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display continued to support resarch | | | |
323 Roti Group, Roti
Lafa (shawl) 
| | Locale: | Nemberala, western Roti | | Period: | 1950-1960 | | Yarn: | Cotton, hand-spun, medium | | Technique: | Warp ikat | | Panels: | 2 | | Size: | 76 x 159 cm (2' 5" x 5' 2") LW: 2.09 | | Design: | Patola-like motif in the midfield, but borders without the more common elongated triangles. Executed in two shades of morinda red, two shades of indigo, yellow and green - created by brief overdying of yellow with indigo. Very unusual is that the cloth is asymmetric to the core: not only is the design asymmetric, one panel is also far wider than the other, with the ikated area 39 cm versus 30 cm wide. Fringe decorated with red and green yarn. Both the drawing style and the presence of yellow and tiny patches of green point to creation in Nemberala, western Roti. | | Comment: | The asymmetric design is enigmatic. Perhaps it was made for a husband from neighbouring Ndao or nearby Savu, where asymmetry is de rigueur for men's cloths. A more likely reason, against the background of ikat as female competition activity, is that it represents sought complexity, as it certainly does on the hinggi mentioned above. The piece is in unused state, its fringes not yet corded. Passed to collection Anja Philippart. | | Background: | Chapters on Roti Group and Roti. | | Published: | Ikat from Timor and its Outer Islands, 2022.
| | Compare: | 011 042 125 141 319 | | Sources: | No Roti cloth with similarly asymmetric pattern known from literature. Stylistically very similar to lafa from Nemberala (Nebrala) in Granucci, Art of the Lesser Sundas, Fig. 112, which also has yellow touches. | | |
©Peter ten Hoopen, 2024
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ONLINE MUSEUM OF INDONESIAN IKAT TEXTILES
CURATOR: Dr PETER TEN HOOPEN BROWSE FROM:
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