Indonesian Art - Sumba Songkat Runner

Indonesian Art - Sumba Motif Blanket

Suitable as a wall hanging or a table runner, this special supplementary-warp textile in cotton was woven on the Isle of Sumba in the East Nusa Tengarra area of Indonesia. The main theme of this weaving is a number of ancestral figures, large and small which symbolize power and courage. The secondary theme is the lobster, which is symbolic of the transmigration of the soul from the mortal to the immortal world.

Known as lau pahudu, and traditionally prepared by the noblewomen of East Sumba, this type of textile is woven on a body-tension loom using a continuous warp. The thick cotton supplementary warps are place on top of the ground-weave warps made from finer yarns. Also called a float weaving, because the weft conceals sections of the supplementary warp which float between the design elements on the reverse side.