a fish, the top border containing a meandering vine, the bottom border a row of triangles.
A small selection of stamped motifs created from among the 500 metal batik blocks displayed in the En Bloc exhibition at the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, in 2009, and in the accompanying exhibition catalogue.
Made of strips of copper, brass or zinc, metal waxing stamps range in size from 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inches) to 5 x 10 cm (2 x 4 inches) and consist of entire design units.
Floral motifs predominate on metal blocks, which are often a work of art in themselves.
The structure of a sarong showing the decorative kepala (head), the badan (body) and the narrow borders that enclose these elements.
Tools
The most essential tools in batik cap are, of course, the waxing stamps or cap. Evocatively termed sarang bunga or ‘flower nest’, the stamps consist of entire design units made of strips of brass or zinc plate twisted to the shape of the design and set upright within a frame attached to a curved iron handle soldered to the reverse side; the copper stamps initially imported from Java were considered too heavy to handle. A piece of cloth is usually wound around the handle to provide padding. Made either by specialist stamp makers (tukang blok) in home-based, family-operated batik stamp factories or in independent workshops, the cap vary in shape and dimension but for ease of handling rarely exceed 24 cm in any direction. Most Malaysian cap range in size from 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inches) to 10 x 15 cm (4 x 6 inches) to as small as 5 x 10 cm (2 x 4 inches). Many of the stamps, crafted with intricate motifs, are works of art in themselves. However, the process of making them demands a certain degree of stylization, just as it does in handwoven textiles like kain songket because of the inability of both processes to create smooth curves and absolute realism. In contrast, in hand-drawn batik, motifs like blossoms may appear more realistic and fluid.
The Art of the Metal Block
Zakaria Ismail has been making batik blocks for almost four decades, apart from a few years in the mid-1980s when he dabbled in batik making. He started learning the art when he was twelve years old from a villager. Belying the simple tools of his trade—cutters, pliers and chisels, a soldering iron, rolls of sheet tin or brass, wire and a table to work on—a cap requires great skill and precision on the part of the metal craftsman. Many of the stamps, crafted with intricate motifs, are beautiful works of art, and are sturdy enough to be used repeatedly for many years.
Zakaria starts by drawing the design of the required stamp on a piece of paper. He then cuts 3-cm-wide strips off the thin copper sheets and positions them vertically over the paper in the shape of the design using a small pincer. Nails driven into the table along the sides of the strips hold the strips in place. He next painstakingly solders the assembled strips together; smaller pieces of wire are used for dots. Once the entire design unit is complete, it is filed with a chisel to make it completely level. Zakaria then fixes it vertically within a sturdy open metal frame of the same material before finally attaching a curved iron handle. Each block takes about three days to complete.
Today, Zakaria is passing on the tradition of batik block making to the next generation by taking on interns from Kraftangan. The tradition, however, is in jeopardy due to more efficient technology and modern batik processes such as brush painting and silk-screen printing, as well as a lack of interest among young people to learn this art. Limited demand for the blocks comes from corporations and agencies who like to commission their own personalized designs. There is also a revival of interest in making wax-stamped batik among young textile designers.
Zakaria Ismail putting together the components of a metal batik block.
Thin strips of copper are twisted to the shape of the design, soldered and fixed vertically within a frame attached to a handle.
Traditional Indonesian batik sarongs, and the Malaysian ones that were to reproduce them, have a distinctive pattern structure. The sarong has two principal components, a ‘body’ or badan and a ‘head’ or kepala, both parts enclosed by narrow borders. The badan is the largest part of the cloth and it is interrupted, usually in the middle in Malaysian sarongs, by the kepala, a broad band that occupies a quarter or a third of the sarong and runs vertically down its whole width. By contrast, on unsewn Indonesian sarongs (kain lepas or ‘free cloth’)—as on many other Southeast Asian textiles—the kepala often stretches down one of the unsewn ends. To decorate the specific areas of a sarong, as many as ten cap of different sizes and shapes may be used, but the usual number is six. The larger blocks are used on the badan and kepala of the sarong and the smallest on the borders enclosing the kepala and along the bottom of the cloth.
Preparing the Cloth
The earliest stamped batik was made with finely woven cotton with a tight, evenly woven surface to resist rather than absorb the wax. Initially imported from India and then Europe, most of the cotton after War World II has been purchased from Japan and includes voile, poplin and lawn. Traditionally, preparation of the cloth is the task of men. After being cut into specific lengths, the pieces of cloth are boiled and then rinsed in water to remove any sizing elements such as chalk, lime or starch. A small amount of caustic soda or potassium carbonate may be added to the boiling water to expedite the process.
Waxing
The printer or tukang cap, also known as the tukang terap (terap means ‘to print’ or ‘to engrave’), is responsible not only for stamping the patterns on cloth but also for the preparation of the table and the wax. Cap designs are usually applied by men standing at waist-height square tables, tilted at an angle, which are covered with sheaths of fibres from the trunk of the banana plant that have been softened in water. These sheaths, which are laid lengthwise on the table and levelled, are not only cool and wet to the touch, causing the wax to solidify when pressed on to the cloth laid above, but also allow a soft ‘foundation’ on which to work. Nowadays, to save the time and effort of replacing the banana sheaths once they are dry and shredded, it is not unusual for the tables to be tightly covered with padded cloth or inset with flat, plastic-covered foam cushions.
The wax (lilin) comprises a mixture of beeswax for malleability, paraffin for friability, resin for adhesiveness and used wax (lilin pakai), sometimes mixed with animal fats for greater liquidity. The type of cloth to be printed determines the proportion of ingredients. The molten wax is taken when needed by the batik printer from a centralized vat placed over an open fire pit. It is then kept at a constant temperature in a pan placed over a spirit burner or on top of a circular concrete hearth placed behind and to the right of the printer. Inside the pan is a wad of folded cloth or burlap approximately 30 cm (12 inches) square. Saturated with wax, it serves as a stamp pad. The cap is pressed on to the pad to absorb just enough wax to transfer a neat imprint of the design in wax when it is stamped on to the fabric and to allow it to penetrate the fabric and solidify upon contact with the banana sheath or soft foam padding below.
Patterns are chosen from available samples or are decided in consultation with the client. The usual technique is to place the stamp on the cloth with the right hand and to apply pressure with a sharp jab to the back of the stamp using the left hand; a strip of cloth wound around the palm of the left hand prevents cuts caused from
