PURE NATIVE DESIGN ADAPTED FOR EUROPEAN USE
A combination of Javanese and European influences is shown in the illustration facing page [14]. This pillow-top, batiked by a Dutch artist, has native motives, arranged in a symmetrical design. As a batik, it is about the finest piece the writer has been able to find, as there is no flaw in the execution. The stiff geometrical pattern, however, does not give quite such a pleasing effect as the freer Javanese design. A sample of this is shown facing page [14] which is pure Javanese decoration. It shows the arrangement of a bird and some octopuses and was used for a small pillow-top; the artist has been left free in this design, not being tied down to a geometrical repeat, and the result artistically is far superior to the previous design.
In the event of some enthusiast wishing to batik in the actual native manner, he can do so by following the process as described by a native and translated here word for word:—
NATIVE PROCESS
“Batik is the art of dyeing fabric in one piece in different dyes consecutively, through the combination of which the pattern of the design is produced. The materials used in this process are cotton and very occasionally silk, wax, wax mixed with rosin and dyes. The dyes usually are vegetable although aniline is used, but rarely.
“The first of these batik requirements the native buys at the Pasar (market), the dyes they make themselves and in the case of the blue dye it is as a rule the property of a professional dyer, who is called the ‘toekang medel.’
“The cotton used now by batikers is always of European manufacture and is graded according to the fineness of the texture. The different qualities are known severally as, ‘mori moeslim’ or fine-weave cotton, ‘mori mentah’ or unbleached cotton, and ‘mori kasar’ or coarse-weave cotton. The second grade is subdivided into ‘mori mentah aloes’ which is the fine grade of the unbleached cotton and ‘mori mentah kasar’ or coarse unbleached. This last kind is only used by the native aristocracy for the clothing of the members of their household; they themselves wear batik of ‘mori moeslim’ or ‘mori mentah aloes.’
“The measure used when cotton is bought at the ‘Pasar’ is called ‘katja’ or ‘saptangnan’ and it is a square measure, that is to say, if, for instance, the cloth is a yard wide then the measure or ‘katja’ is a yard square and if the width is a yard and a half, the ‘katja’ is a yard and a half.
“The cotton as it comes from the market is not immediately ready to be batiked. If it is a bleached cotton it has to be treated for the removal of all the starch, chalk and other stiffening with which it is dressed. This is done by washing it several times in clear cold water. It is then soaked for several days in cocoanut oil; this in its turn is boiled out in water containing the ashes of burnt rice stalks; this process is continued till the fabric is free from oil. This soaking and boiling is always done, whether the material is bleached or unbleached, and is called ‘mateng’ which literally translated means ‘done’ or cooked thoroughly.
“After the piece is dried in the sun, the cut edges are hemmed—‘didjilid.’ Now the material has to be starched again, ‘njekoeli’; this stiffening is to prevent the wax from flowing too freely,—a condition known as ‘mresep.’ The rice water that is used for this, is made from a strained rice gruel, or more simply, the water is used in which the rice has been boiled. After the material has been starched it is ‘dipe’ or dried once more in the sun and it is then rolled up. This roll is laid on a wooden board, ‘kemplomgen’ and pounded with a wooden hammer, ‘gandeng,’ or if a hammer is not available, the wooden rice pestle, ‘aloe’ can be used. This process is called ‘nganplongi’ and is to make the material soft and supple. Now the material is ready to be batiked, and the following materials and tools are needed.