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Indonesian Kaur, West Sumatra

Woman's jacket, early 1900s

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Indonesian

Title

Woman's jacket

Year

early 1900s

Medium

Cotton, cowrie shells; plain weave with embroidery and appliqué

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • cotton,
  • cowry shells

Dimensions

Length: 27.9 cm (11 inches)

Place

West Sumatra

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Museum Purchase: Gift of Paula and Leonard Granoff and Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2003.40.4

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Zone of Attraction

June 26 - December 6, 2009

Young women in the Kauer district of the western highlands of south Sumatra wear these short jackets for ceremonial occasions. There is little variation in their design yet each jacket illustrates complex and intricately worked materials. The ornament here - shells and colorful hornbill motifs - is centered on the front and back, indicating a talisman-like function of invoking good luck or protection. The fabric was woven on a backstrap or tension loom, a loom introduced hundreds of years ago from Southern China that eventually dominated weaving technique on all of the islands.

In the Spirit of Miss Lucy

June 11 - October 31, 2004

Until quite recently the Kaur people were isolated in a virtually inaccessible part of Sumatra. A network of roads has brought them into greater contact with contemporary Indonesian culture. To date little is known of the Kaur people's textile production, but it does seem to incorporate elements of the ancient animist belief system as well as the more recent overlay of Islamic culture.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Woman's jacket with the accession number of 2003.40.4. 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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