BATIK, a Javanese word meaning wax painting—the applica tion of a wax "resist" to various materials which are afterwards dyed, and certain portions of which are protected by the wax so that they do not absorb the dye, leaving as a result a pattern or design on them. The resist is usually composed of bees-wax, paraffin and sometimes a little resin, which makes it adhere more securely to the material. This resist is applied hot so that it flows easily and sinks into the material, protecting from the dye that part which it covers.
Probably the latter is more nearly correct. There have been found ruins of temples in Java about 1,200 years old, among which were fragments of stone figures wearing garments similar to those worn to-day by the natives and decorated with similar patterns, and it is likely that these same designs have been handed down for centuries. Batik is used almost entirely throughout Indonesia for the decoration of the very simple clothing which the people wear, This clothing consists, in the main, of only four pieces : (I) The Sarong, a strip of cloth from 9 to 14 ft. long by about 31 ft. wide, which is worn twisted about the body in various ways. (See fig. 4.) (2) The Slendang, a piece of cloth about 9 ft. long and only 18 in. wide, which may be twisted about the head or used by the women for carrying their babies or other burdens on their backs.
(3) The Kemban, a narrow girdle or band, worn only on occa sion by the women, twisted tightly about their waists or breasts.
(4) The Sarong Kapala, a square piece of material not unlike a large bandanna handkerchief, worn by the men, twisted about their heads like a turban in some particular way which designates the locality from which the wearer comes and his station in life. After this piece has been arranged on the head it is removed and starched on the inside so that it will hold its shape.
Each of these pieces is decorated with a design and in colours which indicate the part of the country from which it comes. The designs and colours are all similar, but, on the other hand, they have very definite variations. In all parts of the country, however, there are in use two types of sarong ; the usual type, decorated with an all-over pattern, and the dress type, worn on ceremonial occasions. The latter is enhanced by the addition of a wide band, across one end, more ornately decorative than the body of the piece, and also by a surrounding border made up of a number of various-sized smaller borders of different widths, making a beau tiful frame similar to that seen on oriental rugs. In all of the sections the designs are based upon the same origin and consist of conventionalized objects of nature, such as flowers, butterflies, birds, fruits, foliage, cuttlefish and shells and occasionally of a conventionalized Malay kris or knife. These designs are passed from generation to generation and taught by each mother to her daughter, for it is the women who draw them while the men do the dyeing. (See figs. i i and 12.) Javanese Practice.—In Java batik is done, as a rule, upon cotton cloth or sometimes silk. Whatever the material, it is first carefully prepared by several washings in hot water, alternat ing with steepings in coconut oil or castor oil (fig. 6). These washings are done in water containing an alkali, such as a weak solution of soda or the ashes of burnt rice stalks, and after each washing, before it is steeped in the oil, it is dried in the sun until it finally assumes the soft creamy tone so beautiful in the finer pieces. After the washing process it is hemmed and then 'starched or sized in a solution of rice water, again dried in the sun and then rolled up into a loose roll, placed on a board and gently pounded with a hammer or rolled with a wooden roller until it becomes soft. and pliable, when it is ready to be sus pended upon a frame. Sometimes the artists block in the designs with char coal (see fig. io), but many of them are so sure in their art that they are capable of drawing the intricately involved patterns without this aid.
Instruments.—The tjanting is the instrument used for apply ing the wax. It is a small copper cup, from the bottom of one side of which curves outward and downward a delicate spout or capillary tube, and from the opposite side of which projects a bamboo handle, cut in such a way that a spur follows the lower line of the cup. These tjantings are of various forms: some have large spouts and some very slender ones ; some, called penembok, have wide flat spouts, while others may have as many as two, three, four or even six, all springing from the same cup, so that it is possible to draw with them, simultaneously, a number of parallel lines. Besides the tjanting, there is a primitive instrument called the djegoel, which is simply a stick of wood with a wad of cotton attached to the end, forming a sort of crude brush which is used for filling in the large areas with wax. (See fig. 5.) Native Practice.—Seated on the ground, the material hanging over a frame before her (fig. i i ), the artist covers that part of the design which is to remain the natural colour of the material with a wax consisting of about six parts animal fat to one part resin and to which is sometimes added one part of pure bees-wax and a little of the old wax which, owing to carbonization and former contact with the indigo dye, has become dark, making the whole resist more easily seen upon the fabric. When this first step is finished the piece must be turned over and carefully waxed on the back so that there is no possibility of the dye entering the fabric from that side. It is then immersed in cold water, which thoroughly hardens and solidifies the wax, so that it is ready to enter the dye which has been prepared for it. When it has been satisfactorily dyed, the wax is removed and the piece re waxed, leaving exposed other parts which are to be dyed a different colour.
