Zakaria Ismail putting together the components of a metal batik block.
Thin strips of copper are twisted to the shape of the design, soldered and fixed vertically within a frame attached to a handle.
Traditional Indonesian batik sarongs, and the Malaysian ones that were to reproduce them, have a distinctive pattern structure. The sarong has two principal components, a ‘body’ or badan and a ‘head’ or kepala, both parts enclosed by narrow borders. The badan is the largest part of the cloth and it is interrupted, usually in the middle in Malaysian sarongs, by the kepala, a broad band that occupies a quarter or a third of the sarong and runs vertically down its whole width. By contrast, on unsewn Indonesian sarongs (kain lepas or ‘free cloth’)—as on many other Southeast Asian textiles—the kepala often stretches down one of the unsewn ends. To decorate the specific areas of a sarong, as many as ten cap of different sizes and shapes may be used, but the usual number is six. The larger blocks are used on the badan and kepala of the sarong and the smallest on the borders enclosing the kepala and along the bottom of the cloth.
Preparing the Cloth
The earliest stamped batik was made with finely woven cotton with a tight, evenly woven surface to resist rather than absorb the wax. Initially imported from India and then Europe, most of the cotton after War World II has been purchased from Japan and includes voile, poplin and lawn. Traditionally, preparation of the cloth is the task of men. After being cut into specific lengths, the pieces of cloth are boiled and then rinsed in water to remove any sizing elements such as chalk, lime or starch. A small amount of caustic soda or potassium carbonate may be added to the boiling water to expedite the process.
Waxing
The printer or tukang cap, also known as the tukang terap (terap means ‘to print’ or ‘to engrave’), is responsible not only for stamping the patterns on cloth but also for the preparation of the table and the wax. Cap designs are usually applied by men standing at waist-height square tables, tilted at an angle, which are covered with sheaths of fibres from the trunk of the banana plant that have been softened in water. These sheaths, which are laid lengthwise on the table and levelled, are not only cool and wet to the touch, causing the wax to solidify when pressed on to the cloth laid above, but also allow a soft ‘foundation’ on which to work. Nowadays, to save the time and effort of replacing the banana sheaths once they are dry and shredded, it is not unusual for the tables to be tightly covered with padded cloth or inset with flat, plastic-covered foam cushions.
The wax (lilin) comprises a mixture of beeswax for malleability, paraffin for friability, resin for adhesiveness and used wax (lilin pakai), sometimes mixed with animal fats for greater liquidity. The type of cloth to be printed determines the proportion of ingredients. The molten wax is taken when needed by the batik printer from a centralized vat placed over an open fire pit. It is then kept at a constant temperature in a pan placed over a spirit burner or on top of a circular concrete hearth placed behind and to the right of the printer. Inside the pan is a wad of folded cloth or burlap approximately 30 cm (12 inches) square. Saturated with wax, it serves as a stamp pad. The cap is pressed on to the pad to absorb just enough wax to transfer a neat imprint of the design in wax when it is stamped on to the fabric and to allow it to penetrate the fabric and solidify upon contact with the banana sheath or soft foam padding below.
Patterns are chosen from available samples or are decided in consultation with the client. The usual technique is to place the stamp on the cloth with the right hand and to apply pressure with a sharp jab to the back of the stamp using the left hand; a strip of cloth wound around the palm of the left hand prevents cuts caused from impact with the back of the cap. The process of stamping is repeated row by row, the printer changing cap as the prearranged design requires, until the cloth is completely covered with the wax design.
Experienced tukang cap are able to work with speed, at the same time applying even pressure to each stamp. They also take great care to match the components of the design exactly, the design of the badan meeting precisely the design of the kepala and border without any overlapping. The manual nature of the work—and the speed at which many of the artisans have to work, especially if they are paid for piecework—can, however, lead to overlapping secondary lines, blank spaces and blotches of wax splattering the cloth. Design elements applied earlier may be protected from subsequent stamping by the printer overlaying them with paper replicas of the reserved design.
Steps in the process of making batik cap. From above left: measuring the cloth; dipping the block into the hot wax; stamping the wax pattern on to the cloth using a cap; applying the dyes directly on the cloth with brushes; dipping the cloth in a dye vat; washing the cloth; boiling off the wax; hanging the cloth to dry.
Dyeing
After the initial waxing, the cloth is ready for the first dyeing in one of several wooden or concrete troughs that hold the dye baths. Unlike in the canting or hand-drawn method of batik, in which colours are painted directly on to the cloth with brushes, the cap method requires successive waxing and dipping in dye baths depending on the choice of colours in the design template. Single cloths may be submerged in the dye, swirled around and lifted out with a stick, but to enable the dyeing of several metres of cloth at one time for sale as yardage, a roller method is used to pull the cloth evenly through the dye bath as well as to support the weight of the wet fabric.
After the first immersion, the cloth is dried on a rack or line or spread on the ground outside the workshop, then waxed for a second time to save certain design elements before it is dyed again. The process is repeated depending on the choice of colours to be applied. The wax is then removed in a large metal wok-shaped container filled with boiling water. The hot, boiled cloth may also be slapped against a vertical concrete slab to break off any remaining particles of wax before it is finally washed in detergent and hung out to dry.
The process of waxing and dyeing and the resulting images can be changed by varying the choice and sequence of colours, by using the discharge method of removing colour with an acid bleach or by applying some colours by hand.
Motifs, Meanings and Colours
Regardless of the patterns and motifs observed on the earliest imported Javanese sarongs, the Malays have always been inclined towards motifs derived from the natural world—arabesques and curvilinear or angular foliated shapes modelled after their environment—and these are clearly exhibited in their handwoven kain songket and kain limar as well as in their woodcarving (panels and other architectural elements), metalware (goldwork, silverwork and brassware), weaponry (the keris sheath), embroidery (gold-thread tekatan), fibreware (baskets and mats) and earthenware (cooking pots and water jars). This inclination reflects the environment in which they worked—and continue to work—but it is also the result of generations of cross-cultural influence and the exchange of material goods as well as the Islamic preference for geometric and denaturalized stylization. As Arney says, ‘The