796 Vintage Palepai Tampan Ship Cloth Sumatran Textile

 Cotton Ship Cloth Weaving from Sumatra

Motifs of men, ships, dragons and more, laid out as a hierarchy.

Palepai cloths are rarer than Tampans as these family heirlooms were handed down to the head of the household, while Tampans were created for every son's family unit. So within an extended family, there could be only 1 Palepai but the number of Tampans could run into dozens.

59 x 268 cm

An example with similar weaving technique is exhibited at the Met Museum NY is mentioned as 19th century

This piece is a replica from the 1970s probably made by Haji Abdul Kadir Muhammad of Pekalongan.

 Similar example on Sotheby's: Link

 LOOKING FOR ANTIQUE PALEPAIS? Visit the collection here
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This item has spent a lifetime being used for the purpose of its creation with the original artist/user. Signs of this life lived heartily may be present on the piece in the form of stains, thread loss, loose threads, holes, tears, color run and other imperfections. Therefore the condition must be assumed to be “not” perfect. More photos of such imperfections will be provided on request.

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