CHAPTER IIITHE POSSIBILITIES OF BATIK

At this time of industrial and artistic development Batik dyeing comes to offer a new field for the Arts and Crafts worker.

Today the woman of leisure, as well as the artist, wishes her individuality to be shown in both the furnishings of her home and in her own personal belongings. Batik work helps to supply both these needs. In the first wave of enthusiasm over this work, it seemed as though the need of beautiful form as well as beautiful color was lost sight of. Beautiful color can hardly be avoided with good dyes. The fascination of the color and the dye is such that the need of beautiful shapes was somewhat forgotten at first, and there was a tendency to splash on a design without much regard to beauty of shape or of line and to depend upon the color to make it attractive.

The wonderful possibilities inherent in the process were the only things that saved it in this stage from the fate of stenciling, etc. Batik will rank with the art processes that are always beautiful and in use if the requirements mentioned above are adhered to. One of the chief requirements for success in this craft is a willingness to take time for careful and exact work. A successful piece of Batik must be carefully executed to be of any permanent value. Good craftsmanship is as essential in this as it is in making a good piece of embroidery or painting.

The present American method of Batik dyeing has varied somewhat from the old Javanese. It has become simpler and more direct. Time is of very little value in Java; therefore, the native artists worked without regard for the time spent.

Specimens of Batik work were carried to Holland during the seventeenth century by the Dutch East India Company as one of the interesting products of Java. The work was neither understood nor appreciated at that time, and the lack of appreciation discouraged any further importation. Somewhat later the Dutch artists, Chris Lebeau, Eachet and Dysselhof, appreciating the beauties of this craft, studied it themselves. By their exquisite work they aroused an interest among artists. From Holland the craft spread to France, and to the alert artists of these countries we owe the increased appreciation. The work done in Europe has been applied to interior decorations rather than to costumes. This side has been left to the American designer and artist. The costumes illustrated in this volume are beautiful examples of costume designing in its broadest sense.

Both in Europe and in America considerable experimenting has been done with different kinds of tools. Various European modifications of the tjanting have been tried, but none have been received with much favor. They are, as a rule, heavy and awkward to use in comparison with the Javanese instrument. Some of the leading workers of America and Holland consider the Javanese tjanting the most desirable means of outlining, dotting, etc.

A Dress of velvet Batik by Ethel Wallace

A Batik Silk Scarf, designed and executed by Helen R. Reed, Van Dyck Studios, New York

An interesting Batik Blouse, designed by Anna Tyrell, Art Department, Art Institute of Chicago

A simple, but beautiful Batik Blouse in two tones, by Noank Studio, New York

Two Batik Blouses, by Florence E. Schell, Lima, Ohio

Batik Garment showing interesting treatment of tjanting and brush combined, by Helen R. Reed, Van Dyck Studios, New York

“An American Batik,” by Mary Tannahill, shown at the exhibition of American textiles and costumes, held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. “The decoration on this graceful gown is in the spirit of South Sea Island Art.”

A Batik Robe, by the Noank Studio, New York

One end of a Javanese Sarong. Property of A. B. Lewis

The brush is in much more general use than the tjanting and is preferred by many who have experimented with both. A small red sable, No. 4, is good for outlining. If it seems to carry too much wax or does not point well, let the wax harden and trim off the projecting hairs. A No. 6 to a No. 12 brush will fill in flat surfaces rapidly. With practice, beautiful line work can be done with a small brush. In the beginning, it is safe to wipe off a little of the wax on the side of the cup instead of trying to carry to the cloth all the wax the brush will hold. It is so easy to drop a bit of wax from an overloaded brush and so troublesome to get it off that considerable caution pays. If a brush overloaded with hot wax is set on the cloth, the wax will spread in a drop or blur at the point where the brush touches the cloth, which will make the line irregular. Of course, to have an even flow of wax from the brush, the temperature of the wax must be kept the same. If the worker dips first into wax that is hot and which sinks into the cloth easily and then into wax that is so cool that it stays on top of the cloth and refuses to penetrate the fiber, the finished work will be ragged and uneven about the edges.

While applying the wax the cloth may be held up, free from the table, with the left hand. With small articles this is quite easy. A larger piece can be managed in the same way, but this is not recommended as the very best way. Instead, a wooden frame, adjustable in size at the corners and faced with cloth, to which the material can be either basted or pinned, is advised. With a Batik frame such as described the cloth is held smoothly and firmly in place, making it easy to get good edges and long smooth lines with either a tjanting or brush. If no frame is used great care must be exercised to avoid letting the wax penetrate the cloth and touch anything behind, as it will stick. In lifting it away the wax covering will be torn from the back of the threads. If this is not noticed before dyeing the dye will have a chance to penetrate these fibers and so spoil the clearness of the pattern.

If, in applying, the wax spreads too far over the pattern, it is probably too hot. To remove the overflow, it will probably be necessary to take off a larger space than is exactly needed. This will leave ragged edges, which will need re-waxing. If a drop is spilled in the wrong place while carrying the brush or tjanting, it must be completely removed or the finished product will be marred. This cannot be over-emphasized, as it is usually incompletely done. To remove the wax from a spot or part of a design, lay the spot over an absorbent pad of some kind, such as a soft towel folded. Wet the spot with gasoline, benzine or carbona. Continue wetting and very light rubbing until the wax is completely dissolved and is either absorbed by the cloth with which you have been patting, or the pad below.

