Lampung Textiles
Textiles are a part of our
everyday lives and have
been for thousands of years.
Some textiles are purely
utilitarian like towels or
curtains. Others offer a look
into the culture, history and
economics of a family.
Some textiles are used only
for specific occasions. This
is true of American history
and Indonesian history. This
month we will at how
special woven textiles were
used in 19th century
Indonesia.
Lampung, provinsi
(province), southern
Sumatra, Indonesia,
bounded by the Java Sea to
the east, the Sunda Strait to
the south, the Indian Ocean
Figure 1
to the west, and Sumatera
Selatan (South Sumatra)
Ceremonial Cloth
province to the north and
Late 19th century, Lampung culture, Sumatra, Indonesia
northwest. It includes the
30 x 27 ¼ inches
islands of Sebuku, Sebesi,
Cotton
Sertung, and Rakata in
Sunda Strait. The area
formed part of the kingdom of Kantoli in southern Sumatra in the beginning of the 6th century
and in the 14th century was included in the Hindu Majapahit Empire of eastern Java. Hindu and
Buddhist archaeological remains have been found at Palas, Talangpadang, Liwa, and Mount
Besar. In the 16th century, Lampung was part of the Muslim state of Bantam (now Banten) under
Hasanuddin (ruled 1552–70). The Dutch incorporated Lampung into their colonial empire in
1860. It became part of the Republic of Indonesia in 1950.
The southernmost portion of the Barisan Mountains runs the length of the province from the
northwest to southeast and is surmounted by volcanic cones including Mounts Batai, 5,518 feet
(1,682 metres) and Tebak, 6,939 feet (2,115 metres). The mountains are flanked by narrow
coastland on the southwest and by rapidly descending highlands on the northeast. The eastern
lowland area of Lampung stretches from the foothills of the mountains to the belt of swamps
along the eastern coast. The Sekampung, Seputih, and Tulangbewang rivers descend the eastern
slopes of the mountains and drain
eastward into the Java Sea.
Mangrove and freshwater swamp
forests are found along the coast;
tropical lowland evergreen
rainforests extend from the coastal
swamps into the mountains.
Most of the population is engaged in
agriculture; rubber, tea, coffee,
soybeans, sweet potatoes, corn
(maize), peanuts (groundnuts), copra,
and palm oil are produced. Deep-sea
fishing is also important. Industries
include wood carving, food
processing, cloth weaving, mat and
basket making, and the production of
handmade paper. Road and railway
transport is confined to the foothills
of the Barisan Mountains and link
Tanjung Kurang, the provincial
capital, with Kotabumi, Panjang, and
Telukbatung. The eastern half of the
province relies mainly on riverine
transport. The population is a mixture
of Malay, Javanese, and
Minangkabau. The Javanese are the
most numerous because of a large
influx of rural Javanese into Lampung
in the early 20th century. Area 13,662
square miles (35,384 square km). Pop.
(2000) 6,741,439.
Figure 2
19th century
Indonesia, Sumatra, Lampung province, Piya, Wai Ratai
River region
Cotton, L. 31 x W. 28 1/2 in. (78.7 x 72.4 cm)
Textiles-Woven
Gift of Anita E. Spertus and Robert J. Holmgren, in
honor of Douglas Newton, 1990
Accession Number: 1990.335.22
Situated along the Sunda Strait
between Java and Sumatra, a crucial trade route since antiquity, the Lampung region of southern
Sumatra has long been a crossroads of cultures and artistic traditions. Lampung's sumptuous
textile traditions reflect the enormous wealth brought to the region through the trade in pepper,
which grew in abundance. The women of Lampung developed a rich variety of textiles that
included ceremonial forms as well as other types, which were used as clothing. Among the most
visually striking Lampung textiles are the intricately woven tampan, small square-shaped cloths
Figure 3
Ceremonial textile (palepai)
late 19th century, Indonesia
Overall: 135 x 27 in. (3 m 42.901 cm x 68.58 cm)
Cotton and metal-wrapped cotton yarn
Credit Line: Dallas Museum of Art, the Steven G. Alpert Collection of Indonesian Textiles,
gift of the McDermott Foundation
Object Number: 1983.80
that were exchanged during important rites of passage. Tampan were owned and used by
virtually every Lampung family to consecrate ritual occasions and to assist each individual as he
or she progressed through the diverse ceremonies that marked the various stages of life. Tampan
were displayed or exchanged at both birth and death, at marriages, circumcisions, and
ceremonies marking changes in social rank. They served as the focal point for ceremonial meals,
as the seat for the elders who oversaw traditional law, and were tied to the ridge poles of newly
built houses. They were a sacred force that bound society together.
