Indonesian Kain Panjang or Body Cloth

Diamond lattices and tiny crescents cover this panel in a warm gold-brown pattern.

This kain panjang, or Indonesian body cloth is from Indonesia, and dates to the 20th century. It is cotton. Kain panjang means long cloth in Indonesian, and the garment is a length of fabric wrapped around the body as a skirt-like wrap in Java and elsewhere. Clearly, a long rectangular cloth shows rows of dark diamonds filled with small floral shapes against a honey-brown ground, scattered with tiny crescents. Faint horizontal fold lines run across, and the edges look slightly worn. It is 40 inches wide and 94.5 long.

Orderly as a chessboard, and far better dressed.