Ceremonial cloth (pua kumbu), cotton ikat, Iban Dayak people, Sarawak, Borneo, 1940-1965.
Ceremonial warp ikat cloth or 'pua kumbu' hand woven in natural coarse cotton. The bold design features four wide horizontal bands of large stylized human figures, trees and animals dyed in natural red, brown and indigo. The upper and lower borders comprise a series of horizontal and vertical stripes respectively. The cloth is woven in two narrow strips with a centre seam crudely sewn with a thick cotton thread. Twisted warp threads form short fringes at each end with a supplementary weft stripe added at each fringed end that resembles large blue and white chain stitches.

This cloth was made in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Pua were used traditionally in ceremonies associated with birth and death, to define ritual space, and to wrap those seeking contact with the spirit world. The design of this contemporary pua features human figures, engkaramba, which had a protective function and whose use was once restricted to the wives and daughters of chiefs. Their use is now more widespread as these dynamic figures appeal strongly to the tourist market.

This cloth was made 1940-1965.

This cloth was purchased and used by the donor and his wife.
Bought by the donor and his wife in Sarawak in the 1960s.

Gift of Alastair Morrison, 1994

94/42/1

1940

1120 mm

2500 mm