This is part of a 'songket' or gold brocade cloth. Made of silk, it is woven with red, yellow, brown and black horizontal thread bands and decorated with geometric motifs in gold thread using supplementary-weft technique. It is possibly a sample cut from an original textile and may be a segment of a headdress or a waist tie. The Minangkabau of West Sumatra have one of the richest material cultures in island Southeast Asia as a result of agriculture and trade. Their gold brocade textiles in particular show their love for the exquisite and opulent.
