Asian Textiles: Textiles of Indonesia
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Waist Cloth (Sarong) with Flowers, Birds, and Animals, 19th–20th century
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 13
May 30, 2023 (Tue) - August 20, 2023 (Sun)This gallery currently features the many striking textile techniques of the islands of Indonesia, with special emphasis on batik, a wax-resist dying technique. There are two techniques to make batik cloth. One is to draw patterns of beeswax lines directly on cotton cloth using a tool called a canting. The other is to stamp repeating patterns onto cotton cloth using a beeswax-coated copper stamp called a cap. Once the designs are marked in beeswax, the cloth is dipped in indigo blue, madder red, or sogan brown dye and only the wax-covered portions remain white. In addition to batik cloths, this gallery is also displaying Indonesian textiles for use in celebratory ceremonies featuring warp ikat, glittering songket (supplementary weft patterning in metallic threads), and brocade.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Highlight | Formal Waist Cloth ("Dodot") with Garuda and Flowering Plants | Central Java, Indonesia | Start of the 20th century | TI-349-9 | |||
| Highlight | Waist Cloth (Sarong) with Flowers, Birds, and Animals | Pekalongan, northern coast of Java, Indonesia | 19th–20th century | TI-252 | |||
| Highlight | Ceremonial Cloth ("Palepai") with Trees and a Boat | Krui, Sumatra, Indonesia | 20th century | TI-291 | |||
| Highlight | Wall Decoration with Scenes from a Hindu Narrative | Bali, Indonesia | 20th century | TI-300 | |||
| Highlight | Cloth ("Hinggi Kombu") with Human Heads and Animals | Sumba, Indonesia | 19th century | TI-365 |