Listen to a verbal description of the object intended for someone with low to no vision, or anyone looking for a closer look at the object.

Transcript:

This is a Saput Endek, or a man’s hip cloth. Saput Endek is spelled S A P U T space E N D E K. It was made in Bali, Indonesia in the late 19th to early 20th century. It is about 6 ½ feet wide by 3 ½ feet tall and is made of silk with additional metallica threads. This textile was created in a weft ikat process. Weft threads are the threads that go side to side over and under the warp threads which are held taught across the length of the loom. In the weft ikat process these weft threads are resist dyed and the image of the textile is revealed as the weaving progresses. This is a difficult process that requires the weaver to constantly readjust the threads to produce their desired image. This predominantly red textile can be hung in different ways, including wrapping around the hips and pants of the wearer, laying flat below someone reclining on top of it, or wrapping over the wearer’s shoulder in a ceremonial fashion. I’ll describe it laying flat in front of you, which reveals its intricate design. The main section of the textile is made up of two thin, wide rectangular panels stacked on top of each other and sewn together where they meet. This meeting line is the horizontal center of the textile. The top and bottom panels are duplicates and show the same images. Both panels are a faded raspberry red and show a ceremonial scene with men and women wearing headdresses and a variety of cloth wrapped around their hips. They look like shadow puppets, with stiff bodies and elongated facial features. They are made mostly of a pale off-white thread, with hints of faded yellow ochre, jade green, light orange, and grayed purple dotted throughout. The figures stand shoulder to shoulder across the entire bottom of each panel, taking up about half of its height. Their bodies face forward toward you, but their heads are in profile - either looking towards or away from the person next to them. The depicted ceremony is a puppet performance of the Ramayana, a popular epic in South and Southeast Asia that teaches Hindu life lessons throughout its story. Behind the line of people are two trees that extend just above their heads with branches curving out like palm trees. One tree is roughly in the center of each panel and the other is spaced halfway to the left side.These trees and the people below them are mirrored images of each other, or a design that was repeated and flipped.The upper curved branches of the trees round out into decorative spirals that reach toward each other in an abstract design overhead. Two Nagas, or supernatural serpents, also float above the people, on either side of the trees. Their bodies look like single long legs that curve diagonally up and toward each other. Their faded green heads, which are about twice the size as the peoples’ heads face away from each other toward the left and the right side of the panels, with pointed features and mouths open in a smile or grimace. There is a patterned border stripe on the left and right side of the ceremonial scene. Sewn onto the left and right of these main panels is an additional fabric border, about 11 inches thick on either side. While the fabric of the main panels is soft and lightweight, this border is thicker and heavier in a rich, deep purple magenta color that makes the panels look red-orange in comparison. It is heavily and meticulously embroidered with a bright shining silver thread. From afar a bold zig zag pattern emerges from the purple fabric that has not been embroidered. Up close, patterned silver details of diamonds, stripes, and wispy flame-like shapes appear. This heavy patterned border with its clean clear stitching creates a contrast to the softer, flowing, seeping edges of the ceremonial scene fabric.