An old Toraja Ikat from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia hand-weaved rare natural dyes

Description

An old Toraja Ikat from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia hand-weaved rare natural dyes.
This old Toraja Sulawesi Ikat comes from the same collection that the Balinese Topeng mask, the Sumatra Batak medicine container,  the Nias island protecting deity and other Indonesian items came from.
It is the collection of a dutch family, now residing in Israel.
This Ikat was weaved with what seems to be hemp or very coarse,  homespun cotton thread. The thread is dyed in natural mineral-based colors.
This textile, like most bigger ikats from the Indonesian archipelago, is done in two parts, sawn together. That is due to the common weaving loom,  used in the Indonesian islands[ and others..] which is a hip sized loom.
There are not too many such Ikats coming from Sulawesi. The design depicts human figures, buffalos and geometric designs.
The 3 colors, red, black and white, are the typical colors of the ancestral Tongkanan house, that represents the boats which the Toraja people arrived with 3000 years ago
or so to Sulawesi, probably originating in Taiwan.
The red color, is the color of blood, of life, the white, the color of the bones, black the color of life in the old animistic religion of the Toraja, Aluk, still very much alive up to this day.
The Ikat is in good condition. There is a small stitch or a loss of some fabric in one of the geometric designs.
Length: 167 cm
Width: 142 cm