1032 Antique Batak Shaman Head Cloth
Antique Batak Shaman Head Cloth - Monumental Example of Batak Weaving
Important Batak Shaman Textile - used as a headcloth by Shamans
See photos for the complex motifs and the variation in omotif sizes.
MY NOTES:
The features that I find remarkable in this one:
1) the variation in the sizes of dancing men. As a visual effect this may look trivial, but when you imagine the weaving process, it is a bit more complex than if all the dancers were to have the same height.
2) In the main field we have maroon and black bands as the ground on which the pattern of diamonds is created. Clearly there is some variation as we move outwards from the centre. It isn't the size of each diamond that changes - it is the thickness of each line that makes the diamond. And to achieve this effect diagonally across the maroon and black bands is a feat in itself.
3) The size of the the little black peaks at the edge of the dancers' section is about 1 mm. Making these micro motifs is naturally a tedious process.
4) Note the plain central portion on the reverse that bears no signs of the weaving on the front.
Estimated to be from the 1800s
Monumental Example of Batak Weaving
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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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