1089 Sold - Antique Sacred Cloth Maa / Mawa Batik Textile Toraja - SOLD

Sold to a discerning Antique Art-Lover

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Hand dyed scared cloth from Toraja Toradja called maa' or mawa'

According to the Toradja, their sacred cloths all called maa' or mawa' were made from divinely given yarns. They were prized ritual accouterments used in a number of ways. The designs include the buffalo and other animals that symbolised wealth. The pictorial aspects of Toraja textiles are unmatched in the textile arts of Indonesia!

Ceremonial motifs include

- Buffalo / Phoenix

- Ships or is it a casket?

- Family life - Men, women & children

- Shaman with ritual objects

- Hunting Scene

- Cockfights & Bullfights or Boar fights?

Most motifs are stamped but the edge / border ends might be hand drawn.

And the regular curvilinear Vines along 3 of the borders.

í«í_The reverse is blank completely as is the case in Batik.

Handspun cotton, handwoven cloth. Blueish tinge allover the textile.

35inches x 78inches

Estimated to be from the early 1900s

Excellent example for scholarly textile studies.

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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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