Vintage Man’s Ceremonial Handwoven Cotton Blanket, Timor

Man’s lower body wrapper or shoulder blankets like this one are called are called selimut or mau naek. They are usually worn as sarong style with the ends making a large fold of knot in the front to show the design and volume. A second one might be worn backpack style across the shoulders so the design is centered on the back. The ends are then gathered around the waist and secured with a cloth belt. The volume and design of the cloth show status within the wear’s community.
Made up of 3 panels of cotton sewn together with long untwisted fringes. The side bars are warp plain weave stripes with a dash design while the decorative center panel continuous supplementary weft design area filled with “Timor deer” (Rusa timorensis) pattern as well as warp diamond done in the buna technique. Variation of a mustered yellow orange is prominent color throughout the piece.