2070 Antique Cambodian Silk Ikat Pidan Ikat Ship Cloth

 Rare Antique Figurative Silk Ikat Pidan with Ships from Cambodia

This type of long Pidan temple hanging banner is very hard to find commercially now. Further, ones with ship motifs are rarely found outside books and museums.

 In the olden days these wall hangings were offered at temples.

Rare design with a row of 5.5 tiered ships on one side. When rotated 180 degrees we see 5.5 temple structures. 

Note the unusual feature that at roughly 75% length, the weaver abandons the ship / temple motifs and switches to a geometric design. This disruption may have been caused by unforeseen circumstances as a result of which another weaver took over to complete the weaving. 

Note the use of green in the borders.

Will be perfect framed as a wall artwork.

Of all the ikats that I have seen, Cambodian ikat is the finest.

Why do I say that? In creating ikat, the design is planned first, then the threads are laid out parallel to each other and dyed according to the design intended. At the time of dyeing, the threads are free floating and not attached to each other. It is only after the unattached threads are dyed in the many colors needed, that they are woven in together. And naturally some misalignment creeps in during weaving and gives rise to a rough look on each motif at the color-change edges.  In places like Pochampally, the designs are large, and each color on a thread occupies a few centimeters or even a few inches and the misalignment can be seen over a few millimeters at the edge of every color. (The error must necessarily be a small fraction of the total otherwise the intended design would not be evident at all and would appear as a messy hodgepodge of colors.) On the other hand,  in antique Pidans from Cambodia the color changes every few millimeters. So, the scope for misalignment is much much less. The time consumed and the attention required to produce motifs that are precise to a millimeter is enormous.  And that is why old ikats from Cambodia are the finest among the ones I've seen. 

Size: 335 x 97 cm

Circa 1900

NOTE: Cambodian ikat is very hard to photograph and therefore photos from several angles have been provided. The video shows the changes in colors with a change in angle. Further, photos have been taken with folds to show the changes in light effects. 

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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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