This beautiful vintage Indonesian batik tulis is from Solo, one of the ancient batik producing city in Java.
The Javanese sarong fabric is will look beautiful as an elegant shawl and wrap. Perfect for the boho and eclectic interior and for vintage textile lover and collector.
▪︎234cm x 103cm ( 92" x 40.5" )
▪︎Mid 20th C
▪︎Batik tulis
▪︎Good condition
▪︎Natural dye, indigo and sogan
▪︎Handwash only in natural soap or detergent for delicates.
▪︎ABOUT
It was made with a tool called tjanting, instead of stamped or printing. Every dots and lines were hand drawn in wax individually and then dyed, boiled, rewaxed, and the process was repeated , depending on the complexities of the design. A piece like this can take four to six months or more to produce.
This classic design is called Tribusono, with flaunting peacocks (symbol of love), birds and floral and fauna motifs. They were produced between the 50s and 70s by the saudagaran (merchants). Batiks were originally made for the royalties who had their own 'inhouse' workshop and artists. Traditional motifs such as parang, ceplok and kawung in sogan were only reserved for the kraton (palace).
The Tribusonos were a respond to these restrictions, a collection made outside the kraton for non royals.
Pagi sore means morning and evening. Notice a fine diagonal line in the middle of the kain. The cloth has been made in two different design so you get two in one piece. Usually pagi sore kain is made up of two distinctive design and colours, but in this piece the distinction is subtle, only differentiated by the type of flowers as isen isen (small motifs used as background filler).
Notice the bird motifs on one half of the kain are upside down. This is a common feature in kain panjang. It acts as an instruction on wrapping the cloth. The side with the upside down birds will be folded first, hence showing only the correct birds when fully wrapped as sarong.
*not suitable for upholstery project
**pictures are close representation of the item but not 100% due to different light conditions and viewing screens.