earrings, occasionally appear as separate designs on cloth or are sometimes evident on the anthropomorphic figures displayed on certain textiles.
TEXTILE STRUCTURES: TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS
89,90,91
92,93
Many similarities in woven textile designs across the region can be partly attributed to the immediate possibilities of the simplest back-tension loom with its continuous circulating warp, the commonest and most ancient weaving apparatus in the region. It is probable that the earliest woven ornamentation was narrow, plain, or simply patterned warp stripes. One of the oldest design structures on loom-woven cloth is the organization of patterning in warp bands, as certain other decorative techniques, such as complementary and supplementary warp weaving and warp ikat, are simplest to achieve when they are worked in narrow widths. As more elaborate techniques developed, larger and more complex designs became possible.
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94,99
The warp stripes found on many Southeast Asian textiles are not randomly assembled.35 For example, every band of a traditional Flores skirtcloth, whether decorated with ikat or plain-dyed threads, is deliberately proportioned and appropriately named, and these design formulae have been passed down from generation to generation. On the islands of Lombok and Bali, specific combinations of colours and stripes are required on cloths that serve different healing or talismanic functions, while the border stripes on the large woven fabrics of Borneo and Sulawesi are an integral part of cloth composition. On lban textiles the border stripes are believed necessary to keep the central pattern confined, which is vital if the main body of the cloth depicts a dangerous tiger or crocodile.
An early twentieth-century photograph of a Gaddang woman using a backstrap tension loom and weaving with a long, continuous, striped warp strung underneath a traditional house. The resulting fabric was cut into lengths to form the basic Gaddang garments for men and women - wrap-around skirts and loincloths, jackets, belts and cloaks.
woman's skirt (lufid); belt (wakes or inawin); jacket (...) Gaddang people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, dyes, beads tabby weave, supplementary weft weave, appliqué, embroidery 77.0 x 104.0 em; 12.0 x 185.0 em; 107.0 x 30.0 cm Austrafian National Gallery 1984.1212; 1985.1693; 1984.1211
The textiles woven by many of the peoples of the mountainous interior of Luzon are composed of basic warp stripes or bands, evident on the articles of female apparel worn by the Gaddang. The combinations of colours and stripes indicate the particular ethno-linguistic origins of the wearer: these examples are red, white and blue. Archaeological finds in Luzon dating from the fifteenth century confirm the early use of beads to form decorative patterns on skirts and other garments, and the Gaddang are noted for their striking headwork. Probably mid-twentieth century
man's loincloth (baag or wanes); jacket (...); betel-nut or tobacco bag (...) Gaddang people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, dyes, beads, silver, brass tabby weave, beading, embroidery, appliqué, twining 267.0 x 12.5 em; 45.0 x 31.0 em; 15.0 x 65.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1208; 1984.1207; 1984.1210
cape Gaddang people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, dyes, beads tabby weave, beading, embroidery 53.0 x 93.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1209
Like some inhabitants of the more isolated parts of Southeast Asia, the men of central Luzon continued to wear an ancient garment, the loincloth, into the twentieth century. However, the Gaddang man's cape, joined at two adjacent corners, is an unusual item of clothing for Southeast Asia, where most men's shawls consist of rectangular fringed cloths. A cloak permits far more freedom of movement than a shawl, and a similar garment is worn by Paiwan men in Taiwan. The Gaddang male garments, like those worn by women, are made from locally woven red, white and blue striped fabric trimmed with embroidery and beads. The blue in the cape, however, is much brighter than the other textiles and is embroidered in bright yellow thread. The betel-nut or tobacco bag, however, is prepared from a square of imported cotton cloth pulled through silver and brass rings. The age of these garments varies from early to mid-twentieth century.
(detail) kekombong; lempot umbaq ritual cloths Sasak people, Lombok, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp-faced tabby weave 49.0 x 150.0 em 97.0 x 35.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3181; 1987.1094 Gift of Michael and Mary Abbott, 1987
The Sasak use a variety of names for this type of cloth throughout Lombok. Lempot umbaq means literally a shouldercloth (lempot) to carry the baby. Elsewhere the term used is umbaq kombong or kekombong. Although only decorated with simple warp stripes, these are considered to be important cloths. They are woven by old women in many different but established combinations of natural colours, and often in a rather rough, open weave, suggestive of the urgency with which they are required. These textiles are worn at the various ceremonies heralding changes in a person's social status. Their talismanic or curative functions are called upon during rites associated with both individual and communal well-being, and special copies of heirloom kekombong are sometimes prescribed to cure physical or social diseases, such as deafness or kleptomania. The combination of rich colours of the nineteenth-century red and brown-black cloth suggests that it may be a kekombong ragi majapahit, a pattern believed by the Sasak to have originated during the golden age of the fourteenth- and
