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339 Timor, West Timor
Mau naek (men's wrap) 
| | Locale: | Ayotupus region of Amanatun Utara; probably Bokong, close to Sambet where the King has his ancestral home, the heart of Ayotupus. | | Period: | 1930-1945 | | Yarn: | Cotton, hand-spun, medium. | | Technique: | Warp ikat | | Panels: | 3 | | Size: | 131 x 168 cm (4' 3" x 5' 6") LW: 1.28 | | Weight: | 1095 g (38.6 oz), 498 g/m2 (1.63 oz/ft2) | | Design: | The asymmetry in this weaving is not immediately apparent because the field division is symmetric and the midfield, decorated with four repetitions of a motif called kbubu, diamond, is also symmetric – as of course is the diamond itself. The asymmetry is hidden in the side panels. These both contain an ikated band, about 5 cm wide, with a meandering string of elongated S-shapes. These represent the nagas, dragons, which symbolically bridge the underworld, the earth, and the sky, thus establishing a connection between the living and the ancestors. For the cloth to be symmetric these nagas would have to curl in opposite directions, but they face the same way. (See marked detail.) This deceitful play on our expectations was achieved, not simply by reverse mounting, but by design. It involved separating and shuffling around skeins of warp yarns, an elective procedure requiring dexterity and additional labour. It reveals an understanding of how our brains process visual information: when we observe symmetry in the whole, we expect to find it reflected in the details (see also ten Hoopen 2024a:46). | | Comment: | [PHOTOGRAPHY PROVISIONAL] This is an archetypical 'Ayotupus', a region known for its meticulous ikat. The finest drawing was done with two warp yarns in parallel. As the bindings were placed on two warp beds simultaneously (one for each panel), both folded over in the middle, the ikating was done on sets of merely eight yarns. The dyes, also in the pinstripes, are all natural. A faint skatol smell of decomposing indigo attests to the specimen's advanced age. At well over 1 kg of weight this is a robust, heavy cloth, very comfortable to wear around the shoulders on a cool evening. | | Background: | Chapters on Timor and West Timor. | | Compare: | 312 | | Sources: | This specimen closely resembles a mau shown in Yeager & Jacobson (2002; Plate 52). Information on provenance and motifs was provided by James Izacc Bill Key Kase. | | |
©Peter ten Hoopen, 2026
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ONLINE MUSEUM OF INDONESIAN IKAT TEXTILES
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