Unknown Maker, Sumatran

Gold has communicated ceremonial significance, wealth, and prestige throughout history. These paired textiles show two techniques of gold work on cloth, each representative of its region in Indonesia. Prada, or painting with gold, has long been a form of embellishment in Bali, and was once an important component in the masked dance drama known as topeng. Today, prada decoration is commonly seen in temple festivals. The example on view here is of the finest sort and would have taken six months to a year to complete. The base fabric originated in Java, where it was hand drawn and resist-dyed multiple times with indigo to achieve its saturated blue. The gold was later applied by hand in Bali. The second textile is an example of songket, gold-wrapped supplemental weft threads and weft ikat. Characteristic of Sumatra, songket textiles are used to underlay sacrificial offerings, to embellish architecture, and for making clothing and parasols.