The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-04-15

W 6SHIuStDus II. u, April IL
That batik will soon be accepted
! as an art in this country is prophe-
sled by j. P. Neigh, batik maker
OF this city.
Most of us have seen vivid sam
Piles of batik, which we were told
were made by drawing a design on
material with wax and dipping the
piece in dye to color the part un-
protected by wax. We understood
that this was high Javanese art
and that taste for it should be
cultivated.
Now, it seems, the most startling
outbursts of color are not neces-
sarily the most admirable. In fact,
they represent an early phase of
American batik makers attempts
at dyeing in the Javanese fashion.
Until recently, Mr.. Neigh says,
the fate Of batik in this country
has hung in the balance Artists
and connoisseurs waited to see il
flashy, futuristic designs, displayed
as typically Javanese batik, would
be replaced by more subtle work.
There was danger, too, of batik be-
coming a porch fad, like basketry
to befall, and batik were to be
made by persons with no under
standing Of technique, color, or de-
sign, then the process would be
permanently relegated to the plane
of fancy work. 1t would have its
day of favor and retire.
Luckily for batik and its defend
ers, its production has proved a
little difficult and too exacting to
attract many faddists. Luckily,
too, craftsmen who were turning
out smocks, scarfs and lampshades
in hashed rainbow effects eventu-
ally began to absorb Javanese ira
ditions, which called for softer COL
ors and clean cut lines. The sue
cess OF our most skilled batikers is
indicated by the fact that they often
receive orders for their work
abroad.
Craekle Effects Passing.
A recent exhibition of batik
dresses made by a New York art
list was a surprise even to some
visitors who talked learnedly of
crackle effects and admired the
right points in the designs. The
thing that surprised them was that
these dresses were suitable for
wear on the street. In most cases,
only the sleeves were decorated
with the dyed designs, and the
clear patterns in beautiful color
combinations were no more con-
spicuous than trimmings of deli
cately figured printed silks would
have been. This, it was agreed,
was a standard for American batik.
In this exhibition there was very
little of the popular crackle effect,
produced by letting the wax on
design crack so that the colors ran
through it in thin veins. Crackle
has been so prevalent in American
batiks that many people regard it
as a sure test of real batik. The
Javanese, however, regard crack
ing of the wax as a flaw, because
it may occur without the artists
wish if the cloth is not handled
with care to prevent the wax from
breaking. Javanese dyers use the
effect only occasionally when the
design is in colors that do not har-
monte readily, and so used, it is
undoubtedly artistic.
For centuries, Javanese natives
have been decorating their cloth
ing with painstaking care, using
this method of wax dying. The
method has been often described.
The most important processes are
the waxing of the design and the
dipping.
Ordinarily, little pipe-like tool.
called a tjanting, is used for wax
ing. The bowl of the tjanting is
filled with melted wax and the in
strument is guided over the ma
terial SO that from a tiny spout in
the bowl wax is poured out in the
lines or figures Of the pattern.
Javanese Process Reversed.
The Javanese dip their materials
in the darker color first, and re-
move a color where it is not want