Tubular Kirt (Sarong)

Batiks were sometimes produced to commenmorate special events. One popular subject within the Indo-European community was the introduction of new means of transportation. The front or head of this skirt contains a large floral arrangement on a dark red ground. The body shows four views of a European steamship bearing the words "Krakatau Amsterdam" on the side. A 1930 photograph of the Dutch freighter Krakatau, named for the massive volcano that erupted in 1883, confirms it as the likely subject. This is the only batik in the Art Institute of Chicago's 2017 exhibition Batik Textiles of Java whose pattern was not hand drawn but applied with copper stamps (caps), a process that reduced production time but also the quality of workmanship.