Traditional Indian Textiles - Part IV [1]ArtClothMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below, the other posts in this series:
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part I
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part II
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part III
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part IV

Introduction [1]
The earliest textile finds were made at Mohenjo-daro, an archaeological site of the third millennium BC on the Indus River.

The Indus River is located in Asia, originating in the Himalayas and flowing through north-western India and along the length of Pakistan to empty into the Arabian Sea. The river basin spans Pakistan, India, China, and Afghanistan.

Archaeological ruins at Moenjo-daro, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

At that site, woven and madder-dyed cotton fragments wrapped round a silver pot had been preserved by the metallic salts that impregnated the cloth. The use of madder dye made fast with a mordant and the presence of dye vats at the sight, testify to an advanced understanding of the process of color mixing on cloth, and relief-carved stone sculpture from the dig clearly depicts figures draped with patterned cloth. Spindles were found at Mohenjo-daro and used, most probably to wind weft threads when working at a wooden loom; the presence of bronze needles at the site suggests that this Bronze-Age civilization embellished its woven cloth with embroidery or supplementary threadwork on the loom. From this evidence we may surmise that some peoples of the sub-continent were at least two, perhaps three millenia in advance of the European world in the preparation and use of cotton and mordanted dyestuff.

Traditional Indian Textiles - Part IV [1]

A young girl of the Meghwal caste tassel-making in Hodka village in Banni Kutch.

Goat-hair belt made using the split-ply method - from west Rajasthan.

Ishwar Singh, of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, preparing a split-ply camel girth of goat hair.

'Dharaniyo' (cover for a pile of quilts), with floral designs and an embroidered border, made by the Ahir herders in Kutch. The central field is of 'roghan' work (the design is printed on with a mixture of thickened oil and pigment).

The three images below are 'Chaklas' (i.e., square hangings).

Made by the Rabari of Kutch.

Made by the Bharwad, or the Charan, Saurashtra.

A Ganesh chakla made by the Ahir herders, Saurashtra.

Double and single-ikat cotton 'sakapar' sari, with detailed border.

From Sambalpur District, Orissa.

Reference:
[1] Traditional Indian Textiles, John Gillow and Nicholas Barnard, Thams and Hudson, London (1993) ISBN 0-500-27709-5.

The Art of Aubrey Beardsley - Part I [1]Artist's ProfileMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts featuring Aubrey Beardsley:
Art Nouveau - Part I
Art Nouveau and Symbolism of the 1890s
The Art of Aubrey Beardsley - Part I

Introduction [1]
The art of Aubrey Beardsley is hors concours. Indeed, has not Max Beerbohm, born the same month and year, said he belongs to 'The Beardsley period'? He said that ironically, after Bearsdley had been dead for a half a century.
Note: Sir Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) was an English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist. Known for his sharp wit and refined style, he captured the absurdities of the late Victorian and Edwardian literary scenes. Walter Sickert (1860–1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who helped bridge the gap between Impressionism and Modernism.

Aubrey Beardsley.

It is this paradox that makes it hard to classify Beardsley. He is modern, yet he died before Walter Sickert or Augustus John had been heard of by the general public.

His work belongs, perhaps, to that rare kind of limbo of the aesthetic atmosphere to which might be assigned the Preludes to Wagner's Operas, the pencil heads of John, the paintings of Wilem Maris or of Leonardo, some piano music of Chopin, the poetry of Keats and the Fête Champêtre of Watteau. The cold purity of their perfection seems to ban the emotion they arouse.

Portrait of Wilem Maris by Floris Arntzenius.

Like Aeschylus and Mr. Williams (renowned scholar) he has indeed "created the taste by which he is enjoyed." His art was new at the time of its making, it is still new today, although more familiar to us: he created that taste for his work that we, the onlookers, admire. His followers, or rather his imitators, have never really grasped his essential quality, namely, the cold, clear, biting line, the perfection of balance in his design, his amazing economy of beautiful detail, his daring use of black and white mass, and his unerring instinct for correct values.

That such rare and important qualities should be found altogether in one draftsman is most unusual. But they should be allied to great intelligence, a ready wit, a sardonic humour and an erotic temperament is probably unique.

It is this alliance of craftsmanship and character that makes Beardsley at once so easy and so difficult to criticize. Every drawing of his maturity gives evidence of his individual way of looking at a subject, whether it be a Victorian interior, a Greek play, an eighteenth century poem, at woman looking at some books, an early seventeenth-century satire, or an airy nothing - an armour being interred in a powder box by a pierrot and a satyr.

Besides his extreme youth and maturity, another paradox is noticeable. He was most sensitive to the zeitgeist (i.e., spirit of time) of later British Victorians. Not a foible, fashion or custom was missed by that acute mind: the Burne-Jones craze, the yellow-backed French novel, the Japanese print, the whistler nocturne and the Whistler leacock room. He saw the uproarious posters of Chéret, the poster-like lithographs of Toulouse-Lautrec, the woodcuts of Charles Rickettes, the garish gaslit London streets that Jack the Ripper roamed. He heard the mot (i.e., young girl) of Oscar and the gibe of Jimmy at the critics.

Gaslit London streets that Jack the Ripper roamed.

All these, and a dozen other tricks and fancies, he observed and transmuted into his own design and made something as distinct as a Chinese bronze of the Warring States, or a modern ballet in his time by Massine.

