The sheer multifariousness of figurative and schematic motifs in Sumba is special among the ikat producing areas in East Indonesia. Sumbanese weavers reproduce standing humanlike figures, skull trees (related to head-hunting), golden ornamentations worn in ceremonies, floras, birdies, hounds and lizards, as well as geometric shapes like coils, hooks and lozenges. Some of the designs manifestly derive from foreign sources: firedrakes, taken form Chinese ceramics; rampant lion, from the Dutch coat of arms; and schematic patola ratu patterns, from Indian silks. But most of the designs derive from the local context.
Certain formal conventionalities dictate the depiction of figures in Sumbanese textiles. For instance, most quadrupeds appear in profile (although the head position may vary) while monkeys of felines present a rampant of a climbing stance. Standing manlike figures appear in a frontal view, with arms in a praying or akimbo position.
Individual figures are identified from these stereotypes by adding a specific detail. For instance, all “bird” shapes, roughly like a fowl, are understood as birds, but a crest and curved beak makes the particular figure a cockatoo. The bodies of all quadrupeds are nearly alike, but if it has an open barking mouth, it's a dog. If it has whiskers, it's a lion. The generic type of the flora or the fauna is easy to recognize, but the species determination is quite uneasy.
