Textiles of Sumba
Sumbanese textiles are deeply personal; they follow a distinct systematic form but also show the individuality of the weavers and the villages where they are produced.
These textiles are made not only for export, but also for trade among local people for ritual use, where by custom the process of ikat was forbidden.
[2] Since textiles are the products of Sumbanese women, they are viewed as tangible representations of the female element of the bipartite universe.
In Sumba, this male-female dynamic is encapsulated in the notion of the Highest Being, who is both the Father Sun and Mother Moon, as well as the Creator or Weaver of human life.
In marriages, the textiles are symbolic and represent dowry from the woman's family, the wife-givers, who are ritually superior on ceremonial occasions.
The textiles are a prominent part of reciprocal gift for male dowry, such as metal, buffalo, and ivory from the man's family, whose burden in gift-giving is heavier because of the inferior status of the wife-taker to that of the wife-giver.
[4] The textiles are also traded or given to show that a contract is binding, as a kind of "interest payment" to request for more time to discharge a debt, and as a gesture of gratitude or reciprocation.
The identifiable creatures that appear on royal Sumbanese textiles include animals of ritual sacrifice, such as cocks or chickens, as well as deer with spreading horns.
When designed for nobility, the textiles are usually larger and dyed with red and indigo colors to indicate the statuses of both the wearer and the giver.
