by Grace Selvanayagam

 

Songket belongs to the brocade family of textiles. It is a rich, luxurious, ceremonial fabric, handwoven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold (and sometimes silver) threads which stand out in subtle relief on the background cloth. The interplay of light and gentle shadow on the fabric creates a gorgeous shimmering effect, making it undoubtedly, the 'queen' of handwoven fabrics.

The term 'songket' comes from the Malay word menyongket, ‘to embroider with gold or silver threads’. Strictly speaking, songket is not ‘embroidered’. It is woven using what is commonly referred to as the supplementary weft technique. In the songket process, extra (supplementary) metallic threads are inserted in special lengths in between the silk weft (latitudinal) threads of the main background cloth.

These special lengths - or weft ‘floats’ - pass over three, five, or seven silk warp (longitudinal) threads and under one on the loom to form designated patterns which contrast in colour and texture with the ground cloth. It is these even-sized metallic floats forming distinctive patterns, which distinguish songket from other types of hand-woven textiles. On antique pieces, the contrast in texture between the background cloth and the songket weaves is more pronounced since the gold threads was usually rounded and made by winding the gold filament round a thick core thread.

The amount of gold patterning in each length of cloth varies. Some pieces are completely filled with intricate designs and are known as songket penuh (literally, ‘full of gold thread’). Such pieces are usually worked on a darkish red silk background which highlights the complexity of the gold patterning. Others have relatively little gold songket decoration, perhaps a sprinkling of motifs on the main body of the fabric, but, with more heavily decorated borders.

Up until the early years of the twentieth century, an even more sumptuous woven fabric, kain limar, sometimes referred to as kain limau, was part of the weaving tradition of Peninsular Malaysia.

Although the beginnings of songket and kain limar weaving in the Malay Peninsula remain obscure, historical accounts point to a long tradition of weaving in the Peninsula, stimulated no doubt by the flourishing trade that had been going on between the East and the West since at least the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. While traders from Europe, Persia, Arabia, and China sought ivory, tortoiseshell, hardwoods, resins, waxes, rattan, and tin from the Malay Peninsula and its rich hinterland, these were traded for basic necessities, such as pottery, rice, and sugar, and luxury items, such as silver, gold, and skeins of Chinese silk for weaving.

Since the sixteenth century, at least, trade in textiles was active, both on the East Coast and West Coast of the Peninsula. Kelantan and Terengganu on the East Coast were not only trading with China, India, and Europe, but also had two centres of limar weaving under the influence of Indian immigrants.

The place of origin of songket weaving remains a mystery. Most Kelantanese interested in the history of songket weaving believe that the technique came from the north, around Cambodia and Siam, and then travelled south, via Patani, to Kelantan and then to Terengganu. However, the belief in Terengganu is that songket weaving was introduced from India via the Sumatran kingdoms of Palembang and Jambi, where it probably originated during the time of Sri Vijaya.

During the Second World War, songket weaving naturally suffered a decline owing to the scarcity of silk and of gold threads and the lack of demand for luxury fabrics during hard times. Today, songket weaving is largely confined to the East Coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu, and to a lesser extent, Pahang, where it is organised as a cottage industry. It is also carried out in the tourist centres of Johor and Selangor.

The traditional selendang, or shawl, was made mainly lightweight silk tied-and-dyed kain limar with gold songket borders at the warp ends and occasionally narrow gold borders along the complete length of the fabric. Sometimes the body of the kain limar selendang was woven with scattered gold songket flowers. But, generally, a kain limar selendang was not as heavily encrusted with gold embellishment as the kain panjang (long shawls),and was usually without borders along its length.

In former days, in Kelantan, some of the women wore a songket sarong with a kemban (breast-wrapper) for special festive and ceremonial occasions. The kemban was an untailored garment, formed from a soft kain limar selendang, which passed under the arms and wrapped around the upper parts of the body. At the waist, the kemban was held in position with a broad songket or gold belt, and fastened in the middle with a buckle or pending. Another soft selendang was modestly draped over the shoulders. This style was made famous in Kelantan by the legendary queen ruler of Kelantan during the sixteenth century, Cik Siti Wan Kembang, and this style thus named after her. However, today only dancers use this costume for traditional court dances and in dramas.

The Malay women weavers of Kelantan and Terengganu are surrounded by nature. They live in kampongs (villages) near the sea, rivers, and hills, and are surrounded by trees, fruits, flowers, chickens, ducks, birds, bats, grasshoppers, butterflies, and other elements of nature. Their looms are usually situated under their houses, which are built on stilts and are open to nature, or on the airy verandahs, or in their homes near low windows. Nature is thus very much around them - indeed, just a glance away.

Although it is difficult to predict the future of the songket weaving industry, there still exists an impressive songket weaving tradition in Malaysia supported by skilled and talented weavers. Even though much of the modern songket cannot compare in design and craftsmanship with the earlier pieces, weavers will continue to incorporate new design elements into their products in order to meet changing demands. It is hoped that songket will continue to be a treasured part of the contemporary aesthetic life of Malaysia.