This ceremonial cloth or ‘tampan’ depicts a mirror image of two ships with hooked stems and prows, carrying several highly stylised ancestor or deity figures. Ship imagery in Lampung textiles symbolises a spiritual vessel that carries the community through transitions in life. 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.
