Wax resist dyeing technique in
fabric is an ancient art form. Discoveries show it already existed in Egypt in
the 4th century BCE, where it was used to wrap mummies; linen was soaked in
wax, and scratched using a sharp tool. In Asia, the technique was practiced in
China during the T'ang
dynasty (618-907 CE), and in India and Japan during the Nara period (645-794 CE). In Africa it was originally practiced
by the Yoruba
tribe in Nigeria, Soninke
and Wolof
in Senegal.
In Java, Indonesia,
batik predates written records. G. P. Rouffaer argues that the technique might
have been introduced during the 6th or 7th century from India or Sri Lanka.[5] On the other hand, JLA. Brandes (a Dutch archeologist) and
F.A. Sutjipto (an Indonesian archeologist) believe Indonesian batik is a native
tradition, regions such as Toraja,
Flores, Halmahera,
and Papua,
which were not directly influenced by Hinduism and have an old age tradition of
batik making.
Rouffaer also reported that the gringsing
pattern was already known by the 12th century in Kediri, East Java.
He concluded that such a delicate pattern could only be created by means of the
canting (also spelled tjanting or tjunting; pronounced
tool. This is like a pen that holds a small reservoir of hot wax. He proposed
that the canting was invented in Java around that time. The carving details of
clothes wore by Prajnaparamita,
the statue of buddhist goddess of transcendental wisdom from East Java circa
13th century CE. The clothes details shows intricate floral pattern similar to
today traditional Javanese batik. This suggested intricate batik fabric pattern
applied by canting already existed in 13th century Java or even earlier.
In Europe, the technique is
described for the first time in the History of Java, published in London
in 1817 by Sir Thomas Stamford
Raffles who had been a British governor for
the island. In 1873 the Dutch merchant Van
Rijckevorsel gave the pieces he collected during
a trip to Indonesia to the ethnographic museum in Rotterdam. Today Tropenmuseum houses the biggest collection of Indonesian batik in the Netherlands. The Dutch were active in developing batik in the colonial
era, they introduced new innovations and prints. And it was indeed starting
from the early 19th century that the art of batik really grew finer and reached
its golden period. Exposed to the Exposition Universelle at Paris in 1900, the Indonesian batik impressed the public
and the artisans. After the independence of Indonesia and the decline of the
Dutch textile industry, the Dutch batik production was lost. The Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag
contains artifacts from that era.
Due to globalization and
industrialization, which introduced automated techniques, new breeds of batik,
known as batik cap and batik print emerged, and the traditional batik, which
incorporates the hand written wax-resist dyeing
technique is known now as batik tulis (lit: 'Written Batik').
At the same time, according to the Museum of Cultural
History of Oslo, Indonesian immigrants to
Malaysia brought the art with them. As late as the 1920s Javanese batik makers
introduced the use of wax and copper blocks on Malaysia's east coast. The
production of hand drawn batik in Malaysia is of recent date and is related to
the Javanese batik tulis.
In Sub Sahara Africa, Javanese batik
was introduced in the 19th century by Dutch and English traders. The local
people there adapted the Javanese batik, making larger motifs, thicker lines
and more colors. In the 1970s, batik was introduced to the aboriginal community
in Australia, the aboriginal community at Erna bella and Utopia now develop it
as their own craft.
