batik of indonesia

Batik textiles are among the most beautiful produced in Indonesia and are probably the best known. The process, which uses wax as a dye-resist, is generally associated with Indonesia and Malaysia, but the technique has been known in Egypt since the 5th or 6th centuries AD, and is also found in Africa, China, Japan and Central Asia.
It has been suggested that intricate batik design is relatively modern, but the examples collected by Sir Stamford Raffles while he was Governor of Java in the early years of the 1 9th century already show a well-established tradition.

The finest batik uses cloth with a high thread density and a flat, even surface. Such cloth was imported from Europe and India, and is now bought from Japan as well. Once cut to length, hemmed, washed and boiled to remove the size, it is oiled and treated with a rice paste to prevent the wax penetrating too deeply. For the best, hand-painted batik, known as tulis, the wax is applied to the areas to resist the first dyeing, using a small spouted pot called a canting. The cloth is dipped in the dye and then into cold water to harden the wax so that it may be scraped off. More wax is then applied to further areas and the process repeated until the pattern is complete. Good batik has the wax patterns repeated on the back of the fabric so that it is reversible. Cracks in the wax, intended or not, give the familiar spidery background patterns.

A 2 metre (6 foot ) length of the best-quality batik can take up to two months to complete. Batik tulis, with fine quality, hand-painted designs, is traditionally made by women, often the wives of high officials. Batik cap is a more economical method using a metal stamp to apply the wax pattern to the cloth, and is traditionally a male preserve.

Java is the home of batik, which is seen at its best in the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. An imprecise way of telling the difference is the use in Yogyakarta of browns and blues against a white background whereas in Surakarta the background is yellow. South Sumatra and the Toraja region of Sulawesi also produce good batik.