The Masterpieces of Batik Peranakan Made by Yap Loen Tik Workshop

Yap Loen Tik (Indonesia, Java)
Woman’s Hip Wrapper (Sarung), circa 1930
Textile, Hand-drawn wax resist (batik) on machine-woven cotton, synthetic indigo, stamped signature, 42 x 78 1/8 in. (106.7 x 198.5 cm)
Inger McCabe Elliott Collection (M.91.184.266)

The design may well have been made with modernization in mind, but the men on patrol and the patrol boats can also be seen as a variation of the Perang Lombok. In spite of the thoroughly Western subjects, the design implicity incorporates the three traditional Javanese realms—sky (airplanes), land (trees and human beings), and seat (boats)—that together constitute the universe (Panembahan Hardjonegoro, oral communication, Surakarta, Jan 1995). This feature transforms the scene into a present-day cosmological concept. Cloths of this type were used by a varied group of Indo-Europeans, Peranakan Chinese, and possibly others all over the archipelago.