Ikat

Ikat, kasuri, abrbandi, and other terms (from Malay/Indonesian, Japanese, Uzbek, and other languages) refer to the dyeing of threads in patterns (usually through successive tying and untying to alternately resist or allow absorption of the different colors) before weaving.  The patterns emerge fully as the threads are woven into a completed cloth.  The technique has been practiced for centuries or millennia in various cultures all over the world.  

This exhibition features examples of various kinds of ikat— whether warp ikat, weft ikat, or double ikat (coordinated warp and weft ikat together)— from cultures around the world, including India, Japan, Central Asia, Russia, Persia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos.  The textiles are made of cotton, silk, or bast fibers, and most are a century old or more.  Some of the pieces combine ikat with other techniques, such as gold songket and other supplementary weft patterning.  A number of these textiles are particularly rare and superb specimens showing the pinnacle of ikat mastery.

Please click on Catalog (at the top of the page) and choose Ikat Exhibition form the drop-down menu, to see some of the pieces available from our selling exhibition.

These textiles, and others, can be viewed in person at Xanthus Antiques in Lahaska, PA.