ANYAM GILA (MAD WEAVE) : A MALAYSIAN TYPE OFBASKET WORK.By Otis T. Mason, .Late Head Curator, Depart iiicnt of Antlirofjolofiu, U. S. National Museum.
In the W. L. Abbott collections of basketry from southwesternMalaysia, in the U. S. National Museum, are a number of specimensmade in a variety of technic not known in America.It was first made public by Mrs. L. E. Bland, of the Penang Resi-dency, Straits Settlements, in the Journal of the Straits Branch,Royal Asiatic Society, No. 46. Mrs. Bland studied the art amongthe Malay women of Tanjong Kling, Malacca, and also mentionedthe same ware from the pro\'ince of Wellesley, from Siamese terri-tory, from elsewhere on the peninsula, as well as from Sumatra andother islands.The baskets are made from narrow strips of pandanus, or screwpine, leaves, of which there are many species. In the specimens de-scribed by Mrs. Bland the *?' mengkuang " {Pandanus fascicularis)was used.The material is prepared by the old women, who cut the long,prickly leaves Avith a woman's parang, or native knife,* and carrythem home in large bundles on their heads. They next dry, or
" layor," the leaves over a fire of sticks and cut otF the thorns thatgrow down the spine. This divides the leaf into two Avicle strips, forwhich purpose a smaller knife, called " pisau," is used.''The women then divide the half leaves into uniform strips by meansof a rude gauge, or " jangka." <' This is a flat piece of wood with brassspikes fixed into one end at regular intervals, governed by the widthof the required strips, varying from -Jr inch to 1 inch. At the sametime the thorny edges are removed.The strips are next made supple and smooth, or '' lurut," with a
" pulurut," a piece of hollow bamboo pulled over the leaf many times
?See Jonrn. Roy. Asiatic Soc, Straits Braucla, pi. 4, fig. a; and pi. 15, Proc.U. S. Nat. Mus., XXXV.
^ Idem, pi. 4, fig. h
" Idem, pi. 4, fig. c.Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXXVI?No. 1672. ?Proc. N. M. vol. xxxvi?09 25 385
386 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxxvi.by the left hand with a curling movement." The smooth strips arefolded into compact bundles and soaked in cold water for threenights, changing the water twice a day. After this they are bleachedin the sun for a day and are then ready for use.Mrs. Bland's account of the preparation of the materials is mosthelpful, and, before giving a detailed description of the drawingsand processes shown, an abstract of her description will throw muchlight on the native practice.The basket starts from six strands crossed in the middle of thebottom and the fabric is built up by working in three directions,braiding, not weaving. The strands go from left to right in theprocess. After the Avork reaches the rim of the basket, the strips areturned back over a rattan split and inwoven, as will be fully ex-plained.The strips of pandanus are glossy on one side only. In this theyresemble the split roots and cane of the Pacific coast Indians and ofthe tribes of the Gulf States. In order to have the basket smooth onboth sides, the native women work their splits and strips in pairs.But the " mad weave '' maker proceeds on an entirely differentplan. After the basket has been wrought from bottom to rim insingle ply, the strips are inwoven backward to the center of thebottom by tucking under, the glossy side being outward and the endsof strips being cut off invisibly.On the way back pretty designs are frequently made by curlingand folding the strips between thumb and forefinger. Mrs. Blandspeaks of these as " rice grains " and they are worked into stars orhexagons, which are further bunched into single or combined geo-metric patterns.^The ''mad weave" is worked up into various shapes, but thehexagon is the i^revailing form. All of them?square, oblong rec-tangular, oval, and diamond shape?start with the six-sided motiveand are brought by skill into other designs.In 1906 Henry Balfour, esq., of I'itt-Ivivers Museum, Oxford,England, took up the "mad weave" and reproduced it in tapes ofthree colors. He described the systeni as an under-two-and-over-one(i) and an under-one-and-over-two (|) system of interweaving. Thedifficult}^ comes from having three sets of parallel strands.In 1007 I was so fortunate as to secure the cooperation of some artsand crafts friends, with the result that Miss Edwina H. Fallis, ofDenver, Colorado, through Mrs. Wright Jones produced a one-plyspecimen, and Mrs. Mary Wright Gill, of Washington City, workedout the mad weave detail noAv to be described and illustrated.