Design of a Javanese Sarong. Property of Fay Cooper Cole

Do not pile on more wax in this case, as one may have a lump of wax on top and the cloth still not be protected. Also the lumps often chip off in dyeing, exposing the fiber. Take a knife or any edge and remove the loose wax gently and re-wax. Wax that is too cool will not give a smooth edge to the design. It is easy to tell by looking at the back of the cloth whether the wax has penetrated. A thin silk will allow it to penetrate so easily that the design will be just as clear and distinct on the back as the front. Heavy cloth will need some retouching on the back, probably where brush strokes do not quite meet. Sometimes a drop of wax will seem to penetrate in the middle but will be loose at the edges. This means that the wax is too cool. A little practice will make the right temperature easy to estimate.

Some workers lay the cloth on a glass slab to which the wax will not stick. This cools it before it really penetrates the cloth. Sometimes it is desirable to follow the outline of the pattern with wax before filling in the solid parts. To do this, hold the brush vertically as in drawing any painted brush line. A No. 1 brush is good for very fine lines. In covering a large space, it is sometimes better to begin waxing in the center and work outward toward the edge.

Examples of Batik, done by the students of the Design Department, Art Institute of Chicago

Some means of keeping the wax hot must be provided. It is quite desirable also to be able to regulate the heat, so gas or alcohol, with suitable burners, are really best. A bowl of wax may be set in the top of a tea kettle of boiling water and will hold a good temperature for half an hour without reheating the water. Wax will smoke over a direct heat and will, of course, burn. The bristles of a brush will also burn if left in contact with the bottom of the pan over a direct fire. All bother of this kind is overcome by having the wax in a bowl set in a pan of hot water. Once some small girls who were starting this work allowed the water to splash into the inner bowl. This was afterwards set over the direct flame. There was a grand explosion and spattering of hot wax.

Center panel of a Javanese Sarong. Property of A. B. Lewis

Various wax mixtures have been used successfully. A suitable wax must not scale off, must not get so hard as to crack too freely, and must not be affected by whatever chemicals are found in the dyes or are used as mordants. A beeswax and resin mixture, wax with mastic, paraffin with lard, paraffin and beeswax in varying proportions have all been used successfully. Paraffin alone is rather brittle and produces too much “crackle” in cold weather. Beeswax alone is rather too soft to use in warm weather and not brittle enough if any crackle is desired. Therefore, mixtures of these various substances suggested give a wax that will crackle somewhat but not too much. For the beginner it is safe to buy one of the prepared mixtures on the market and experiment later with the various possible combinations suggested, after becoming thoroughly familiar with the result wanted.

The design must, in some way, be got on the cloth. This is a place where careless work may spoil a beautiful design. The lines on the cloth must be so carefully and clearly made that the brush can follow them without the slightest hesitation. All corrections should be made before the tracing is considered finished and the waxing started. If a mistake is made with the pencil lines, “Carbona” or gasoline will remove the wrong marks. A Conte pencil, No. 2, trimmed to a sharp point, is very satisfactory, especially if the piece is to be dyed several times, as the marks will not brush off as charcoal or chalk lines will. For a simple one-process piece, charcoal sharpened carefully will serve satisfactorily.

If the material to be used is thin, which is desirable for first pieces, the cloth can be pinned carefully on top of the drawing and traced as just explained. If the cloth is too heavy for the lines of the drawing to be seen clearly, the back of the design can be rubbed with charcoal, the design laid carefully in place, charcoal side down. Then with a sharp hard pencil the lines of the drawing may be traced on the right side. When the paper is removed, the design will be on the cloth in charcoal lines. If it is to be dyed in several colors later it will be better to go over the pattern now with the Conte No. 2 very carefully, as the charcoal dusts off easily. Use the pencil lightly but clearly with even lines. The cloth must be pinned or thumb-tacked so firmly that it does not slide over the design. It is a little harder to fasten exceedingly thin material like georgette or voile firmly enough to get a good tracing, so about the weight of medium china silk or thin crepe is the easiest material to begin with.

“The Sheep and the Goats.” A modern Batik Wall Hanging, by Helen R. Reed, the Van Dyck Studios, New York

If a design is to be repeated several times, as would be needed for the border of a curtain, the charcoal rubbing may be the most convenient. The design can be pricked with a pin and powdered charcoal dusted on the smooth upper side of the pattern. The danger in this is that too small a number of points will be pricked to give the design clearly. A better means of doing this is to follow the pattern with a sewing machine after removing the thread and presser foot so that the paper can be turned freely.

Some Batik workers make their design on thin paper which is pinned to the back of the cloth and the latter placed on a frame set against a window at about an angle of 45 degrees. This is somewhat on the principle of the photographers’ retouching frame.

The end of a Table Cover done in one color Batik, the white design being done in wax, and the entire piece then dipped

“The Sorceress.” A Batik Wall Hanging, by Arthur Crisp and Peter Mijer

Detail of a rare Javanese Batik in the American Museum of Natural History, New York

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