Ceremonial Textile (remaung sungkit)

This is a fine example of a ceremonial textile (Remaung sungkit) from the Iban people of Borneo. The cloth is a rich red color with a rich array of complex interlocking designs in contrasting colors, all concentrated within the central panel of the cloth, and enclosed by a series of narrow decorated bands that run along each vertical border to contain its potency. The cloth is in excellent condition and is particularly unique as it comprises an old , well-known pattern that relates to the remaung, the mythical flying tiger spirit, who in ritual chants is said to guard the rice bin filled with a metaphorical crop of heads taken from a headhunting raid. Remaung were also the spirit-helpers of Iban warriors. Here, the term remaung applies to the overall pattern which, due to its close association with a powerful spirit, also serves as a title that indicates the high status of the pattern itself. It is the focused energy of the patterning itself that bears the association with the tiger spirit; no figural or pictorial representation (of either the head or body) of the tiger spirit is included, simply its ferocious power and energy as an indicator of high status.