First lessons in batik

by Gertrude Clayton Lewis

Designs from “tjap” stamps used in Java for repeating units. The Field Museum of Natural History, of Chicago, has a collection of these

CHAPTER II
THE METHOD IN JAVA

The work of Batik making is definitely divided, in Java, between the men and the women. The women do the designing and waxing, while the men do the dyeing.

In Java, in the earlier days, Batik was largely a home industry, but like all such it is being taken out of the home and transferred to primitive factories, where the workers come together to work, but continue the old methods and technique. Even in that far-off land, machine imitations of Batik are flooding the country, and it is difficult today to be sure that a given piece is a genuine example of the hand process, unless the individual history of the piece is known, since the old designs are still used, and the native work is imitated in the printed cloths even to the crackle and irregularity of the designs.

In former times they wove their own cloth, but now the cloth used is largely muslin woven in England or Japan. Several qualities are used for different grades of work. Practically all Batik work is done on muslin, though occasionally a silk scarf may be colored in this way. The cloth is prepared before using, first, by thorough washing to remove all starch and filling; second, by soaking it in cocoanut oil, and third, removing the oil with ashes. This removes the dead-white look and gives the creamy color with which we are familiar in Batik pieces. Next, the cloth is starched with a rice starch made by boiling rice in water until it is a thin paste. The cloth is then dried and rolled up. In a primitive fashion, it is then softened or ironed by pounding with a wooden pestle until it is smooth. The cloth is now ready. The wax used is a mixture of rosin, animal fat and beeswax. The proportion of each has been worked out by long experience. A little iron pan or stone jar holds the melted wax. The tjanting, which is the characteristic tool of Batik work, is used to apply the wax. This is a little oval cup made of very thin copper with a slender curved spout projecting from the base of the cup. For a handle, a short piece of reed with a soft pith is used. Tjantings vary in the size and number of spouts. A tjanting with a fine slender spout is used for very narrow lines and small dots. Then comes a series of others, each with a little larger spout for the purpose of covering more surface. One kind is made with two spouts and is used to draw parallel lines. Others have from three to six spouts to give the little groups of dots which are quite an essential part of some designs. ([See page 13.])

The remainder of the equipment consists of a wad of cotton tied to a stick, a cocoanut-shell spoon, a copper basin for boiling out the wax, a light upright frame for holding the cloth while it is being worked, a straightedge of wood, and assorted basins and vats for dyes and dyeing. These are of copper, pottery or wood.

After dyeing, the color is set, wax is boiled out and saved to be used again. It is now waxed a second time for the next color, dyed and washed. This process is repeated for each color desired.