--- a/scripts/plot/ribbon.m
+++ b/scripts/plot/ribbon.m
@@ -17,13 +17,19 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {} ribbon (@var{x}, @var{y}, @var{width})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {} ribbon (@var{y})
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {} ribbon (@var{y})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {} ribbon (@var{x}, @var{y})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {} ribbon (@var{x}, @var{y}, @var{width})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {} ribbon (@var{hax}, @dots{})
 ## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{h} =} ribbon (@dots{})
-## Plot a ribbon plot for the columns of @var{y} vs. @var{x}.  The
-## optional parameter @var{width} specifies the width of a single ribbon
+## Plot a ribbon plot for the columns of @var{y} vs. @var{x}.
+##
+## The optional parameter @var{width} specifies the width of a single ribbon
 ## (default is 0.75).  If @var{x} is omitted, a vector containing the
-## row numbers is assumed (1:rows (Y)).
+## row numbers is assumed (@code{1:rows (Y)}).
+##
+## If the first argument @var{hax} is an axis handle, then plot into this axis,
+## rather than the current axis handle returned by @code{gca}.
 ##
 ## The optional return value @var{h} is a vector of graphics handles to
 ## the surface objects representing each ribbon.
@@ -31,19 +37,30 @@
 
 ## Author: Kai Habel <kai.habel at gmx.de>
 
-function h = ribbon (x, y, width = 0.75)
+function h = ribbon (varargin)
+
+  [hax, varargin, nargin] = __plt_get_axis_arg__ ("ribbon", varargin{:});
 
   if (nargin < 1 || nargin > 3)
     print_usage ();
   endif
 
   if (nargin == 1)
-    y = x;
+    y = varargin{1};
     if (isvector (y))
       y = y(:);
     endif
     [nr, nc] = size (y);
     x = repmat ((1:nr)', 1, nc);
+    width = 0.75;
+  elseif (nargin == 2)
+    x = varargin{1};
+    y = varargin{2};
+    width = 0.75;
+  else
+    x = varargin{1};
+    y = varargin{2};
+    width = varargin{3};
   endif
 
   if (isvector (x) && isvector (y))
@@ -58,25 +75,32 @@
     endif
   endif
 
-  newplot ();
+  oldfig = ifelse (isempty (hax), [], get (0, "currentfigure"));
+  unwind_protect
+    hax = newplot (hax);
 
-  [nr, nc] = size (y);
-  htmp = zeros (nc, 1);
+    [nr, nc] = size (y);
+    htmp = zeros (nc, 1);
 
-  for c = nc:-1:1
-    zz = [y(:,c), y(:,c)];
-    yy = x(:,c);
-    xx = [c - width / 2, c + width / 2];
-    [xx, yy] = meshgrid (xx, yy);
-    cc = repmat (c, size (zz));
-    htmp(c) = surface (xx, yy, zz, cc);
-  endfor
+    for c = nc:-1:1
+      zz = [y(:,c), y(:,c)];
+      yy = x(:,c);
+      xx = [c - width / 2, c + width / 2];
+      [xx, yy] = meshgrid (xx, yy);
+      cc = repmat (c, size (zz));
+      htmp(c) = surface (xx, yy, zz, cc);
+    endfor
 
-  if (! ishold ())
-    ax = get (htmp(1), "parent");
-    set (ax, "view", [-37.5, 30], "box", "off", 
-             "xgrid", "on", "ygrid", "on", "zgrid", "on");
-  endif
+    if (! ishold ())
+      set (hax, "view", [-37.5, 30], "box", "off", 
+                "xgrid", "on", "ygrid", "on", "zgrid", "on");
+    endif
+
+  unwind_protect_cleanup
+    if (! isempty (oldfig))
+      set (0, "currentfigure", oldfig);
+    endif
+  end_unwind_protect
 
   if (nargout > 0)
     h = htmp;