Skirt cloth (kain samping)

The Straits of Melaka were an important route for trade between the Indian and Pacific oceans, and sultanates emerged along both sides of it (in present-day Malaysia and Indonesia). Indian and Chinese traders introduced silk into this region. In many of the court centers, red silk textiles with gold brocade decorations signified the status of the upper classes. A hallmark of textiles from Siak is a plaid background with extensive gold work. In this textile Islamic motifs, like the eight-pointed star, can be seen.

The textiles of the court of the Sultanate of Siak (1722–1946) in the contemporary province of Riau awed the British East Indies official John Anderson in the early nineteenth century. He wrote that “nothing could surpass” the splendor of the textiles of the ruler’s family and that the sultan’s clothing itself was “like one beautiful sheet of embossed gold.” This textile for a wealthy man would be worn over a pair of trousers.