BATIKS

or shadow silks, the warp, and in some cases, the weft, being dyedwith a pattern before it is woven.

English chini work is produced by block printing on the warpbefore weaving. Owing to the technical character of the process,there is an indistinctness and softness of the pattern, hence the termshadow silk.

The natives of Java are especially expert in the use of a fluidwax as a resist for the production of patterned fabrics. The workis done chiefly by women, who use a bamboo or metal pipe with asmall reservoir, called a tjanting, from which runs liquid wax toprotect the material in the parts not required to be dyed. Thecloth is then dyed, usually in a blue shade, and further designs canbe traced on it, and, after wax protection, these can be dyed inother colours. The whole process is often of the most elaboratekind, and calls for a large number of stages.

These patterned cloths or batiks, as they are termed, aredistinctive in type, and have reached a considerable degree ofexcellence in design and dyeing. Owing to the slight cracking ofthe wax, the design frequently shows a network of fine lines due tothe penetration of the dye.

The colours of these batiks are usually yellow or amber, brown,blue, and black. Plate 85, although showing a Chinese influence, isa representative example of a Javanese batik. Plate 86 is also acharacteristic specimen. These examples are from a finely executedmodern batik, showing the delicate lines and graded effects thatare possible by the use of liquid wax in the hands of the skilfulJavanese women.

Many imitation batiks are now printed by machinery inManchester and exported to Java.

The earliest known examples of printed fabrics have been foundin the Coptic tombs at Panopolis, of the 9th century A.D., one ofwhich has a blue ground and a pattern of white rosettes within atrellis. Numerous examples are printed with figure subjects, and weredoubtless used for hangings in the Greek and Byzantine churches.

Printed fabrics are scarce from this period until the 13thcentury is reached, when many printed linens and silks wereproduced in Germany, the pattern being derived from the earlier orcontemporary woven fabrics.

No. 1, plate 87, is distinctly Sicilian in character, while No. 2 isevidently from a Byzantine origin. Many of these early patternedfabrics were printed in gold or silver on red, blue, or green grounds.

The Rhenish industry of printed fabrics undoubtedly derived

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