This ceremonial cloth or ‘tampan’ depicts a ship carrying two large creatures with diamond patterning on their bodies and fanciful tails. Ancestor or deity figures are also distributed amidst geometric patterns. In the centerfold of the tampan, there is a highly stylised house-like structure, which might represent an ancestor shrine, a common motif found on tampans. Such 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.
