Trousers thumbnail 1
Trousers thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Trousers

early 20th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Batiks (the name given in Indonesia to the process of applying resist-dyed patterns to cloth) are worn in Java by both men and women. They are used by Javanese men in the traditional forms of headcloths (kain kepala) and skirtcloths (kain panjang). Today batik shirts are also very popular.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both the Dutch and the Chinese in Java also wore clothes made from batik patterned cloth. Men relaxed at home in the early morning or evening wearing trousers such as these, which were secured around the waist by a string or belt. These trousers were usually made by cutting cloth from batik patterned waist cloths, but were sometimes made up and then decorated with batik designs. The design of this pair, with its large motifs of a bamboo like plant with lurking peacocks in blues, greens and browns, suggests that they were made at one of the towns on Java's north coast.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Cotton batik, machine sewn
Brief description
Pair of cotton batik trousers, Java, early 20th century
Physical description
Pair of cotton trousers with machine stitching, and with a batik design on a white background. The design consists of two branches of a bamboo-like plant with a variety of flowers branching out from them, and a peacock lurking at each of their bases, all in fawn, brown, green and blue colours. Above and around them flutter butterflies.
Dimensions
  • Outside leg length: 41.25in
  • Inside leg length: 25in
  • Leg bottom width: 8.33in
  • Waist circumference: 43in
Production typeUnique
Production
Made in one of the centres on the north coast of Java
Summary
Batiks (the name given in Indonesia to the process of applying resist-dyed patterns to cloth) are worn in Java by both men and women. They are used by Javanese men in the traditional forms of headcloths (kain kepala) and skirtcloths (kain panjang). Today batik shirts are also very popular.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both the Dutch and the Chinese in Java also wore clothes made from batik patterned cloth. Men relaxed at home in the early morning or evening wearing trousers such as these, which were secured around the waist by a string or belt. These trousers were usually made by cutting cloth from batik patterned waist cloths, but were sometimes made up and then decorated with batik designs. The design of this pair, with its large motifs of a bamboo like plant with lurking peacocks in blues, greens and browns, suggests that they were made at one of the towns on Java's north coast.
Bibliographic reference
The V&A Album, 5, London: 1986 Number: ISBN 1851770771 Swallow, Deborah, A Singular Substitute, pps. 156-164
Collection
Accession number
IS.70-1985

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Record createdMarch 12, 2004
Record URL
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