Unknown Maker, Javanese

The central textile in this case is a Javanese dodot, a royal ceremonial skirt cloth that is more than twice the size of a regular long cloth (kain panjang). All three textiles are patterned with semèn - a conspicuously male iconography with Hindu roots. Part of a group of batik motifs historically reserved for nobility and representing the cosmic realm, its name derives from the Javanese word semi, meaning to sprout. The pattern also includes temple buildings, plant tendrils, and animals, in particular the bird garuda, representative of heaven and earth, and the snake, or naga, symbolizing the mother of the underworld and the creatures of the sea.