Kain Kebat Skirt

Ketungau River System, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo
First half 20th Century
24 x 48 in / 61 x 122 cm
Cotton; warp ikat

This skirt features deep color, rare human-like figure motifs, and a mix of border element styles, making this kain kebat hard to place. Longhouses can relocate on a different river; women move to their husband’s residences when they marry, textiles travel with them as dowry.

Traude Gavin’s recent book based on her field research in the region, Borneo Ikat Textiles, Style Variations, Ethnicity, and Ancestry, identifies the Kantu, Bugau, Sebaru, Banjur, Ketungau Sesat, Desa, and Demam peoples, making the specific origin of textiles difficult to ascertain.