ANGKINAN CLOTH

The angkinan shoulder cloth is the result of an acculturation between the royal courts of Palembang and China. The art of embroidery, which later flourished towards the end of the 19th century, was introduced to Sumatra by a Chinese princess, who was sent to Palembang. The body of this angkinan cloth piece is adorned with embroideries of multi coloured silk yarn, which came directly from China, gold yarn, and a sprinkling of golden payette. The motifs that appear here take the form of leaf tendrils, peony flowers and the tips of young bamboo shoots (pucuk rebung). Such intricate shoulder cloth required a high level of artisan expertise and, according to local custom, would only have been worn by ladies of the nobility to attend special ceremonial functions.