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299 Sumba, East Sumba
Hinggi (men's blanket)  
| | Locale: | Kanatang | | Period: | 19th to very early 20th | | Yarn: | Cotton, hand-spun, very fine, double-ply, single weft (the mark of an apex Sumba weaving) | | Technique: | Warp ikat | | Panels: | 2 | | Size: | 170 x 250 cm (5' 6" x 8' 2") LW: 1.47 | | Weight: | 945 g (33.3 oz), 222 g/m2 (0.73 oz/ft2) | | Design: | Royally proportioned hinggi with symmetric design: the fruit bats in the middle row have only one snout, assuring that the cloth is axially asymmetric. The widest ikated bands are decorated with six large stags in oppositional pairs. The spaces between the animals have been filled with other zoomorphic elements: snakes between the legs, sand-strikers (sea-worms) between a stag’s rack and its tail, stylized into a tree of life shape. The outermost ikated bands show cockatoos, which serve as a (non-exclusive) Kanatang hallmark. After the weaving the two panels were reverse-mounted, sambung terbalik, so that on the left panel the bats’ snouts face down, on the right panel they face up. This reinforces the overall asymmetry. | | Comment: | The yarn is very fine and quite irregular, typical for early cloth. It is some some of the finest hand-spun encountered on Sumba, weighing just 222 g/m2. Its low weight conveys a sense of luxury. The almost chiselled drawing was achieved by the use (extremely rare) of single weft rather than the common twin weft. The styling of the deer, with their elongated, thin shapes, has a remarkable elegance. Deeply saturated morinda with the tonality of burnt sienna contrasts with the natural ecru of the main reserved areas and light blue accents. The ageing cotton has the soft patina of a cherished cloth that has been sparingly used for a long time. Four very small repairs. From old Dutch collection.
This hinggi graced the dust jacket of the author’s 2025 Noble Virtuosity Hidden Asymmetry in Ikat Textiles from Sumba. | | Background: | Chapters on Sumba and East Sumba. | | Published: | Ikat from Timor and its Outer Islands, 2022.
Noble Virtuosity: Hidden Asymmetry in Ikat from Sumba, 2024. | | Compare: | 188 187 027 222 319 | | Sources: | Similar to hinggi in Deutsches Textilmuseum, Krefeld, Inv. Nr. 16627, depicted in Khan Majlis's supplement to Völger and von Welck, Indonesian Textiles, Fig. 162. It also has deer as the main motif and bats in the midsection, albeit drawn less elegantly. Similar motifs on early 20th c. hinggi in the Nusantara Collection now at Wereldculturen, Leyden, 7082-S-878-1 and to 7082-S-2086-10. Both of these though have, certainly in the case of the former, less refined styling. Motifs also similar to a hinggi from the same period in the Textile Research Centre, equally in Leyden, TRC 2000.0085, but again with less refined drawing of the stags. | | |
©Peter ten Hoopen, 2026
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ONLINE MUSEUM OF INDONESIAN IKAT TEXTILES
CURATOR: Dr PETER TEN HOOPEN BROWSE FROM:
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