2078 Antique Kain Inuh Ikat Lampung Sumatra Textile
Antique Kain Inuh Ikat from Lampung
Kain Lampungs have alternating bands of ikat and embroidery. The height and number of bands vary creatively with some having more and narrower ikat bands and others having broader and fewer ikat bands.
In this textile the silk floss embroidery has been lost almost totally. For most collectors, the embroidery is the more important part of the textile.
For me, as the ikat itself is the harder craft and executing the art is harder, it is the ikat that is the more significant part. The reason is that the category of Ikats from Lampung is among the finest cotton ikats I have seen. (Cambodian Ikat is much finer but is always on silk).
Color changes are seen at every millimeter or less.
Furthers, as we can see there are 12 sections in the design. Each holds a unique drawing. Each of the drawings is asymmetric. Each is creatively hard to grasp and hold in the mind - so if a genius were to be given the exercise of staring at it for a minute and then replicating it from memory, she would probably fail to do so without major distortions.
It is this complexity of the ikat patterns in this category and this particular textile that makes it ultra-attractive to me.
Further, the amount of space allocated to the ikat panels in this textile is satisfyingly large.
In my definition, this textile is a masterpiece.
Conservatively estimated to be from the late-1800s - it could well be from an earlier period.
Soft & fine cotton material.
146 cm x 57 cm
COMPARABLE EXAMPLES:
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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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