1898 Antique Indian Trade Textile Patola print Toraja Fragment

Small fragment of an Indian Trade textile with three colors - rich red, black and beige.

This is part of a border of a Patola print on a thick coarse cloth.

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.

35 cm x 19.5 cm (at the maxima)

Comparison with other similar examples suggests that this is a few centuries old. [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

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.