In sharp contrast to the East Indian, and even more so to modern European methods, stands this "Javanese practice" of carefully waxing the back of the fabric and of removing the wax and replacing it in a different section of the design each time a new colour is to be dyed. In Europe and America the custom is to dye one colour over another, removing the wax only when this becomes impossible. It as has been said, the native custom to confine themselves almost entirely to cotton and silk, while in the West batik is also done upon woollens, velvets, ivory, straw or any other material which can be stained with dye. Sometimes batik is employed upon metal or wood, the exposed surface of which is etched away with acid, giving the effect of low relief carving.
The dyes used by the natives were originally, without doubt, vegetable, but nowadays they are making use of some of the anilines brought to them from Holland. Indigo provides blue, and the other colours, such as red from madder and yellow from the bark of mangosteen, are typical. Sec ondary colours are produced, at times, by dyeing one of these col ours over another, and black is produced by the dyeing of brown over the indigo-blue; the range of colours, however, is not very great, and the native is far more inter ested in the intricacy of the de sign than in the delicacy of colour.
T j a p Printing.—Although this is not true batik and is looked down upon by the natives them selves, it is a similar process, and one with which beautiful results have been obtained. There is little doubt that the method originated in Madras, where it has at any rate been used extensively since the i 5th century.
A tjap is a wooden block which has had set into the end of the grain small copper strips, similar to the cloissons which divide the different enamel colours in the well known cloisonne of China and Japan. These strips are carefully bent with tiny pliers until they assume the desired curves and are then fastened into the wood block. For the application of the wax, the tjaps are made in pairs, one for each side of the material. They are simple to use, for the process consists of dipping the block into the molten wax (which, in this case, must be somewhat stiffer than that used for true batik, and made of resin, paraffin and varnish gums) touching the block to a pad to remove the excess wax, and then printing the wax on to the material, after which the process is repeated for the back and the dyeing is proceeded with exactly as in the case of real batik.
Tjap printing is not considered equal to batik, but as the tjaps must be made in pairs so as to correspond perfectly in the print ing of the front and back of the fabric, and as the making of the tjaps is, in itself, a most exacting and delicate craftsmanship, the work must not be neglected by the student, who should realize that sometimes really good specimens of tjap printing are fully as valuable as batiks.
European History and Uses.—Batik was introduced into Europe by the Dutch, who, returning from Java, described the beautiful costumes of the natives. It was lectured about, and in due time some specimens were brought home by travellers, but very little attention was paid to them as works of art or to the method of execution pursued. Sporadic interest did occur, but when the Dutch acquired the islands, an industry was started in the printing of imitation batiks for sale and trade with the natives. This had an ill effect, as many people did not understand the difference between these printed atrocities and the beautiful cre ations of the natives, and it was not until the latter part of the 19th century that the great strides made in the production of dyes led artists to experiment with them as a medium and to the revival of this 2,000-year-old art.
Some batik in Europe and America is executed like that in Java, for the purpose of wearing apparel, but the length of time involved in producing these fabrics makes it impossible to com pete with the beautifully printed and woven fabrics done by ma chinery and therefore the art has been driven a step higher. Artists found that they could not spend the time to design and execute a batik gown unless they could first find patrons willing to spend large sums of money for their work; therefore, the appli cation of this art to the more permanent elements of decoration such as wall hangings, lamp shades, table runners or throws, etc., for which comparatively higher prices could be asked, was necessary. The first artists who awoke to the possibilities of this medium of expression were those in Holland ; then followed such artists as Arthur Crisp, Pieter Mijer, Bertrand Hartmann and Ethelyn Stewart in America, who developed batik to a higher standard.
These artists, equipped with an almost unlimited range of colour, produced by modern dyes, have created designs of a beauty never before realized. Improved instruments have also aided them in obtaining good results. For instance, they now use heavier cups for the tjantings, so that the heat can be held longer, and tapering spouts which allow the wax to stay hot until it reaches the tip. These spouts extend about half way up into the cups so that the sediment sinks to the bottom and does not clog them. The tech nique of the brush, which was never properly developed in Java, has been borrowed from Japan and has given its fluent vigour to the lines of these modern artists. The dyes are not only more varied, but infinitely clearer and purer in colour, and the removal of the wax by gasolene has facilitated the cleaning process. Not only is the art itself undergoing improvement ; the materials upon which it is executed are becoming, due to modern machinery, more and more beautiful in their varied textures. And so batik has come to be thought of as an art comparable to painting in oils or water colours or to drawing with pastels, with the litho graphic crayon or the etching point. In comparison with other arts batik has some limitations, but it has also many well-defined advantages over the other graphic arts and should, without doubt, eventually take its place among them. Swift, vigorous sketches can be executed with it. An utmost delicacy of colour is obtain able, and flat areas of rich tone as well as subtle variations of mottling and "crackling" can be had when required. Besides all these and many similar advantages, there is the possibility of the feel of material, the creation of that texture which not only appeals to the eye but to the sense of touch as well. (See TECH