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Sumatran Toba Batak, Sumatera Utara

Waist cloth, ca. 1825

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Sumatran

Title

Waist cloth

Year

ca. 1825

Medium

Silk, metal thread; warp ikat, supplemental weft patterning

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • silk

Dimensions

Length: 182.9 cm (72 inches)

Place

Sumatera Utara

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

38.204

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Zone of Attraction

June 26 - December 6, 2009

These Sumatran textiles exemplify the island's extensive range of textile techniques and materials, including metal thread, which is prominent in Sumatra. The Toba Batak waist cloth is a fine example of the subtle use of metal thread to render additional patterns on top of the fine-warp ikat arrowhead pattern. Extra fine metal threads supplemental to the cloth depict the hornbill motif that is ubiquitous throughout indigenous cultures. The long vertical cloths shown here are worn as headdresses by women who wrap the yardage around the top of the head with upswept corners, like points or horns. The aesthetic relates to roofs on houses while also paying homage to the horns of the water buffalo.

A World of Costume and Textiles

September 22 - November 12, 1989

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Waist cloth with the accession number of 38.204. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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