Ikat is a particular textile that came from Indonesia, originally via the Dutch trade, although it can be found all over the globe including Central and South America to Japan, India, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, Indonesian ikat designs and motifs are, by far, the most diverse.
Ikat is a method for coloring fabric in patterns by resist dyeing. The pattern is not applied to the surface of a finished fabric, nor is it woven into the fabric structurally. Instead, parts of the yarns for the warp and/or weft are protected with a resist before dyeing. The dye then colors the yarn everywhere except under the binding. After dyeing, the bindings are removed and the pattern appears undyed on a colored ground. When dyeing is complete, the yarn is then woven into fabric, often in a relatively simple structure and often in a density that highlights the warp.
It's an art that is slowly getting lost yet it's so interesting to see it pop up in modern textiles, Western designers revamping ethnic designs into modern showpieces. Please look at all the photos as the colors shift according to how close I was to the textile.
This particular Ikat, in shades of autumn colors of gold, orange, beige, brown with thin stripes of navy blue is a midcentury classic. It measures 77 1/2" in length by 34 5/8" in width.
