[MR] Batik

[Tom Rettie]

Duchess Simone wrote:

>There is a portrait in Janet Arnold's "Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe
>Unlock'd" of the Tasburgh family dated 1605. On page 35, a detail of the
>painting shows  young boy in what appears to be an Ikat doublet and
>breeches. Janet Arnold states "they are wearing doublets and petticoats in
>a cream silk with a brown, red and yellow streaked pattern which also
>appears to be an ikat fabric. As there was both diplomatic and commercial
>contact between Elizabethan England and Persia, it is possible that the
>'Armada' portrait ribbons and the silk worn by the Tasburgh children came
>from a Persian source." page 34. So there is documentary evidence of a
>European (late period) possible use of Ikat. I've often thought it would
>be very interesting to try and find an Ikat like this one to make a very
>bold Elizabethan out of....

I share Her Grace's interest in the portrait of the Tasburgh family, and
have also thought it would be way too much fun to have an Elizabethan gown
cut from a similar fabric.

But the original poster was asking about batik, rather than ikat.  Although
both ikat and batik are resist dyeing techniques, they otherwise have very
little in common.

Batik involves applying hot wax to a woven fabric surface.  The designs
produced are typically representative; flowers, birds, that kind of thing.
Ikat involves tying off sections of a skein of thread, dyeing the thread,
and then weaving it into geometric patterns.  There are a few examples of
kasuri (Japanese ikat) with representative designs--I've seen an amazing
fisherman's coat with an overall pattern of carp--but they are not typical
of the craft.

The real distinction between batik and ikat is in the finished product.
Batiks are usually very smooth, with extraordinarily crisp designs.  Ikats,
in contrast, appear as soft designs with imprecise outlines on
comparatively coarse-textured fabric.

In terms of history, batik and ikat are both ancient techniques.  Batik
dates to at least the 8th century, according to the Batik Society of the
UK, and ikat to the 6th century, at the latest.  And although they are
typically described as having originated in Java and India respectively,
there is evidence to suggest that both techniques were used widely
throughout the Far East before Western colonization.

I am, however, unaware of any documentation supporting the use of batiks in
Western Europe during our period.  So I must echo Baroness Magdalena's
recommendation and say, if you want to do batik, go right ahead.  But your
final product should be more representative of a Far Eastern culture than
the West.

Elisabeth MacAlester


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Tom Rettie                                         tom at his.com
Heather Bryden                                 bryden at hers.com
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