Tampan Kalianda Ritual

Cloth Fragment
Paminggir
Lampung, Sumatra
18th/early 19th century
Cotton; supplementary weft
79 cm x 53,5 cm

A tampan is ceremonial cloth used to wrap offerings in ritualized gift giving exchanges between aristocratic families. Kalianda is a coastal community on the southern tip of Sumatra considered the mother culture of the Paminggir people and the origin of the most famous 'ship cloths.'

This large fragment offers a particularly early rendering of the ship and ancestor motif.

Object Presented by:
Thomas Murray
T.: + 1 415.378.0716