| Notes: | General: The warp ikat Hinggi from East Sumba, Lesser Sunda Islands, are some of the most beautiful and striking of tribal cloths. Worn principally by Sumba Island men from the elite and nobility as hip or more commonly shoulder cloths, they strongly reflect the male islanders concern for nature, ritual and the spirit world. Woven in combinations of natural red (hinggi kombu) and blue dyes on white or ecru, they carry a wide range of geometric, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs arranged in horizontal bands, commonly three to eleven in number. The motifs are generally outlined in white or ecru. They are also woven with the upper part of the cloth being the mirror image of the lower so that when the cloth is hung over the shoulder the motifs appear the correct way up on both the front and rear. More unusually, they can also carry iconography taken from other sources such as old Chinese porcelain and Dutch coins. Woven in two vertical sections and stitched together, the central horizontal band generally carries motifs reflecting modification of the patola motif. Another major band is the hai (second above the fringe) which is often the widest and carries some of the most significant motifs of a particular cloth.
Criteria for identifying high quality hinggi include, firmly woven, use of hand spun cotton, precision of the images, complexity of pattern, saturated colour tones and tan over staining, Z stitching joining of the two panels, elaborate corded and ikat patterned fringes. The number and quality of cloths owned reflects wealth and status. They are given as gifts at weddings and worn on ritual and ceremonial ocaissions. They also serve as shrouds and grave goods.
Specific: The main motifs in this light red Hinggi Kombu is the skull tree (the pohon andung), a rack once implanted in each royal village to hold heads taken on raids on other villages, the tree of life and ancestor figures. The central patola motif has been stylised into a large band of extended crosses intermixed with the ancestor figures. The skull tree in this example seems of archaic form. In more modern hinggi the faces on the skulls are often smiling, which means that that this textile could probably date to the time of actual headhunting. In peaceful times the skull tree on hinggi became a symbol of prosperity, fertility and the ruler’s power. |
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