Kawung Sawut

Pattern/Motif Name: Kawung Sawut
Design Format: Hip Wrapper (Kain Panjang) with undyed borders on the narrow ends only.
Provenance: Java, Surakarta
Technique: Hand-drawn wax resist on machine-woven cotton
Dyeing Methods: Natural Dyes, vegetable reddish-brown soga
Dimension: 2.5m x 1.1m

Kawung is a pattern derived from the shape of fruit stylized into four ovals within a square. The cross-design in the center is thought to represent a “universal source of energy,” the whole representing the structure of the universe.

It is an ancient motif. An abstraction of the halved fruits of the sugar palm. Originally one of the Central Javanese forbidden motifs, later used as a background motif in Indo-European cloths.