Pair of Malay Bolster-End Tekat Panels with Gold Thread

Tekat is the Malay name given to the technique of decorating textile panels (usually velvet) with thickly applied gold thread decoration. When the thread is applied by couching, the technique is  known as tekat timbul or tekat suji.

The pair here are rectangular and comprise couched gold thread on red velvet backgrounds. The decoration is what is likely to be stylised bunga kekwa (chrysanthemum) or bunga peony (peony) motif. The work is particularly fine, well composed, and dense. Sections are raised as well, and this was achieved by inserting small cut-out sections of cardboard (mempulur) and then covering them with the couching work.

The panels were intended to be added to the end of a long, stiff, rectangular bolster that would have adorned a wedding bed.

The two panels are in fine condition with minor losses to some of the gold thread, as might be expected given their age. Often today, such panels are framed for display purposes.