|
The coat is a patchwork of various fabrics traded to Indonesia as part of the spice trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is virtually a catalog of this trade.
In Java heirloom patchwork jackets are referred to as kyahi antakusuma meaning "the venerable many flowered". This jacket coming from a royal family is most likely connected to this tradition.
This wide range of materials reflects the extensive trade that passed through this area in the 17th and 18th centuries. The coat includes patches of the following types of cloth: 17th and 18th century Indian chintz from the Coromandel Coast and Gujarat, both known and unknown types including fragments with large scale imagery like:
palampores;
Indian silk;
Gujarati silk patola;
very unusual early Javanese batik;
Javanese cotton luric / stripes and plaids;
European wool in red, brown and blue;
European 18th - early 19th century copperplate prints on a weft pattern fabric;
Dutch early 19th century printed cotton;
European printed lining most likely a replacement for rough cotton lining, repairs sewn through it.
Dimensions: 4' long x 5' 6" wide ( 1.22 x 1.68 m )
|
