Indonesian Cotton Tubular Skirt

A quiet cloth in wine and charcoal, tiny diamonds hiding in its stripes.

This tubular skirt is from Flores, Indonesia, and dates to the 20th century. It is cotton. Tubular skirts are woven or sewn as a closed cylinder of cloth, which is stepped into and then folded or tied at the waist. Long rectangular woven textile in dark red-brown and black. Wide horizontal bands are filled with small pale zigzag and diamond motifs, and the dark borders sit near the center and ends. It is 22 inches wide and 54 long.

Understated, patient, and rich in small detail.