Antique Traditional Indonesian Gold-work Embroidered Wall Hanging or Banner: C19th Sumatra
From Sumatra, Indonesia, come some of the worlds most beautiful and interesting textiles, this hanging is no exception.
Hand embroidered in gold gilt thread onto a silk covered hand blocked cotton ground sometime during the second half of the 19th century.
This long wall hanging is very traditional in content and manner and reflects a tradition going back hundreds of years, the symbolism and patterns have various meanings and would be easily understood by those who were looking at the textiles.
Incorporated in the design are plump birds/chickens and stylised plants or trees of life.
There are also large mirrors which would have reflected the firelight, and (a wonderful addition) where they didn’t have a mirror they have used a small portrait of a woman, probably a treasured picture given by a westerner.
The gold-work embroidery itself is in excellent antique condition with some loose threads. It is the silk ground onto which it has been worked which is fragile and has many ares of loss. This is by no means detrimental to the hanging as it has revealed the reverse of the block printEd coot in which has been used to back and give structure to the piece.
Measurements:
43 X 260cm