Batiked wraparound skirt

A batiked wrapskirt with the tambal pattern. Tambal means: patch, up or down (Jasper and Mas Pirngadie, 1916: 143). This motif is formed by triangles in each segment of which traditional Pasisir (north coast of Java) motifs are applied on a cocohan (the wax layer is punctured, creating tiny dots). This blue and white kain panjang kepala tumpal, which indicates the presence of half kepala (head) with traditional tumpal (triangular motif) at each end. The kain panjang was the official attire of the royal courts of Central Java and of the aristocracy elsewhere. Men wear these cloths differently from women and the way they are wrapped depends on the social status of the wearer. Kain panjangs with half a kepala used to be worn by free women, whereas slaves wore a sarung with a complete kepala in the middle of the badan (van Hout, 2001). In Lasem, much of the batik was intended for export to Sumatra (van Hout, 2001). This cloth was destined for the local market and for export.‖ Old examples of tambal batiks show motifs that are very reminiscent of motifs on Indian trade cloths (Maxwell, 2003, p.148). The triangles can combine to form a larger motif. This motif is associated with patchwork patterns. \In Central Java, this pattern, batiked on a kain panjang (hip cloth), is only worn by young aristocratic women during certain court rituals. On the north coast of Java, where this pattern is also worn outside court circles, it has no special significance. \There are several versions as to the origin of the patchwork pattern. The magical powers of the pattern could be traced back to the clothes of shamans in Mongolia which consisted of patches of fabric sewn together. Also in the Hindu tradition (with Buddhist and animistic elements) of the Tengereese in East Java, priests in the past wore clothes of old pieces of cloth, and in more recent times batiks with the tambal pattern. They indicated that they rejected any form of earthly luxury. Photo 60032537 shows a group of priests from Tengger wearing patchwork jackets that they called Ontokusumo (which is another spelling of Antakusuma). Similar was the clothing of Sufi followers who dressed in multicolored patchwork after three years of initiation, also to emphasize the idea of a life of poverty (Baker 2004, pp. 184,185).‖ Wrap skirt with motifs applied in the batik technique. Batik is a textile decoration technique, called a reserve technique, where hot wax is applied to a cloth in patterns using a wax pen (canting) or a copper stamp (cap). The cloth is dipped in a dye bath so that no dye can penetrate the covered parts and that part remains unpainted after the wax is removed. When a cloth is desired in several colours, this process is repeated.