1982 Pair - Antique Indian Trade Cloth Kalamkari Textile Toraja Fragment

A  pair of Kalamkari border fragments

Together the pair make a fabulous picture with temple-border-type peaks

The triangular motifs with the floral vines within appear to be hand-drawn 

The initial impression of the bottom black and white panel is that tit is stencil or fine-block printed but on closer inspection even that appears to be hand-drawn. However I am not an expert so please make your own judgment. 

This will make a superb framed artwork. 

Exqusitie drawing!

Collected on a field visit to Toraja, Sulawesi. 

This fragment has been saved from a fire - therefore has burn marks present. Holes and stains. Edges not even. This fragment is one of several sections that have been saved from the same fire-struck cloth.

49 x 35 cm together

Comparison with other similar examples suggests that this is pre 1900.

[Similar examples have been dated to be from the 13th - 19th century]

For similar examples see

1) The Ashmolean Museum collection: Link

2) The Kelsey Museum collection in Ann Arbor: Link

3) 'Master Dyers to the World' by Mattiebelle Gittinger

4) "Woven Cargoes" by John Guy

This is a rare opportunity to own something as rare and as old as this fantastic little work of art that had traveled from India to Toraja sometime in it's past and then has back to Singapore. 

VERY RARE

Such pieces can be found only in museums.

Frame it and add it to your home-museum collection.