Ancient to early modern periods File:Niya batik.jpg|Fragment of dyed textile from
Niya (Tarim Basin), China, 3rd to early 4th century File:Egypt, Byzantine period, 1st half of 6th century - Resist-Dyed Hanging with Biblical Scenes - 1951.400 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Fragment of hanging with Biblical scenes, from Byzantine period Egypt, early 6th century File:Ceremonial Banner from India, possibly 14th century, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG|Ceremonial banner from India, possibly 14th century Batik-like resist dyeing is an ancient art form. It existed in
Egypt in the 4th century BC, where it was used to wrap mummies; linen was soaked in wax, and scratched using a stylus. It continued to be used to the medieval
Byzantine era, although surviving pieces are rare. In Asia, the technique is attested in India, the
Tang dynasty in China, and the
Nara Period in Japan. In Africa it was practiced by the
Yoruba people of Nigeria, as well as by the
Soninke and
Wolof of Senegal. nese
Prajnaparamita statue,
National Museum of Indonesia,
Jakarta The art of batik is highly developed on the island of
Java, Indonesia, although the antiquity of the technique is difficult to determine since batik pieces rarely survive long in the region's tropical climate. The Dutch historians G. G. Rouffaer & H. H. Juynboll argue that the technique might have been introduced during the 6th or 7th century from India or Sri Lanka. The similarities between some traditional batik patterns with clothing details in ancient Hindu-Buddhist statuaries, for example
East Javanese Prajnaparamita, has made some authors attribute batik's creation to Java's Hindu-Buddhist period (8th-16th century AD). Some scholars cautioned that mere similarity of pattern is not conclusive of batik, as it could be made by other non-related techniques. Since the word "batik" is not attested in any pre-Islamic sources, some scholars have taken the view that batik only developed at the end of Java's Hindu-Buddhist period, from the 16th century onward following the demise of
Majapahit kingdom. However, this view has not taken into account the oldest surviving physical Javanese batik piece, which was only identified in 2022. It is a blue-white
valance carbon dated to the 13th or 14th century, which correspond to early Majapahit period. The batik's quality and dating suggest that sophisticated batik techniques already existed at the time, but competed with the more established
ikat textiles. Batik craft further flourished in the Islamic courts of Java in the following centuries. The development of prominent batik types was partly motivated by the desire to replicate prestigious foreign textiles (such as Indian
patola) brought in by the Indian Ocean maritime trade. When the
Dutch East Indies Company began to impose their monopolistic trade practice in 17th century Indonesia, batik cloths was one of the product which stifled their textile sales. Dutch imports of
chintz from the
Coromandel coast could not compete with locally made batik due to their robust production and high quality.
Modern period File:Raffles A Javan Chief in his ordinary dress.jpg|Depiction of early 19th century Javanese citizen wearing batik sarong, from
The History of Java File:Sarong, Northern Java, Indonesia, 1900-1910, cotton - Cincinnati Art Museum - DSC04349.JPG|Sarong in the "coastal" style from northern Javanese coast, early 20th century File:Batik pedalaman - sidha drajat.JPG|Contemporary inland batik from Solo, Indonesia, with
sidha drajat pattern. File:Afrikanische Textilien.jpg|Waxprint fabrics in
Togo, a modern African adaption of Javanese batik Batik technique became more widely known (particularly by Europeans outside of southeast Asia) when the Javanese version was described in
The History of Java, starting the collecting and scholarly interest in batik traditions. In 1873 the Dutch merchant Elie Van Rijckevorsel gave the pieces he collected during a trip to Indonesia to the ethnographic museum in
Rotterdam. Examples were displayed at Paris's
Exposition Universelle in 1900. Today the
Tropenmuseum houses the biggest collection of Indonesian batik in the
Netherlands. In the 19th to early 20th century, Dutch Indo–Europeans and Chinese settlers were actively involved in the production and development of Javanese batik, particularly "coastal" style batik in the northern coast of Java. Scholars such as J.E. Jasper and Mas Pirngadie published books extensively documenting existing batik patterns. These in turn were used by Dutch and Chinese artisans to develop new patterns which blended several cultural influences, and who also introduced innovations such as (copper block stamps) to mass-produce batiks and synthetic dyes which allow brighter colours. Several prominent batik ateliers appeared, such as Eliza van Zuylen (1863–1947) and Oey Soe Tjoen (1901–1975), and their products catered to a wide audience in the
Malay archipelago (encompassing modern Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore). Batik skirts and sarongs for example were widely worn by indigenous, Chinese, and European women of the region, paired with the ubiquitous
kebaya shirt. Batik was also used for more specialized applications, such as
peranakan altar cloth called (). It is in this time period as well that the Javanese batik production spread overseas. In
Subsaharan Africa, Javanese batik was introduced in the 19th century by Dutch and English merchants. It was subsequently modified by local artisans with larger motifs, thicker lines, and more colours into what is now known as
African wax prints. Modern West African versions also use
cassava starch, rice paste, or mud as a resist. In the 1920s, Javanese batik makers migrating to the eastern coast of
Malay Peninsula introduced batik production using stamp blocks. Many traditional ateliers in Java collapsed immediately following the Second World War and
Indonesian wars of independence, but many workshops and artisans are still active today creating a wide range of products. They still continue to influence a number of textile traditions and artists. In the 1970s for example, batik was introduced to
Australia, where aboriginal artists at
Ernabella have developed it as their own craft. The works of the English artist
Thetis Blacker were influenced by Indonesian batik; she had worked in Yogyakarta's Batik Research Institute and had travelled in Bali. == Techniques ==