Unknown Maker, Javanese

Before cloth made of fine machine-spun cotton yarns was imported from India and Holland, locally made cloth from hand-spun cotton yarns was most often used for batiks. Since the hand-spun yarns tended to be thicker and have more imperfections (slubs), the locally made cloth had a rougher surface. This made it impossible to draw finely detailed designs or to control perfectly the absorption of dyes. Although this textile probably dates from the late 19th century, its crude patterning and coarse texture illustrate the problems faced by early batik artists.