Javanese Indonesian Batik

Batik headcloth (Iket Kepala) with Stylised Moth (Kupu-Kupu) Motifs

dimensions: 105cm x 105cm

This man’s headcloth is large at more than a metre square. It is decorated against a dark blue ground with orange-brown stylised moth (kupu-kupu) motifs. It has a ‘rib of the palm sugar’ border (kemada sada aren) and a central plain lozenge called a modang (mirror). The modang motif is indigenous to central Javanese batiks. Surakata (Solo) is a likely place of manufacture.

Overall, this is a very striking batik in excellent condition.

This textile has been professionally conserved and currently has been mounted, again professionally, on an acid-free backing and is beneath a custom-made plastic frame. The textile can be shipped with or without the frame and casing. The framing was undertaken while the textile was with Lehman Brothers where it was part of that company’s corporate art collection. The textile was sold in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008. A Lehman Brothers collection label is attached to the reverse of the frame.

Lehman Brothers Corporate Collection

Barnes, R., & M. Hunt Kahlenberg (eds), Five Centuries of Indonesian Textiles: The Mary Hunt Kahlenberg Collection, Delmonico Books, 2010.