“1. Wax. Usually six parts of ‘melam geplak’ and one part ‘melam poetih’ are used, with sometimes the addition of a little ‘melam ireng.’ The ‘melam geplak’ consists of a mixture of ‘damar mata koetjing’ which is a kind of rosin that comes from Borneo, melted with animal fat. The ‘melam poetih’ is pure bees-wax and the ‘melam ireng’ is dark coloured wax which has been used already in a previous batik and which has become dark from the blue dye which it took up when in the blue-dye bath. The first two kinds of wax can be bought at any market, but not the ‘melam ireng,’ as every one who batiks always saves enough dark wax from former work, or in case of need, a neighbour will always lend some.
“2. A pan called ‘wadjan’ in which to melt the wax. This is generally of iron, though poor people use stone pots.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF TJANTINGS
PRICE OF NATIVE TJANTING
“3. A little copper instrument called ‘tjanting’ used in drawing with the wax on the material. It is made of fine thin red copper and has one or more little spouts and a bamboo handle. These tjanting have different names according to the type of work for which they are used, (a) Tjanting ‘isen isen’; this has a very slender spout and is used to make very fine lines and little dots, (b) Tjanting ‘kjandangen’: this instrument has a larger spout and is used to wax the parts which have to stay white in the first process, (c) Tjanting ‘penangang’; this is the tjanting used to cover up the bigger surfaces, (d) The ‘penembok’ has a very wide spout to cover parts that are to be completely protected by wax, (e) The tjanting ‘pengada’ has two spouts next each other for the drawing of parallel lines. There are various other varieties that have three, five and sometimes as many as six spouts for making little rosettes and groups of dots. Tjantings are always made by men and the work is not subdivided, that is to say, one man makes the instrument from start to finish; as a rule the makers have at least twenty-five tjanting in the course of construction at the same time. It takes a good workman six to seven days to make about 250 of the little tools, that is, about forty a day. Figuring the cost of materials and charcoal used in the making, together with overhead expenses and the receipts figuring at the rate of 24 cents (American money), for 240 tjantings, it will be seen that an excellent craftsman makes on an average about 30 cents in Dutch money, equivalent to 12 cents American, a day.
“4. The ‘djegoel,’ an instrument which replaces the brush used in Europe and is made of a thin wooden stick with a wad of cotton tied to the end. This is for waxing very large surfaces.
“5. The ‘iroes.’ This is a spoon made out of cocoanut shell and has a bamboo handle; it is used to mix the melted wax and to scoop the wax off the water in which the finished batik has been boiled.
“6. The ‘wadja.’ The copper pan in which the fabric is boiled when the wax is being removed.
“7. The ‘panjawanjan.’ A small movable stand over which the material is hung during the waxing process.
“8. The ‘tjawang.’ A small bamboo clip used to fasten the fabric to the stand. Rich batikers use an iron clip called “bandoel.”