Ship Cloth

Lampung textile tradition and witness to maritime heritage of Indonesia

Kain Pelepai (1901/1950)Unit Pengelola Museum Seni

Ship Cloths

Lampung is situated along the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, an important trade route in the 17th-19th Century. There are several types of ship cloths tradition made by the Paminggir community includes Palepai, Tatibin and Tampan.

Kain TatibinUnit Pengelola Museum Seni

Kain Tatibin

This is Kain Tatibin usually at 1 meter length is used as wall decoration during a ritual ceremony. The weaving highlights ship on main centre of the cloth. The ship represent a microcosm connecting nature, humans, and the divine. 

The cloth is woven  in cotton, dyed cotton and golden threads.The use of festive colors and golden thread indicates an importance of the ritual ceremony where it is used. This piece is likely used in a wedding ceremony.

Lampung Ceremonial cloth (Kain Tampan) (1920)Unit Pengelola Museum Seni

Kain Tampan

intricately woven tampan, small square-shaped cloths that were exchanged during important rites of passage. Tampan were owned and used by virtually every Lampung family to consecrate ritual occasions and to assist each individual as he or she progressed through the diverse ceremonies that marked the various stages of life.

Tampan appears in two primary colors and only woven in cotton. The color blue depict the secular realm and the color red the sacred realm. Kain tampan comes in size smaller than 1 m and used for food coverings. 

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