Our favorite pieces come from family workshops in the smaller towns and villages of East Java and Madura Island. Small chests (peti kecils), cupboards (lemaris) and large storage chests (gereboks) on wheels that make them easy to move are typical of this area.
These pieces are for people who love to live with the bold colors of village art and the creative charm of small imperfections. The doors may not shut perfectly, the shelves may slant and the original water and lime-based gesso paints have a tendency to flake. I use these beautiful pieces in our home in place of built-in closets to store everything from bulky blankets in the gereboks to spare lightbulbs in the peti kecils. Our blue lemari was being used in Java to store old cans of paint, nails and several small, rusty motors.
Woods are local tropical hardwoods and the English translation is always that it’s “teak”. Some of the earliest pieces have large panels made from single pieces of wood. These are always more expensive, as trees of this size were logged out years ago. Joints are dovetailed, with nails and screws only used for later repairs.
The forged iron handles on the peti kecils and grobaks are usually intact, but the decorative brass fittings and locks are frequently missing or, along with the rusted hinges, have occasionally been replaced with new ones. The red and blue dowry chest from Madura still has its inlaid mirrors, but this is unusual. All the detail carving is done by hand, not machine turned.
Colors are bright blues, greens, reds and yellows with white for accent. Islam discourages the use of human and animal form. This has encouraged the creation of bold, interlocking floral and geometric designs. Sometimes a pair of traditional lucky Indonesian dragons, roosters or small figures will be included, especially on the tops of the Madura dowry chests (jodangs).
Art-Pacific: Guide to artifacts
June 8th, 2007
Batik: Design, Style and History offers an introduction to Indonesian batik styles and their history. There are chapters on the origins and early history of batik, different regional traditions, motifs and their meanings, modern history and influences, batik as costume, and batik in art. The text takes up only thirty pages, however, with most of the space devoted to illustrative photographs.
The survey of regions and motifs touches on Madura and Sumatra and centres across Java, and looks at some common Javanese, Chinese and Malay motifs.
“In the Kerek district near Tuban in northeastern Java, some batik production continues much as it must have done in previous centuries. Batik is drawn on cloth woven in the village using thread handspun from locally grown cotton. The dyeing is normally undertaken only by women of mature years who have inherited the specialist knowledge required. The designs of Kerek batik are produced using two main colours, traditionally made from indigo (for blue), which is still grown locally, and mengkudu (for red), the latter purchased in the market. Nowadays aniline dyes are used for much of the dyeing, though the use of natural dyes is being revived.”
The extensive array of photographs of batik pieces and details from batik pieces does a great job illustrating this survey.
A brief historical account places batik in the broader context of Indonesian history, covering Dutch and Japanese influences, notable Eurasian designers, the national Batik Indonesia style, and so forth. There’s no treatment of the batik production process as such, but Kerlogue touches on supply problems, the role of cooperatives and Chinese capital, and other economic issues.
“During World War II the supply of raw materials such as cambric was again disrupted. The period of Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945 adversely affected both the market for, and the production of, European-style batik. Anti-European feelings were encouraged and many Indo-European were interned, including a number of families which had run batik manufactories on the north coast. Although this marked the end of the Indo-European batik enterprises, the styles which these families had pioneered were taken over by Chinese entrepreneurs. This period also saw the emergence of the so-called ‘batik Jawa Hokokai’, an extremely intricate ornamental style of batik, with new colour combinations inspired by Japanese taste and commissioned by wealthy Japanese connoisseurs of batik.”
The chapter on batik as costume describes the traditional forms — sarung, kain panjang, selendang, dodot — and their role in marking status, touching briefly on modern developments. The chapter on batik in art focuses on ‘batik painting”, a modern form which took off in the 1970s.
Most of the photographs are of items from the “Rudolf G. Smend” collection, but some other collections are drawn on as well. The captions are brief but offer broader information and not just item descriptions.
“Patterns of flowers arranged asymmetrically over the ground are common in batiks from Sumatra or intended for the Sumatran market. The design is known as ‘bunga jatuh’ or ‘bunga bertabur’ (fallen or scattered flowers). Flowers are used in a variety of purification ceremonies in Malay Sumatra, for example when a bride is bathed in an infusion of flower petals the night before her marriage. The use of floral motifs is associated with the evanescent power of the perfume. Tulis, cotton. 92 x 218 cm. (Kerlogue collection)”
As well as a bibliography and index, there’s a glossary and a list of museums with significant batik collections.
Batik: Design, Style and History is a nicely put together volume, with a good balance between text and photographs. It should work well for anyone wanting an introduction to Indonesian batik, from tourists to students of textiles.
Fiona Kerlogue
Thames and Hudson 2004
A book review by Danny Yee © 2007 http://dannyreviews.com/
June 8th, 2007