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- Sumatra Batak very fine Ulos #6
Product Description
Very fine Ulos textile from Sumatra
This textile was purchased ca. 1990 from an antique shop in Bukittinggi, central Sumatra. We were told it was 10-20 years old at the time.
This cloth was hand woven by a Batak weaver in northern Sumatra. It is called an ulos and is a type of Selendang or Shawl Woven Cloth. The weave is very fine and all cotton, in warp-face plain weave with supplemental weft decorations. There are flecks of warp ikat in the black field. Long twisted warp fringes decorate both ends, and a 2-inch supplemental weft band finishes and stabilizes the ends. The first photo below shows half the textile, the other half is the mirror image.
Overall dimensions:
Width varies from 25 inches at the ends to about 29 inches in the center;
Length is 73 inches excluding the long twisted warp fringes.
This textile was woven as a single panel of cloth. The sides are finished with an attached strand of glass beads, in red, blue and white colors.
Condition is excellent, no holes or stains, only some light wear and/or soil is possible. The beaded edging is loose in a few places. In the photos below, the warp always runs vertically. The first image shows approximately half of the garment, the other half is a mirror image.