Notes on Culture & Antique Art, Ethnic Decor & Vintage Fashion | Wovensouls Art Gallery
Sometimes the beauty contained within a subject is so deep and limitless that the soul is never satisfied no matter how long one beholds it. There is always one more angle, one more view that is waiting to be discovered! One could sit for hours doing nothing other than soaking in the parts and the whole.
One such object of beauty is presented below: An exquisitely woven, perfectly preserved textile meant to be used as a headcloth by Batak Shamans.
The Selvedge weaving in the end-panels
The Back – where the maroon & the black are completely invisible
These dozen photos are not enough to showcase all of its elements – even a dozen more might not suffice!
The Main Body of the textile
A closer look reveals rows of interlaced diamonds …
And a closer look still reveals that the diamonds at the centre are larger than the diamonds towards the edges of the textile.
Who was the mind that conceived & created this complex work of art!!
Without any tools of CAD-CAM – and only a rustic loom made of wood to assist the imagination.
Salute to that Batak genius!!
This is part of the WOVENSOULS collection and more images may be seen here.
jm
June 2016
Thankyou for explaining the diamonds. I was trying to work out why the centre diamonds were more obvious. This is a stunning piece of work. Thankyou for sharing the photos.