Up until the 1920s, Lampung had a rich and varied weaving tradition. Lampung weaving used a
supplementary weft technique which enabled colored silk or cotton threads to be superimposed
on a plainer cotton background. The most prominent Lampung textile was the palepai, ownership
of which was restricted to the Lampung aristocracy of the Kalianda Bay area. There were two
types of smaller cloths, known as tatibin and tampan, which could be owned and used by all
levels of Lampungese society. Weaving technologies were spread throughout Lampung. High
quality weavings were produced by the Paminggir, Krui, Abung and Pesisir peoples. Production
was particularly prolific among the people of the Kalianda Bay area in the south and the Krui
aristocracy in the north.
The oldest surviving examples of Lampung textiles date back to the eighteenth century, but some
scholars believe that weaving may date back to the first millennium AD when Sumatra first came
under Indian cultural influence. The prevalence of Buddhist motifs, such as diamonds, suggests
that the weaving traditions were already active in the time when Lampung came under the
Buddhist Srivijayan rule. There are similarities between Lampung weaving and weaving
traditions in some parts of modern-day Thailand that experienced cultural contact with Sriwijaya.
Lampung textiles were known as 'ship cloths' because ships are a common motif. The ship motif
represents the transition from one realm of life to the next, for instances from boyhood to
manhood or from being single to married and also represents the final transition to the afterlife.
The finest tampans were worn or displayed during ceremonies or used as dowry items. Gifts
presented during marriages were wrapped in the tampan. The artist of a particular ceremonial
cloth repeated lines and shapes to create patterns and rhythm on the cloth. The symmetrical use
of color and abstract patterns gives the cloth a feeling of balance.
Tampans occur in two regional styles and in two primary colors. Those woven in blue depict the
secular realm, those in red the sacred. Examples from the inland mountains show stylized natural
or domestic subjects and geometric designs, while those from the coast (tampan pasisir) display
richly detailed scenes of ships and other motifs. Although tampan were used by all social classes,
the ornate tampan pasisir, such as the work in Figure 1, were a prerogative of the nobility.
The fanciful ships that appear on tampan pasisir, steered with the exterior rudders distinctive to
Indonesian and South Asian vessels, may recall the forms of large trading ships that plied the
seas in precolonial times. Shown in cross-section, the ship on this work is a virtual floating
palace. Within it, a single human figure, almost certainly a person of authority, lies in a cabin in
the stern, accompanied, perhaps, by an attendant. Forward of the cabin, a helmsman guides the
ship with a steering oar. In the central cabin, a group of men (identified by the presence of the
kris [daggers], in their belts) play a group of instruments similar to a traditional Javanese
gamelan orchestra. The crew appears on deck and the skies above and sea below teem with
fantastic life. Replete with images of abundance and regal ease the work portrays an idealized
world of opulence, beauty, and power.
In times of dire economic need, a family may sell their tampans to
raise money.
Figure 4
Production of many fine cloths blossomed in the late nineteenth
century as Lampung grew rich on pepper production, but the
devastating eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 destroyed many weaving
villages in the Kalianda area. By the 1920s the increasing
importance of Islam and the collapse of the pepper trade brought
production to a halt. Today Lampung textiles are highly prized by
collectors. Due to major changes in Indonesia’s social and
economic structures over the past centuries, tampan textiles are
rarely made in Sumatra today. Students will be more familiar with
the ever popular batik designs from modern Indonesia.
Catastrophic: An artist's
impression of the historic 1883 In present day Sumatra and on the other Indonesian islands, most
eruption of Krakatoa
people have adopted Western style dress, Many ancient customs
have been abandoned due to the rushed schedules of modern life and the cultural influences of
globalization, However, some individuals maintain aspects of the old customs, such as wearing
items of traditional clothing during special occasions or as apart of religious celebrations. In the
Indonesian capital of Jakarta, businessmen in Western-style suits can sometimes be seen wearing
various kinds of ceremonial textiles draped over their shoulders.
CRITICAL THINKING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Examine this cloth. What do you think the abstract shapes represent?
Show where an animal can be found on this cloth.
Discuss where the artist repeated colors and lines
Show where shapes are repeated o n this cloth.
If you could plan a ceremony using this cloth, how would it be used?
VOCABULARY
1.
2.
3.
tampan- small square-shaped woven cloths that were exchanged during important
rites of passage
weaving- to form cloth by interlacing strands of threads or yarn; specifically : to make
(cloth) on a loom by interlacing warp and filling threads
warp- a series of yarns extended lengthwise in a loom and crossed by the weft
4.
weft- a filling thread or yarn in weaving
Activities
1.
2.
Use the design on a tampan as in inspiration to create
your own story.
Have the kids get into small groups and give them
each a cloth. It can be a bandanna or a twin size sheet.
