Antique Sumatran Kauer Woman's Jacket 3

Product Description

Antique Sumatran Kauer Woman’s Jacket 3

Material: Cotton, natural dyes, cowrie shells, mirror pieces, embroidery
Style: South Sumatra, Indonesia
Size: Height 129 cm, Width 30 cm (arm to arm)
Order Number: MHSASKJ3

Young unmarried women in the Kauer district of the western highlands of south Sumatra wore decorative long-sleeved jackets during ceremonies, together with a sarong. They were made before marriage from a rectangular piece of woven cotton with natural dyes and intricate embroidery.

They were short, cropped, and loose fitting. The design was complex and intricate on the front and back, invoking good luck or protection. Decorative panels with colourful stripes adorned the upper front and back. The many cowrie or nassa shells around the neck and collar were probably intended to bring the owner many children. Many small mirrors called cermuk were embroidered on to the surface of the cloth, either geometrically or scattered casually over the surface.

Until recently the Kauer people were isolated in an almost inaccessible part of South Sumatra. Little is known about their textiles but they seemed to incorporate elements of an ancient animist belief system and more recent Islamic culture. Weaving ceased long ago in these areas and very few pieces are found today.

There are examples from the Australian National Gallery in Textiles of Southeast Asia, Tradition, Trade and Transformation, Robyn Maxwell, Periplus Editions, 2003, page 312. There are also two examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

There are two examples from the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam in Splendid Symbols, Textiles and Tradition in Indonesia, Mattiebelle Gittinger, Oxford University Press, 1985, page 86.

19th – early 20th century.

Map of Sumatra.