Such cloth dyed in blue and white was worn by the lower classes in Sumbanese society. This man’s mantle known as a ‘hinggi’, depicts alternate rows of confronting animals such as horses, which was part of the bride-price wealth and also provided transport. Man’s mantle was wrapped around the hips and was used to cover the corpse at death, hence it was designed for the present life as well as the future, and the designs had symbolic meaning. The mantle was patterned using the ‘warp ikat’ technique, where the vertical threads are tied and dyed before the fabric is woven.
