Indigo Handwoven Ikat Handmade Textile From Sulawesi, Indonesia

Description

This long cotton indigo dyed ikat textile is from Sulawesi, Indonesia, early to mid 1900s. The textile features anthropomorphic depiction … more This long cotton indigo dyed ikat textile is from Sulawesi, Indonesia, early to mid 1900s. The textile features anthropomorphic depiction of a dragon repeated throughout. This is known as a naga and is often depicted as a crowned, giant, magical serpent, and sometimes winged.

Ikat (literally means tie and in the malay language it means "to bind") is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric.

Ikat weaving is an exotic fabric created by weaving artists from Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is not a cloth that can be created by just anyone because it needs a complex and lengthy process to produce a large piece of ikat woven fabric and the whole process of collecting materials and making ikat weaving are done manually. Weaving artist usually work on a piece of woven fabric for 2 to 3 month and can be 5 months if the size is large. It is a long process because they have to look for raw materials and coloring materials in the forest. All Sulawesi ikat fabrics are made entirely from plants, including the coloring too. less