This ceremonial cloth or ‘tampan’ depicts a ship carrying the tree-of-life, a motif used widely in Southeast Asia. Its extended branches carry ancestor or deity figures and creatures. Ship imagery in Lampung textiles symbolises a spiritual vessel that carries the community through transitions in life. Ceremonial cloths could be used as gifts, covers for ritual offerings or pillows for the deceased. It is normally woven using the supplementary weft technique, where additional horizontal threads create patterns over the top of the ground weave.