Whatever you have and don’t mind having to wash
later. ;o)
Direct the students to think about how they could use
this special cloth in a ceremony. Wedding, new baby,
graduation, a new home, becoming an adult…..
3.
Look at the images from a friendship quilt and discuss
their history with students. Then have them compare
and contrast the Indonesian culture and their textiles
with the American quilts.
Figure 5
Friendship Quilt
photograph by The International
Society of Daughters of Utah courtesy
the Pioneer Memorial Museum
In the 1800s women commonly formed quilting groups.
Their quilts offer clues to the nature and experiences of
western migration and to the ways in which women gathered for social, artistic, and practical
purposes.
Quilt making and the quilts themselves served various purposes. In addition to their function
as bedding, quilts also served as records of family or community history, observations of
surrounding landscape, and documentation of life cycle events such as births and marriages.
Certain quilting patterns were based on repeated motifs. Some images were symbolic and
many were derived from nature, such as the dove, which represented innocence; the peony,
which stood for healing; and the pine tree, which foretold fidelity and everlasting life.
Although individual women made their fair share of quilts, many were made at quilting bees,
where women shared in the cutting, stitching, quilting, and local gossip. ("Quilting Groups:
Creating Through Camaraderie" in "Collaborations: Drawn Together".)
In the mid to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries every community had it's quilt bees
and most followed a similar pattern. Women spent long winter months piecing tops and over
the summer months called on their friends and neighbors to help quilt them. No one wanted
to miss a quilting as this was a major social occasion and chance for gossip, if you weren't
there yours could be among the names bandied about over the frame! (or frames, often more
than one quilt was worked on at a bee in the summer, when the quilting was outdoors).
Children were called upon to keep the
needles threaded and less skilled
quilters and young ladies were often
relegated to KP duty, it paid to polish
your quilting stitch! Perhaps the most
festive Quilting Bees were held to quilt
a bride’s quilt. Traditionally this quilt
would be the thirteenth quilt a young
girl had made, and displayed her finest
work. The time between engagement
and wedding was a flurry of quiltings as
none of the thirteen quilts were quilted
before the engagement. The most
expensive part of a quilt was the
backing and batting and this investment
was not made until it was certain the
quilts would be needed to set up
housekeeping. The quilt bee was a party
as much if not more than a working
occasion and a lady made every effort
Figure 6
to put on her best for her friends and
Rev. Nadal's "Baltimore Album" Quilt
neighbors. At the end of the day the
1847
men joined the ladies for a festive
Nadal, Bernard H., original owner
supper and perhaps a barn dance. These
1983.0866.01
events were particularly cherished by
the women of the Great Plains and
For background story see
western states as it was a rare
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/ opportunity for them to see other
object/nmah_556185
women, they spent most of their days
with their own families and chores and
might only see others every few months and not at all in the winter. It might be a four or five
hour or more journey to the nearest neighbor, a truly perilous trip in winter. Some women
were very fussy as to who was invited to a quilting, wanting only the most skilled to work on
her quilts. Occasionally the stitches of a less skilled quilter were removed after the bee and
redone by the quilts owner. Pride was taken in ones stitches! Quilt Bees still take place today
though they are more likely to take the form of a church or charity organization which quilts
to raise funds for well deserving causes than as the social occasion which also resulted in the
completion of a necessary but tedious task.
4.
After viewing a friendship quilt image and discussing it, give each student a sheet of
paper divided into four squares to use as a quilt square template. Have the students
use one block on their sheet of paper to create a quilt square representing what they
wish for themselves and/or their classmates. To create the atmosphere of a quilting
bee, allow students to chat and circulate a bit as they are working. As a written
component for this lesson, ask students to write or dictate a paragraph explaining the
section of the quilt they have created.
When all the squares are done, have the class sit in a circle. The students were allowed to
chat as they were working. What were they talking about? What do students imagine was
going on in the room as the women were working together on the friendship quilt? If these
were pioneer women who didn't often see each other and had little means of communicating,
what might they have talked about? Have students display and describe their squares. After
sharing their squares, have students copy their designs into the other three squares on the
template. They can cut apart the four squares and keep one of their own squares. The other
three are placed face down in a pile. Set up the piles for the students to pick from randomly
for sampler making.
Pass out another template. Each student makes a sampler by picking three designs made by
other students and pasting them onto three squares on the template. Students can only trade in
a square if they pick their own. The fourth square is for the student's design. When the
samplers are complete, encourage volunteers to share. What wishes does the sampler show?
What was it like using the work other people did to create a sampler? Was it easier than
making four different designs themselves?
Tie this back to the Indonesian textiles by asking students if they think it would have been
much different to create a tampan for a bride? How many people do they think worked on the
tampan?