I
Weaver family
Each piece names the family and the village where it was woven.
Kuala Terengganu and Kelantan, Malaysia
Songket cloth recorded with the weaver family, the gold thread and the days on the loom.
Weaving families in Terengganu and Kelantan make songket on backstrap and frame looms. We record each piece's weaver family, its thread source and its loom days, so a buyer knows how long the cloth took.
Lengths on the looms
- SL-4101 Kuala Terengganu 32.5 m, woven
- SL-4107 Kelantan 61.8 m, finished
- SL-4113 Terengganu 93.0 m, sold
- SL-4120 Kelantan 22.2 m, woven
Three things written into each piece
II
Thread batch
The gold thread batch and its supplier are written before weaving starts.
III
Loom days
The days on the loom are counted and written on the piece line.
Warp, weave, finish, sell
Warp
The warp is set and the family logs the start date.
Weave
Motifs are woven and loom days are counted.
Finish
The cloth is finished and the thread batch is checked.
Sell
The piece is sold with its record code.
Collectors and boutiques ask
Are weavers named?
Only the family name goes on the record; who sat at which loom stays inside the family.
How is the thread checked?
The batch record shows its supplier, and a buyer can request a burn test.
How long did a piece take?
The loom days are counted on the line, so the buyer sees the time spent.