About us

Batik

Batik is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth, or cloth made using this technique, originated from Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a tjanting, or by printing the resist with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colours are desired.

The tradition of batik making is found in various countries; the batik of Indonesia, however, may be the best-known. Indonesian batik made in the island of Java has a long history of acculturation, with diverse patterns influenced by a variety of cultures, and is the most developed in terms of pattern, technique, and the quality of workmanship.

Wax resist dyeing of fabric is an ancient art form. It already 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. In Asia, the technique was practised in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), and in India and Japan during the Nara Period (645-794 AD). In Africa it was originally practised by the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria, Soninke and Wolof in Senegal. These African version however, uses cassava starch or rice paste, or mud as a resist instead of beeswax.

The art of batik is most highly developed in the island of Java in Indonesia. In Java, all the materials for the process are readily available — cotton and beeswax and plants from which different vegetable dyes are made. Indonesian batik predates written records: G. P. Rouffaer argues that the technique might have been introduced during the 6th or 7th century from India or Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the Dutch archaeologist J.L.A. Brandes and the Indonesian archaeologist F.A. Sutjipto believe Indonesian batik is a native tradition, since other regions in Indonesia such as Toraja, Flores, Halmahera, and Papua, which were not directly influenced by Hinduism, have an age-old tradition of batik making.

Rouffaer reported that the gringsing pattern was already known by the 12th century in Kediri, East Java. He concluded that this delicate pattern could be created only by using the canting, an etching tool that holds a small reservoir of hot wax, and proposed that the canting was invented in Java around that time.^[The carving details of clothes worn by East Javanese Prajnaparamita statues from around the 13th century show intricate floral patterns within rounded margins, similar to today’s traditional Javanese jlamprang or ceplok batik motif. The motif is thought to represent the lotus, a sacred flower in Hindu-Buddhist beliefs. This evidence suggests that intricate batik fabric patterns applied with the canting existed in 13th-century Java or even earlier.

In Europe, the technique was described for the first time in the History of Java, published in London in 1817 by Stamford Raffles, who had been a British governor for Bengkulu, Sumatra. In 1873 the Dutch merchant Van Rijckevorsel gave the pieces he collected during a trip to Indonesia to the ethnographic museum in Rotterdam. Today the Tropenmuseum houses the biggest collection of Indonesian batik in the Netherlands. The Dutch and Chinese colonists were active in developing batik, particularly coastal batik, in the late colonial era. They introduced new patterns as well as the use of the cap (copper block stamps) to mass-produce batiks. Displayed at the Exposition Universelle at Paris in 1900, the Indonesian batik impressed the public and artists.

In the 1920s, Javanese batik makers migrating to Malaya (now Malaysia) introduced the use of wax and copper blocks to its east coast.

In Subsaharan Africa, Javanese batik was introduced in the 19th century by Dutch and English traders. The local people there adapted the Javanese batik, making larger motifs with thicker lines and more colours. In the 1970s, batik was introduced to Australia, where aboriginal artists at Erna Bella have developed it as their own craft.

This is our history

1923

Batik Sida Mukti Was Founded In 1923 In Yogyakarta By Ny. Kwee Hok Gwan (ALM), With Traditional Batik Production

1948-1949

1948 Boyongan to the Jatinegara Region, East Jakarta
In 1949, Begin the First Business By Producing Sogan Black Batik.

1955

Prof. Tjan Tjoe Siem, Islamic Law Expert and Sinologist UI Jakarta named “Sida Mukti” as a trademark and “Grudo” as its logo. In 1955, he participated in an Exhibition at the Asia Africa Conference in Bandung

1959

Mrs. Kartika Sanjoto was the youngest daughter. Kwee Hok Gwan continues the management of Sida Mukti Batik which is widely known as “Ganefo” Batik

1962

Boyongan returned from Jatinegara to Tebet and Menteng Atas, because the place would be made a “Jakarta By Pass.”

1972

In accordance with developments, the Batik Shirt became the Official Dress for Ceremonies, parties and Schools, in connection with these developments Batik Sida Mukti began developing the Laseman Pattern and Patterns of the North Coast of Java

1989

Even 40 years (5 Windu) Batik Sida Mukti, also complete the collection such as Classical and Traditional Batik for fabrics, materials, tablecloths of various sizes, pillowcases and various household items.

Present day

Batik Sida Mukti in making Batik is very concerned about the value of its art, the Batik Stamp that we make with a two-sided stamp (the same back face) as if the two batik we made are like the Written Batik.

Our products

As for our current production, we offer quite a lot, ranging from apparel to Men, Women, Household items such as various sizes of tablecloths, Pillowcases, Servets, Dinnerser, Loper and we also prepare fabrics, sarongs, scarves, shawls, scarves and souvenirs.