Javanese wax-resist batik with the canting
Batik javanés con cera y canting
- Date
- c. siglos XIII-XVII (muy discutido) · confidence low
- Place
- Surakarta and Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia
- Credited to
- Javanese women artisans and courts
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Resist dyeing with beeswax, applied with the canting (a small copper pen) or a stamp, which draws motifs onto cloth before the dye bath. The Javanese version, with motifs coded by rank, is now UNESCO Intangible Heritage (2009).
Wax-resist dyeing is much older in Egypt, China and India; what is specific to Java is the development of the technique with the canting and its motif systems. The date of wax batik in Java is much debated (13th-century statues show similar patterns).
What it led to
- the Java batik textile industry, with the stamp (cap) technique from the mid-19th century
- social differentiation by motif (such as the parang)
- export and adaptation to West African trade in the 19th century