| Indonesian Textile Arts 
| Some Fine Tampan of Sumatra
(click thumbnail for enlargement) |
Please see their website for the full text with references.
"A 'tampan' is a textile measuring between 15 and 30 inches square, backstrap loom woven from locally produced coarse undyed cotton, decorated with supplementary weft threads interwoven to produce the design elements.
"Tampan are found not only on the South Coast but also in the mountain region of Liwa-Sukau and Kenali on the Krui Coast, and among the Kauer, the Serawai, the Redjang, and possibly among the Abung. According to Entwhistle, production generally ceased by about 1900 but probably continued on a limited scale during the first two decades of the 20th Century. Gittinger generally concurs that production ceased in the first quarter of the 20th Century. Tampan may be used by all levels of society and functioned primarily as wrappers for gifts given by the family of the bridegroom at weddings...
"Tampan also wrapped other gifts exchanged during the marriage negotiations. They also functioned in the wedding ceremony, in the ceremony marking the return of the bride to her home accompanied by her husband, in Ngelama at a ceremony during which a newborn child is carried to the maternal grandparents' home, in circumcision rites, and in funeral ceremonies as well as other minor uses..." - UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Collection
TP22
30.5 x 28.5 in
TP9
24 x 21.5 in
TP23
28.5 x 24.5 in
TP12
28 x 24.5 in
TP10
28.5 x 27 in
M2-7
29 x 24 in
TP 1475
TP 1476
TP24
25 x 24.5 in
TP26
28 x 27.5 in
TP16
TP 1477
31 3/4" x 26 1/2"
TP 1478
26 1/4" x 29 1/2"
TP 1479
26" x 13 1/4"
TP 1481
27" x 31"
(click thumbnail for enlargement and details)
