VINTAGE IKAT TEXTILES FROM ACROSS INDONESIA

THE INDONESIAN WORD ‘ikat’ means to ‘tie’ or ‘bind’, WHICH ALLUDES TO THE INTRICATE AND MASSIVELY LONGWINDED PROCESS OF CREATING THESE INCREDIBLE TEXTILES.  FROM PICKING THE COTTON TO SNIPPING THE FINAL THREAD, a single piece can take upwards of 14 months to create, AND IT’S NOT UNCOMMON TO TAKE SEVERAL YEARS.

MOST OF OUR VINTAGE IKATS COME FROM TUBE SKIRTS, A ‘POU DULA BUNGA’, WHICH ARE THE traditional female dress in many parts of indonesia.  TWO IKAT TEXTILES ARE STITCHED TOGETHER TO FORM A LONG NARROW ‘STRAPLESS DRESS’ {IN WESTERN TERMS}, WHICH IS THEN WRAPPED AROUND THE BODY.

PLEASE SEE INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS FOR MORE TEXTILE INTEL.

VINTAGE SONGKET TEXTILES FROM BALI

THESE ARE A VINTAGE SILK/COTTON BLEND ‘SONGKET BENANG EMAS’, MEANING A gold thread songket.

TRADITIONALLY THESE HANDWOVEN AND INTRICATELY HAND-EMBROIDERED TEXTILES WERE CREATED BY YOUNG WOMEN, usually of the aristocratic class, AND USED AS WEDDING BELTS TO HOLD TOGETHER THEIR SKIRTS ON THEIR SPECIAL DAY.  GOLD OR SILVER metallic yarn is woven into the weft threads OF THE BACKGROUND TEXTILE, IN TRADITIONAL MOTIFS.

SONGKET TEXTILES ARE COMMON THROUGHOUT MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA AND HAVE BEEN WOVEN SINCE THE 13TH CENTURY, BUT these particular wedding belts are unique to the balinese highlands.  IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED THAT THE NAME ‘SONGKET’ COMES FROM THE OLD MUSI MALAY WORD ‘SUNGKIT’, MEANING ‘TO HOOK’.  THEY ARE HIGH END ITEMS OF CLOTHING USUALLY RESERVED FOR RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, WEDDINGS AND OTHER LIFE-CYCLE RITES, AND traditionally solely owned by the balinese nobility.

PLEASE SEE INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS FOR MORE TEXTILE INTEL.

MODERN IKAT TEXTILES FROM BALI

THESE STUNNING pastel- and jewel-toned MODERN IKAT TEXTILES ARE HANDWOVEN ON BACKSTRAP LOOMS IN CENTRAL BALI.  UNLIKE TRADITIONAL IKATS WHICH FOCUS ON THE WARP THREADS, THESE COTTON TEXTILES ARE MADE BY tieing the weft threads IN PATTERNS BEFORE DYEING THEM – WHICH MAKES AN ALREADY HUGELY SKILLED PROCESS CONSIDERABLY HARDER.  

originally reserved for the nobility TO BE WORN ON RELIGIOUS OCCASIONS AS A WRAPAROUND SKIRT {IN WESTERN TERMS}, THESE TEXTILES ARE NOW COMMONLY WORN BY BOTH MEN {ALONG WITH A SARONG} AND WOMEN {AS HIP CLOTHS}.

PLEASE SEE INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS FOR MORE TEXTILE INTEL.