Girih Batik

Batik is the most renowned textile art in Indonesia. The design is applied in the wax-resist method. Wax is painted on, and the fabric is then dyed, the dye adhering to the wax-free area. The wax is then removed with boiling water and the same process is sometimes repeated with a different color. As the she’s seep through the thin cotton ground Batiks are always double sided.

Batik making is famous all over Indonesia with the best pieces originating in Java, where the tradition began. Javanese batiks are typically free from outside influence, due to their inland location. Batiks from more coastal regions employ a vast repertoire of designs derived from indigenous folklore and from the waves of foreign culture that has passed through the archipelago.

This batik has an extremely fine and intricate brushwork. It has three colors – an off-white ground, and designs using indigo and gold. The design resembles Islamic strapwork, or girih, which is an architectural element typically decorating large two dimensional areas such as ceilings or floors. The entire piece consists of horizontal and vertical patterned stripes in the field, with diagonal stripes connecting to octagons. In the octagons sit eight-point stars, and the spaces between the stripes are filled with geometric floral shapes.