" Straits Branch Journal, No. 46, pi. 4, fig. d.
* Idem, pi. 6.
NO. 1672. A MALAYSIAN TYPE OF BASKET WORK?MASON. 387The technic is from pandanus strips of various widths, in closetwill, in three directions, to be spoken of as vertical, dextral, andsinistral; the terms right oblique and left oblique may replace thelast two. When the Avork is finished the surface is made up ofrhombs or diamond-shape checks, giving the appearance of cubes andsix-pointed stars. As before mentioned, the fabric is twice wrought,or two ply, so as to have both the inside and the outside of thebasket expose the glossy side of the leaf.The technic here detailed is based on Cat. Nos. 2199G3 and 23G282in the U. S. National Museum. The former is in the W. L. Abbottcollection from Rumpin River, Pahang, and the latter is fromMalacca, sent to the Museum by Mrs. L. E. Bland.
Fi(i. 1.
?
Mktuiili iifWIO.WIO. KKOINNING MAU -Method of auuino additionalsTKirs.Fig. 1 shows how the work is started from the center of thebottom, Avith six prejjared strips, two sinistral, two vertical, andtwo dextral, crossing at the middle, one of each pair passing overand under one strip in each of the other pairs. This is the foun-dation.Fig. 2, a~c, illustrates how strips are next added. A vertical strip(?) passes down over two sinistrals, under one dextral and over onedextral. The dextral strip (b) passes upw^ard over one sinistral,under one sinistral, and over two verticals. The sinistral strip (c)passes upward over two dextrals, under two verticals and over onevertical.
388 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. VOL. XXXVI.Fig. 3, a-{, shows the result of adding more strips in the threedirections and fig. 4, looking from the inside of the basket is fig. 3
aFig. 3.
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Kesult of addim; ni;\v stuu-s intiiitkk directions. Fi(!. 4.
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Figure 3 dissected(inside).dissected. The sinisti-nl strips are uniforinly under two and overone vertical and over two and under one dextral (figs. 5a and 5b).
^ fFig. T) a. Position of si.\istk.\i, stiup ; 6, position of sinistk.\i, stuip : c, positionOF DEXTKAL STUIP ; (/, I'OSITION OF DEXTRAL STRIP; C, POSITION OF VERTICAL STRIP;j, POSITION OF VERTICAL STRIP.
No. 1672. A MALAYSIAN TYPE OF BASKET WORK?MASON. 389The dextral strips are uniformly over one and under two sinistraland over two and under one vertical (figs. 5c and 5d). The verticalstrips are uniformly over one and under two dextral and over twoand under one sinistral (figs. 5e and 5/).
Fig. 6.
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Method of givinghexagonal form to base,AT UPSET. Fig 7.
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Method of finish-ing AT the border^ withtwo hoops of RATTAN.In fig. 6 is shown a continuation of the bottom in single technic,with the rough side of the strips outward, indicating the method ofgiving the hexagonal form to the base at the upset. Fig. 7 illus-
\^-Fig. 8.
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Method of turning strips atTHE border, polished SIDE OUT.trates the interweaving of strips to form sides and the turning atthe border over two hoops of rattan. At the lower end of thesehoops the dextral and sinistral strips cross (fig. 8) and are inwoven
Fig. 9.
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Method of turning a-ertical strips at theBOEDER, polished SIDE OUT.back with the polished side out, over the whole surface of thebasket and are cut off where they meet, usually at one side of thebottom, or at the upper edge of the design, if there be one.
390 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxxvi.The vertical strips are carried over the upper hoop?the alter-nate ones moving from outside and from inside?and are inwoven
Fig. 10.
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Method of fixishixc, .^t the bokdeu.back over the rough surface, leaving the polished side out (figs. 9and 10).
JM. W. ^.Pig. 11.
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Method of ornamentation.The ornamental designs, which are not common in the Abbottcollections, are formed, as mentioned, by curling or twisting the outerlayer of strips as they are inwoven (fig. 11).