TI O 055 Fine Mirrored Mica Tapis Kaca Panels
This fascinating dark but glittering piece from South Sumatra is believed to be made of three or more separate ceremonial skirt 'tapis kaca' panels. When worn, the stripes would usually be horizontal and sewn into a tube skirt. Ours has several exquisite panels, which can be unstitched and repurposed. (They were sewn together and a section cut out by our creative and whimsical grandmother Winona Sands to serve as a wall hanging with a mirror in the center and space for a cabinet below. She was an interior decorator with a very unique style!
Embroidered with tiny mirrors, made of bits of mica, on top of woven cloth, these often took a year or more to complete. You can read more about them here: https://www.murnis.com/shop/sumatran-textiles/sumatra-tapis-kaca/
This piece consists of 7 panels, each made up of several bands of decorated material, featuring shades of brown, green and cream. We believe it was collected in the 1920s or 1930s by Alice and Marion Burr of San Francisco, our 'eccentric spinster aunts' (see About Us for more details).
As partly shown in a photo we found from the 1970s, our grandmother had it hung on the wall with a cabinet inbetween the 'feet' of the piece, a mirror where the hole was, and decorative metal wall planters on either side of the mirror. Hopefully we will find a better picture of it in their house. If we do, we will add it here. It is very heavy so we are not sure how she even hung it.
Where cuts were made to make space for a mirror, the lines are neat along the outer edges, a section between three panels, and not so neat along the top and bottom. The cut to create a space for the cabinet or table has relatively neat edges as it was along the side of the outer panels.
As one expert described it: There is an excision visible up and down along the pane. The left side is intact selvidge. The right side shows a short back strap loom was used? The bottom was cut and resewn. He suggested we separate the panels and sell them individually.
As shown in photos, there are several imperfections but we never noticed them until we examined the piece carefully. It is such a large piece, most 'defects' are easily overlooked. Among there are several spots missing sequins or stitching (possibly the work was unfinished), a tearing hem, a couple of holes, one smudge of something which could probably be removed with careful cleaning, and some fraying of edges.
Material is a heavy cotton.
W 52.5" x L 72" with hole for mirror of W 16.5" x L 23.5"
6.8 lbs
Disclaimer:
We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each textile item but your settings may distort colors.
We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions but we may have missed some.
Several of our textiles may smell a bit musty and/or of mothballs. Most have been in storage for decades. We have not made the effort to wash them ourselves. We encourage you to do so upon receipt if appropriate.
If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.