Kain Panjang (Hip Wrapper)

Textiles

Mid–20th century

Pekalongan, Java, Indonesia

During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, which lasted from 1942 to 1945, workshops run by Chinese-Javanese (Peranakan) owners developed a new style that added a profusion of floral motifs to the already popular “morning-late afternoon” pattern type. Patterns were organized into two distinct zones—one based on vertical line, the other on diagonal—so that the garment could be rewrapped to show a different pattern suitable for evening wear.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Title: Kain Panjang (Hip Wrapper)
Place: Java (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1925–1975
Medium: Cotton, plain weave; hand-drawn wax resist dyed (batik tulis)
Inscriptions: Inscription: BASMELEH ALFRAT
Dimensions: 235 × 107 cm (92 1/2 × 42 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of E. M. Bakwin Indonesian Textile Collection
Reference Number: 2002.973

Brigette Khan Majlis, The Art of Indonesian Textiles: The E. M. Bakwin Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, published in conjunction with the exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 33, 2 (2007): 65, cat. 30.

Art Institute of Chicago, Galleries 108-109, The Art of Indonesian Textiles: The E. M. Bakwin Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, Dec. 1, 2007–Mar. 2, 2008, cat. 30.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Batik Textiles of Java, Apr. 21-Sept. 17, 2017, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Fabricating Fashion, Aug. 20, 2022–Jan. 2, 2023, no. cat.

E.M. (Pete) Bakwin, Chicago, IL, by 2002 [E.M. Bakwin Collection of Indonesian Textiles inventory EMB-1036; incoming permanent receipt RX23940, Jan. 22, 2003; copies in curatorial object file, Textiles Department]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2002.

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