Textiles of Southeast Asia. Robyn Maxwell
weaver had intended. In south Maluku, women of the small island of Luang specialized in weaving and their cloths were traded to the more arable neighbouring islands. It is possible that this early twentieth-century cloth was made there where it would be known by the ancient Austronesian term lawar or lavre, a name for skirts which has wide currency elsewhere in eastern Indonesia, and is related to the Hawaian term for skirt, lau.
WARFARE AND WEAVING, TALKING AND TEXTILE-MAKING: COMPLEMENTARY RITES OF MEN AND WOMEN
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Head-hunting was an important ritual central to life in many societies and was believed to be a way of generating fertility and prosperity.57 The taking of heads to re-establish equilibrium and well-being after death or disaster still features prominently in the legends of many ethnic groups. Head-hunting and the rituals of warfare provide important symbols that establish cosmic order and represent the social well-being of society. Such symbols are evident on many objects including textiles. In east Sumba, the most striking example is the skull tree (andung) that stands in large villages. The andung pole, hung with skulls and firmly embedded in a stone platform, stood as a central altar for head-hunting rites associated with agricultural increase and inter-village warfare, and it is often re-created in detail on the warp ikat and supplementary warp textiles of the area (Adams, 1969: 130-1; Adams, 1971a: 32).
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lban textiles associated with head-hunting rituals contain many powerful motifs. Nineteenth-century examples of pua sungkit show the severed trophy skulls (antu pala) hanging from branches. These designs are a vivid depiction of the fruitfulness of past expeditions, and were an ideal symbol on textiles used by ritually important women to receive and cradle newly acquired heads when Iban warriors returned from successful raids. Heads were not only trophies demonstrating success in warfare; they became fertility metaphors - both agricultural and human. In an Iban legend the mighty Lang Singalang Burong splits an enemy skull and from it pours seeds which when planted yield a human crop (Freeman, 1979: 233- 46).
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Other Southeast Asian peoples, such as the Ifugao of Luzon and the various Dayak groups of Sarawak and Kalimantan, stored captured heads, and these were displayed during preparations for war and at fertility rites during the agricultural cycle. The Naga of western Burma also believed that success in head-hunting would harness the essence of enemies' souls and ensure agricultural abundance (Hutton, 1928). For men in such societies, status was originally achieved through prowess in warfare and this was recognized and displayed by the wearing of special costume (Femenias, 1984: 50-1). The Bagobo and Kulaman of Mindanao also had certain items of apparel - stitch-resist jackets and pants, and tie-dyed headcloths in rich red-brown blood colours - that were only worn by warriors who had taken an enemy head.
hinggi kombu man's cloth Sumbanese people, east Sumba, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, weft twining, staining 304.0 x 127.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1240
The bold use of a large, diagonal, central pattern flanked by elongated male figures contributes to the striking vertical effect of this hinggi design. The major motif at each end is the andung, a tree-like structure on which the skulls of vanquished enemies are hung. This twentieth-century cloth is worked in natural red and blue vegetable dyes with some additional yellow staining.
sawal and k'gal sara trousers and jacket for a warrior Kulaman people, Mindanao, Philippines abaca fibre, natural dyes stitch-resist dyeing Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 129644; 129645
In this unusual resist technique, the motifs are stitched on to the abaca fabric before the cloth is dyed. Items of costume in these rich red-brown dyes and with intricate designs were reserved for successful head-hunters, and among the lozenge and spiral motifs, human figures appear to symbolize past or future victims.
pua sungkit ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft wrapping 88.0 x 210.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1659
A powerful nineteenth-century pua sungkit depicts the severed trophy-head design (antu pala), associated with head-hunting expeditions, longhouse prosperity and Iban notions of fertility. The motifs have sometimes been identified by Western observers as depicting the great Iban patron god of war, Lang Singalang Burong, hung with skulls. However, even the most ritually experienced weaver would not dare to depict that legendary warrior-ancestor on a pua sungkit, the lban textile type synonymous with power (M. Heppell, personal communication, 1987). The six rows of antu pala motifs have been worked in supplementary weft wrapping technique against the rich maroon ground, and those sets of trophy heads worked predominantly in dark indigo are more prominent than those worked in buff undyed thread. The triangular end patterns depict the coiled python (leko sawa).
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Warfare required fine regalia and special protective clothing. Twining was frequently the medium for hunters' and warriors' jackets and these are still found in a few isolated places. The tightly twined jackets of Flores, Sulawesi and Borneo were all intended to deflect enemies' blows. In Borneo, institutionalized inter-tribal fighting and head-hunting led to an amazing range of war jackets made of woven fibre and thick cotton, quilting, embroidered bark, skin, rattan, beads, shell discs of various shapes and sizes, and even anteater scales (Avé and King, 1986: opp.16; Khan Majlis, 1984:326-32, 342-3). On the most elaborate Iban warp ikat cotton jackets and coats, twining and tapestry weave are employed for the bright medallions and border trim, and in Timor the intricate twined and tapestry-woven accessories of the méo warriors are some of the finest textile work from that island. The Ifugao of Luzon make twined jackets with a technique similar to macrame.58 These jackets, and the hairy backpack (bango), seem to be associated with hunting and with ceremonies such as exorcism and those following violent deaths, when sacrifices are necessary.59
man's shawl Naga people, north-east India handspun cotton, natural dyes, shells supplementary weft weave, appliqué 168.0 x 110.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1923
The sombre black and brown warp stripes on this nineteenth-century Naga warrior's shawl provide an appropriate contrast for the white shell appliqué. The circular motifs are believed to represent the moon, a propitious symbol for head-hunting raids, while the human figures are intended to indicate the tally of his victims and act as omens for the future. Small checkered badges of red supplementary thread are scattered across the surface. These shawls are used by local chieftains and their families, and the precise arrangement of the stripes indicates the rank of the wearer.
pilu saluf, ilaf belt or sword decoration; head decoration for the méo (ritual war leader) Atoni or Dawan people, Timor, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes, beads tapestry weave, twining, supplementary weft wrapping 130.0 x 11.5 cm; 61.0 x 21.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1661; 1980.1662
Coloured lithograph first published in 1864 by J.Th. Bik in his book Aantekeningen nopens eene reis naar Bima, Timor, de Moluksche eilanden, Menado en Oost java
The elaborate ceremonial regalia of the Timorese ritual warrior-leaders (méo) are recorded in this lithograph based on the voyage of the two Bik brothers to the Indies around 1822. It clearly shows the finely worked, tapestry weave sword and head ornaments, the ceremonial betel-nut bag, a beaded lizard neck-piece, and a plaid sash and headcloth (possibly plangi tie-dye) imported from a neighbouring region. The warrior's wrap is a locally woven, cotton, supplementary