Man's skirt cloth (Kain panjang) of hand-painted and wax-resist dyed cotton, Surakarta, 19th century

Man's skirt cloth (Kain panjang) of cotton hand-painted and dyed by the wax-resist process (batik) in brown and dark blue on a buff-coloured ground. The pattern consists of repetitions of a motive composed of herringbone, scale motives and spear-point on a closely imbricated ground.

Given by Sir M.E. Sadler C.B., K.C.S.I. through the National Art Collections Fund

Note in the acquisiton register, "In a letter dated 27th June, 1921, Sir Michael Sadler wrote to Mr. Kendrick, Keeper of Textiles, as follows: "..I wonder whether you would care to have the Javanese Batiks and the Malayan warp-dyed fabrics as a gift to the Museum through the National Art Collections Fund? They were all collected by a Dutch lady for a Dutch Museum. But, owing to the war, she was marooned in Calcutta and I got the collection."

Given by Sir M.E. Sadler C.B., K.C.S.I. through the National Art Collections Fund . This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.

R.P. 1921-4313

IM.267-1921