According to these authorities the Javanese and, indeed, most of the natives of Malaysia, wear garments simple enough in style and cut, but elaborately decorated with great variety of both color and design. The principal garment, common to both men and women, is the sarong, in shape not unlike a large and elongated bath towel, which, according to the desire and sex of the owner, may be made to serve as trousers or skirt, overcoat or blanket, and is the universal bathing costume. It is made of calico, rarely homespun, almost always imported from Lancashire or Holland, and as the natives, both men and women, are exceedingly fond of bathing, the colors must be fast enough to stand constant exposure to water as well as to the fierce tropical sun.
They also wear head-dresses made from squares of calico, dyed with square centres of plain color and elaborately decorated at the sides; and slendangs, a kind of girdle or shawl, usually made of silk and less elaborately decorated. The costume is completed, for full-dress occasions, by a thin shirt or chemise and a light jacket.
For producing the designs on the sarongs, the process of wax resist is almost always employed by the natives. Unfortunately of late years the Javanese market has been flooded with an immense quantity of cheap and, generally, neatly printed goods made in Manchester and in Holland in rough imitation of the native styles. So it is not an easy matter, nowadays, even in Java, to get genuine specimens of Batik work. These can always be recognized, however, on careful examination by the peculiar and characteristic odor and “feel” of the wax left behind in the cloth, and, better, by the fine irregular “crackle” formed in the dye-pot.
Variations in the Process.—Although there are different methods, the Batik process, as usually meant, is a means of dyeing in which, before immersing the goods in the dye-pot, the patterns are carefully drawn in molten beeswax, applied from a little copper cup with a fine spout called a tjanting. Frequently, however, to save time, the Javanese apply the wax by means of a metal die or block, made by inserting thin strips of sheet brass in a wooden frame, so that the edges of the brass form the desired pattern. These blocks, provided with a handle covered with cloth, are first dipped into the molten wax, and then the excess is removed by pressing against a pad, which is kept warm by being near the fire of the melting pot. The pattern is thus stamped onto the cloth instead of being poured onto it, through a small spout, out of a cup.
This Batik process is sometimes used by native craftsmen in other parts of the Far East. Plate [I], for instance, shows a specimen of East Indian work, part of a long piece of stout cotton bought, years ago, at Liberty’s in London, with an elaborate design made with molten wax, applied by brush or tjanting. Even in the plate the characteristic ‘crackle’ shows plainly.
Wax.—In Java, the wax used for pouring is a mixture of paraffin and beeswax, or an impure wax imported from Japan for this purpose. For stamping the patterns it is necessary to use a stiffer wax made from rosin and paraffin, sometimes mixed with varnish gums.
Dyes.—The principal colors used are indigo and a beautiful golden-brown dye made from the bark of the mango tree. The combination of these gives a black, so that the fine old sarongs usually contain white, blue, brown, and black. Indigo is dyed first, and, before dyeing, all the cloth, excepting that which is to come out blue or black, is carefully covered with the wax. After the indigo bath (the Javanese use a fermentation vat) the color is set by oxidation. The old wax is then all washed off with boiling soap and water, and after drying, the wax is again applied to all parts, whether white or blue, which are not to receive the brown dye. The latter is made from a strong, syrupy extract of bark, and is used without mordanting, the color being set by exposure to air. As the dyes must be used cold, to avoid melting and obliterating the pattern, the goods are usually dipped in each dye-bath and exposed, several times, before reaching the desired shade. After the final dyeing, the wax is removed by a hot bath of wood ashes or soap, and the garment is pressed out ready to wear.
When a red color is desired, the natives use a variation of the old Turkey red process, dyeing with madder or munjeet upon cloth mordanted with alum and oil. The wax in this case acts as a resist against the alum mordant, which is applied cold, and thus prevents the dyestuff, which is applied at the boil, from coloring the cloth in the protected portions.
Cloth.—The cloth used for this Batik process is strong common calico, but, before beginning to wax it, they give it a careful treatment, to improve both its texture and its ground color. For a period of several days they alternately soak it in castor oil, wring it out, boil out the oil with soda lye, and expose it to the blazing sun; until finally it becomes soft and smooth, and has a pleasant tan color which goes excellently with the brown, blue, and black dyes.
The peculiarity of all these Batik goods, whether from the East or made at home or in Europe, is the characteristic “crackle” effect, due to the breaking of the wax upon the cloth in the process of dyeing, thereby admitting the color to the protected cloth in fine lines and streaks. This distinguishes the wax resist work from the previously described paste resist, which if desired will leave a smooth, clean, white background, or if applied more lightly will give backgrounds shaded more uniformly and without so many irregular lines of color.