Product Description
Balinese Lamak 4
Material: Cotton
Style: Negara, Bali, Indonesia
Size: Length 85 cm, Width 21 cm
Order Number: MHSBL4
Lamak are small embroidered cloths hung vertically over the family altar and outdoor shrines during ceremonies. The average size is 57 cm long and 20 cm wide.
The actual size is according to the space they are intended to occupy.
Balinese story cloths – there are several types – come from either Jembrana in west Bali or Buleleng in north Bali. The greatest number come from Jembrana in and around the capital city of Negara.
Used as offerings they usually depict a figure or figures taken from the traditional myths, stories and Ramayana or Mahabharata epics, but they are sometimes creative, and contain variations on the standard colours and scene arrangements. Sometimes they place characters from different stories on the same cloth, even mixing Ramayana and Mahabharata characters, but for the most part they are conventional.
Some were made between 1920 and 1929, but most were done between 1940 and 1995. Some of the oldest Negara embroideries have names on them in Balinese script and muted colours, such as tans and browns and feature the Ramayana rather than Mahabharata characters.
Cloths from Buleleng tend to be larger ider-ider size, about 255 cm long and 100, and feature Mahabharata characters. The stitching is finer and intricate and silk is sometimes used: bright colours, such as green, pink, orange and purple. They are more decorated than Negara pieces with bright sequins and can be similar to paintings.
The designs and embroidery are simple. The base cloth is white cotton and the stitching is coloured cotton threads. There are some silk ones made in north Bali and some are decorated with sequins or mirrored glass.
The character Dw Sri – that’s Dewi Sri, the popular Balinese Rice Goddess, is written on the top.
Mid 20th century.
Map of Bali.
Please ask for the price (or make an offer).
