Ceremonial cloth (tampan)

Square ceremonial cloths (tampan) decorated with supplementary weft threads were a common item of exchange in the southern Sumatran province of Lampung. These cloths were used for a wide variety of purposes but almost always in a ritual context. At all important rites of passageùbirths, circumcisions, marriages, and deathsùtampan would have been presented to the families involved. The cloths served variously as seats of honor, covers for offerings, and even shrouds. At times tampan would be given in conjunction with a ceremonial mat (such as the one displayed in the hallway between galleries 10 and 11).

The textiles of this area of Sumatra are renowned for their ship imagery. Many tampan from the coastal regions of Lampung depict detailed nautical scenes complete with sea life and rigged boats. With its abstract patterns, the tampan shown here is likely to have come from the mountainous interior of Lampung. One can discern on the lower border the broad outline of a boat. The triangular form in the center of the textile represents the belly of a twoheaded elephant-like creature, whose four straight legs point downward. Its extremely stylized heads with their long trunks are shown in profile. Many small human and animal forms are depicted throughout the textile, appearing against the background of fine hook motifs.

Today the population of Lampung consists mostly of devout Muslims, but inscriptional evidence (probably dating from the seventh century) indicates the earlier presence of Buddhism in the region. Residents of this southernmost province of Sumatra have long been involved in agriculture and farming. Beginning in the sixteenth century, the pepper trade brought great wealth into the region, stimulating the production of a wide variety of textiles.