of these patterns is a feature of ancient Southeast Asian art that is still prevalent. The hook or key is also found everywhere, as a major pattern or as ornamental detail. Schematic patterns are formed of repeated keys while the same motif embellishes readily recognizable shapes drawn from everyday life. On the palepai and tatibin textiles of south Sumatra, the prow and stern of the ships are formed with bold curling hooks, and on even the most stylized of the tampan a vague impression of the ship is maintained within the overall key patterns. In central Sulawesi, the textiles of the Toraja provide some of Southeast Asia's most striking examples of the use of hook and spiral motifs.
funé mama (?) man's bag for betel-nut Tetum people, Besikama district, south Belu region, Timor, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes, ivory, bone, beads, shells supplementary weft wrapping 63.0 x 22.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1249
This mid-twentieth-century betel-nut bag is finely worked in supplementary weft weave (buna). The brightly coloured motifs against an indigo ground are apparently the crocodile (be'i or hau sufa) and the human figure (atonz), although these shapes are occasionally interpreted as the frog (beso). The use of such powerful images and the supplementary weft wrapping technique was once restricted in Timor to rulers and war leaders, and the women who weave such motifs are aware of their potency. A long, bright, rolled fringe is an additional decorative feature of this drawstring bag.
man's cloth Kisar or Luang, south Maluku, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 220.0 x 105.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.605
Most items of apparel composed of two, three or more panels exploit the necessary constraints of narrow, backstrap loom fabrics by retaining the symmetrical design structure with a contrasting central section. This unusual nineteenth-century cloth from the islands of Kisar or Luang is made in two identical panels but follows the tripartite design format of the eastern Indonesian man's wrap. Although textiles of this exact structure are not recorded for this region of the south Moluccas, the bands of figurative warp ikat indicate the textile's origins. The patterned bands of human figures, fowls and schematic shapes are all ancient motifs. The human forms, wonderfully proportioned with wide shoulders and a powerful stance, may have ancestral connotations. The figurative and plain striped red bands form a strong contrast with the striking blue and white spotted central section.
tatibin ceremonial cloth Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes, metallic thread, silk supplementary weft weave 44.5 x 122.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.573
The curving prows at each end of the great ships that are the central motif on the supplementary weft cotton cloths of the south Lampung region of Sumatra are one of the most striking examples of the use of an ancient decorative motif, the hook. The smaller and rarer tatibin exhibit the same iconography and style as the huge palepai textiles. This late nineteenth-century cloth resembles the single blue ship designs found on the palepei of the Kota Agung district on the south coast of Lampung. Turmeric dyes have been generously used, and spots of pink silk and silver thread appear amid the yellow-orange, red and blue supplementary threads.
shroud Isnai people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 142.0 x 213.0 cm Newark Museum 30.601 Gift of Mrs Sadie De Roy Koch, 1930
This striking indigo and white textile, with strong red warp stripes, is described in the museum notes as a death blanket. It is one of the few examples of large warp ikat designs remaining from the island of Luzon. Nothing is known of the design's exact original meaning, although the large hooked motifs are similar to those identified by the art historian Schuster (1965: 342) as 'genealogical patterns', a succession of deceased ancestors. Late nineteenth or early twentieth century
pha biang ceremonial shawl Tai Daeng people, Laos silk, cotton, dyes supplementary weft weave 200.0 x 47.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3193
The rhomb and hook pattern appears in a quite different guise on this twentieth-century Lao shawl. The green, white, orange and purple silk threads are a brilliant contrast against the sombre indigo cotton ground. Apart from small creatures in the borders of the main decorative section, the design is non-figurative, although its arrangement hints at the dragon design (naga), which is a popular image on the textiles of northern mainland Southeast Asia. Similar supplementary weft diamond-key patterns are found on textiles from Vietnam through to the Himalayas.
kemben; kain kembangan offering cloth; breastcloth Javanese people, central Java, Indonesia cotton, dyes stitch-resist dyeing 492.0 x 52.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3183
A large rhomb section occupies the centre of a number of central Javanese cloths, including certain huge ceremonial textiles (dodot) and men's headcloths. It is also the main decorative device found on a number of breast-wrappers. These long, cotton textiles with a stark, tie-dyed or stitch-resist (tritik) central lozenge are a type of kain kembangan (flowered cloth). Such textiles are part of the traditional offerings made to deities, and are of greater ritual importance than Javanese batik. They are worn at the most sacred ceremonies at all levels of Javanese society - in court and village alike. This early twentieth-century dark indigo textile with its green centre (jumputan?) may have been associated with annual homage and offerings orientated to the south, the location of the home of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul, the goddess of the south seas and legendary ancestor of the Surakarta ruler.
skirt; ceremonial hanging Toraja people, Rongkong district (?), central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary warp weave, warp ikat 185.0 x 145.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.612
(detail) pori situtu' ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Rongkong district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 375.0 x 158.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.2295
(detail) pori lonjong ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Rongkong district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 132.5 x 434.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.616
The intricacies that can be achieved with rhomb, key and spiral configurations can be judged from these Toraja examples. The twentieth-century pori lonjong (pori, ikat; lonjong, long) has crisp bold ikat in two panels. The much older textile, possibly a woman's skirt, contains subtle variations of interlocking spiral patterns in unusual supplementary warp bands. The huge, early twentieth-century pori situtu (probably from the term tutup, to close or cover) also includes the characteristic side stripes but the textile is composed of four panels. The striking, but enigmatic, spotted central pattern is surrounded by continuous, flowing spirals outlined in white. The colours on each cloth are white, a powerful red, and a dramatic blue, which are all characteristic of Rongkong textiles. To achieve such clarity in the warp ikat, Toraja weavers increase the impact of the pattern by using a double thickness of warp threads. These Rongkong textiles are used throughout the Toraja region in a variety of ceremonies, and the warp ikat cloths are associated particularly with mortuary rites. In the northern region around Kulawi, however, they are also worn as layered skirts by
