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.
[Illustration: _More tjap stamps giving Javanese Batik designs, from the
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago_]
The use of the tjanting is the ideal method of making long even lines and
for outlining large spaces. Up to the present it has been difficult to
secure tjantings in America, but they will undoubtedly soon be available,
since Batik has firmly established itself as a beautiful and practical
art-craft for American workers.
[Illustration: _The design for this Batik Tray was done in wax and the
silk then dipped in an all-over dye_]
[Illustration: _Showing design for a Batik Bag with crackle_]
[Illustration: _Detail drawings of units taken from Batiks in the
possession of A. B. Lewis_]
[Illustration: _The native Javanese Tjantings, showing two sizes of
single spouts and one with double spouts_]
[Illustration: _Modern Tjantings, made by R. H. Earl, New York City_]
[Illustration: _Showing the use of the Tjanting. Courtesy of R. H. Earl,
New York City_]
[Illustration: _A detail of a rare Javanese Batik in the American Museum
of Natural History, New York_]
[Illustration: _Detail of a Javanese Sarong. Property of A. B. Lewis_]
Some means of keeping the wax hot must be produced. Anything that will
hold the wax at an even temperature will do, an electric stove, gas
burner, or alcohol burner. A bowl of wax may be set in the top of a
tea-kettle of boiling water and will remain hot enough to use for half
an hour without reheating the water. All danger of burning the wax is
eliminated by keeping the wax in a bowl set in a pan of water. If the
water is kept just below the boiling point, that will give sufficient
heat.
In covering a large space, it is sometimes better to begin waxing in the
center and working outward toward the edge.
When the woman is ready to start her work, she sketches in the main
outlines and more complicated parts of the design with charcoal; then she
hangs the cloth over the little upright frame and sits down on a little
mat before her work. She fills her tjanting with hot wax by means of the
cocoanut-shell spoon, and, holding the cloth in her left hand, draws the
design in with the tjanting by resting the tjanting lightly on the cloth
or moving it gently around the outline. The small parts of the design are
generally done without first drawing the design in charcoal. The cotton
swab is used as a brush to wax the larger places.
The more we study the designs of the Javanese the more we realize the
influence of their tools. The dots on leaves and flowers, the use of the
light outline, the kind of line, the beautiful line designs used—all have
been worked out with this characteristic tool and in certain ways are
suggested by it.
After one side of the cloth is waxed, a good piece will be turned over
and the design very carefully followed on the back. In doing this there
are generally small differences in design between the back and front,
which give one a means of determining whether a piece is real Batik or a
print. After waxing all parts of the design not to be dyed with the first
color, the piece of goods is ready to be dyed. This work is done by men.
The dye is, of course, used cold, and to render it permanent the cloth
must be left in the dye for several days; in the case of indigo often
as long as two weeks. When removed from the dye the cloth is first hung
out in the air until the color is oxidized or “fixed.” The wax is then
removed by steeping in hot water and is saved for use again.
[Illustration: _A Batik Mural Decoration by Fall_]
[Illustration: _A decorative Wall Hanging of modern Batik_]
[Illustration: _A Javanese Batik Turban. Property of A. B. Lewis_]
[Illustration: _A corner of a Javanese Batik Turban. Property of A. B.
Lewis_]