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Ship cloth
Ceremonial hanging (palepai)
Ship cloth
Indonesian (Sumatran)
Dutch colonial rule
mid-19th century
Object Place: Southern Sumatra (Lampong region), Indonesia
Medium/Technique
Cotton plain-weave ground with cotton discontinuous supplementary patterning wefts
Dimensions
Overall: 73.7 x 382.3 cm (29 x 150 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
William E. Nickerson Fund
Accession Number1980.172
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionLong, rectangular cotton cloth with design elements created by discontinuous supplementary weft patterning; primary design is of a pair of red ships with arching bow and stern, hulls decorated with yellow, blue, white spots and medallions, three architectural enclosures or shrines on deck which enclose human figures, leopards and buffalo, a single row of human and animal figures below deck; background motifs include fish and umbrellas.
Palepai, or ship cloths, are ritual textiles which represent a belief in the concept of a "ship of the dead," that would carry souls away to the afterlife. Palepai were traditionally displayed at rite of passage ceremonies.
Palepai, or ship cloths, are ritual textiles which represent a belief in the concept of a "ship of the dead," that would carry souls away to the afterlife. Palepai were traditionally displayed at rite of passage ceremonies.
ProvenanceBy 1980, in the collection of the Martin and Ullman Artweave Textile Gallery, New York; purchased from Artweave Gallery by the MFA (Accession date: April 16, 1980)