Adat Tube Skirt

Biboki people, Timor
First half 20th Century
Handspun cotton, trade beads; warp ikat
57 x 113 cm / 22 x 45 in
$10,000

Ex Collection Laurence A. G. Moss
Photo published: Taylor, P.M. (ed.) Fragile Traditions: Indonesian Art in Jeopardy, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1994, (fig. 4), p. 95

Note bold prototypical patterns, similar to early Lampung and Iban textiles. The bead decoration on capital bands in the form of a rectilinear spiral. This ritual skirt probably served as a dowry offering.