LEGACY IN CLOTH: BATAK TEXTILES OF INDONESIA ‘Sandra Niessen KITLV Press, Leiden 2009 568 pages, 900 ilustrations SBN 978 90 6718 2512 Price €5490 Reviewed by Thomas Murray SANDRA NIESSEN worked for thiey years on her Batak textile treatise, Legacy in ‘oth and it shows; cleat, her time was wall spent. Ti is @ fabulous book that sets the bar 80 high for future scholarship and publishing aesthetics that it is sate to say there wil never again be another ‘monograph on her topic. In producing such a beautiful tome, she shut the door on hor way out~ nono of replicate the timing or the pth of he esearch begun a generation ago ‘Although a researcher could write thesis on traditional cloth pattrns ow being used in eontem: porary Batak couture, no ‘ne can go back in time to perform the quality and ‘quantity of interviews that se has dane with women ‘old enough to remember the context of thee textiles in pee Chitin belies, impossible now when 0 many of he informants are living with their ancestors Beginning in 1979 as an anthropology student, she Conducted fll research for almost thre yoars spread ‘over two decades in north ‘Sumatra, in and around the ‘mountainous region of Lake Tobe, Home to the Batak people, this area is considered one ofthe ‘8 wall as ona ofthe moat beautiful locations in Indo nesia, Fora shor time she lived on the westside of Lake Toba in the vilage of her weaving teacher Ompu Sino, an old woman. Her, tnd in Tarutung south of the lake where sha lived for eight months, she attempted ‘unlock the secret code of Batak toxtile production techniques: the spinning of the yar, warping, dyeing, ‘weaving, the symbolism of the motifs and ritual use. “There was plany to keep her busy not only working fon her language sil, but also conducting surveys of ‘weavers in other regions ‘When she returned to the West, she tacked down and examined Batak textiles in every eary colonia co lection that she found in European museums; she has aleo rosearched all known publications and reviewed the notes of scholars and missionaries. {nd aithough she has writen two other Books and many articles on Batak textiles, those wore teasers Through a combination of persistence and inspira tion, she wrote and revised her tent uni it was prehensive as possible. She has alo assembled marva lous historeithnographic photos, as well as sourcing images of tome very exotic and truly rare ules, the gon trie name for Tobe Batak clothe, Included inthe illus trations are textes found during that museum search, some with very ‘arly collstion dates, while others were gathered ring her fold work. “These are shared through the book's well organised ‘2nd intellectually igourous chapters aranged in four pats. ‘Design’ includes Design Foundations, Earty ‘and Modern Dasign History, ‘and nomenclature. The second section addresses Sx Batak woaving regions, our around Late Toba, Karo, and Simalungun, The "Catalog sorts the cloths Using an effective taxon omy blue textiles, warp stripes, paid, stippe kat, ‘chevron ikat, lozenge iat, ‘weft patterning, and foreign tetas in the Batak cope ‘oir. In par four, Niessen reveal the secrets learned ‘bout techniques, including fibre and yarn preparation, ‘dyes and dyeing, warping ‘and warp kat, the loom and weaving, decorative warp {and weft and finishing Despite al the wonder described above, and as close to my heart as they ‘ar if ached what kod best about the book, ‘would mention two things [Niessen’s acknowledgment list (he made notes on virtually every Batak person she spoke with) and hor Imost Paton inuiry ito the current state of Batak textle scholarship and her iustfation fr thi com: prehensive treatment. There isa famous Batak saying, "you ask five Batak poople the name of a textile, you will et six answersi” tis» great and Important contribution that Sandra Niessen has finaly ‘made it possible for us to now but one! CONTEXT BOOKS CARPETS AND TEXTILES IN THE IRANIAN WORLD 11300-1700 Edited by Jon Thompson, Daniel Shatter & Pirjota Mildh ‘The Beatie Archive, ‘Ashmolean Museum, in association with The Bruschettni Foundtion, Ostord and Genoa 2010, 260pp., 220 colour & bw iMustrations, append, index IsaN o7e1898113690 Hardbound £5080 + P&P Papers from the conference hold atthe Ashmolean "Museum in Oxford in August 2008, with contributions by 13 leading scholars in tho field. Tobe reviewed, EINE SAMMLUNG TEXTILEN AUS ANATOLIEN, DEM KAUKASUS, PERSIEN, LUND OSTAFRICA Johannes Wolf Diepenbrock Lim & Asrouth Publishers, Cologne 2009 English and Gorman toxts 192p,78 colour & 2 bw iustrations, map, glossary, bibliography ISBN 97e2947765166 Hardbound, 400 numbered copies, €120 + PAP A leading German klim and textile connoisseurs record of his private collection To be reviewed.