In "Les Presages" Massine visualizes the music in his dynamic use of sculptural groupings and fluid, lyrical adagios.

The Art of Aubrey Beardsley - Part I [1]

Title: The Kiss of Judas.
Comment [1]: From the Pall Mall Magazine, July 1893. One of two drawings he made for this periodical.

Title: The Woman in the Moon, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. The drawing has little connection with the play. A caricature of Wilde in the moon.

Title: The Peacock Skirt, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. The drawing strongly influenced by the Japanese print through Whistler's Peacock Room.

Title: The Black Cape, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. The drawing has no connection with the play and is a caricature of the fashion of the period.

Title: A Platonic Lament, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. A caricature of Oscar Wilde appears in the sky.

Title: John and Salome, 1893.
Comment [1]: Intended for Salome but suppressed. It was published in later editions.

Title: Enter Herodias, 1893.
Comment [1]: For Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. First state hitherto unpublished. A caricature of Wilde in the foreground. In the original drawing the right-hand figure was nude, as here, and the artist afterwards drew a fig-leaf for the published drawing. On some proofs of the First State he wrote:

'Because "on" figure was undressed
This little drawing was supressed,
It was unkind, but never mind,
Perhaps it was all for the best.

Title: The Eyes of Herod, 1893. From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894.
Comment [1]: Another drawing influenced by Whistler's Peacocok Room, and with a butterfly in the top left corner. Wilde is again caricatured.

Reference:
[1] The Best of Beardsley, R.A. Wlker, Spring Books, Great Britain (1948).

Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part III [1]Wearable ArtMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series on Chinese textiles:
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Brocade Collection - Part I
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Tapestry Collection - Part I
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Tapestry Collection - Part II
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Embroidery Collection - Part I
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Brocade Collection - Part II
Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part I
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part I
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part II
Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part II
Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part III

Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part III [1]
After 1840, China entered the modern era. Coastal cities, especially metropolises such as Shangai, with their mixed population of foreign and native residents, led the change towards western style under the influence of European and American fashion trends. Industrialization in textile weaving and dyeing in the West brought about the import of low cost materials, gradually replacing domestic materials made in traditional ways. Fashionable and intricately-made ready-to-wear garments in 'western' styles found their way onto the Chinese market, and large-scale, machine operated dress-making, became more popular than the time-consuming traditional techniques of hand rolling, bordering, inlay and embroidery.

At the end of the 19th Century, sewing machines imported from western countries had already been used in the traditional clothing industry.

Looking back at the twentieth-century Chinese clothing, we see a wide array of styles of qipao, cheongsam, the Sun Yet-sen uniform, student uniforms, western suits, hats, silk stockings, high heels, lenin jackets, military uniforms, bell-bottoms, flairs, jeans, mini-skirts, bikinis, punk styles, "Guochao" or "National Tide," which fuses traditional Chinese elements with contemporary designs of everyday wear. Key trends included the revival of traditional garments like hanfu and cheongsam, integrated with modern details such as unique tailoring, embroidery, and new materials. This movement reflected a growing national pride and a desire to blend cultural heritage with modern aesthetics.

The qipao now regarded as the typical Chinese dress style, only became popular in the 1920s. Originating as Manchurian woman's dress, incorporating Han clothing techniques and styles of twentieth century western dresses, it has now evolved into a major fashion item within the international fashion industry.

Floral pattern, jacquard silk satin long Qipao.

China is a country made up of fifty-six ethnic groups that have continually interacted, and have undergone continuous transformation in dress style and customs.

The traditional image of a Chinese worker wearing a front closure Chinese jacket.

Students of Beijing University, wearing Scottish-checked skirts in the 1950s.

Fashionable young people on the streets in Beijing.

Style distinctions are not only evident between different dynasties, but are also quite pronunced, even in different periods within the same dynasty. The defining characteristics of Chinese clothing are bright colors, skilled craftsmanship, and ornate detail.

Modern Cheongsam Jacket.

Diversity in style can be seen between different ethnic groups, living environments, local customs, lifestyles as well as aesthetic tastes. Chinese folk clothing is deeply rooted in the daily life and activities of the people, with many traditional folk styles and accessories. They embrace embroidered keepsakes, coil hats and raincoats made of natural fiber, not to mention the handmade children's tiger-head hats and shoes as well as pig-head shoes and cat-head shoes.

Tiger Head Hat - handcrafted embroidery design.

The progress of modernization is having an effect on the ethnic character of dress style. However, in rural areas, a wide array of beautiful garments and ornaments are still very much part of the local lifestyle and landscape, which is in direct opposition to city life, where designers and fashion shows shape what city residents are wearing.

Shanghai Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026, takes place from October 9th to 16th. Over 80,000 industry insiders — including thousands of global guests — will gather across the city for a spectacular lineup of first shows, first exhibitions, as well as first unveilings of fashion. More than 1,000 brands will showcase their latest collections across 10 plus iconic fashion landmarks, redefining what’s next in fashion, through bold formats as well as visionary creativity. As a globally influential platform, SS26 will deepen collaborations with international powerhouses, while activating the city’s rich creative energy, thereby driving “FIRST in Shanghai,” as well as creating momentum across new products, and technologies in various business ventures.

Reference:
[1] Chinese Clothing, H. Mei, Cambridge University Press (2011).

Color and Light - Part I [1]Art ResourceMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
This is the fifty-eighth post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed below all the posts in this new series:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
Blue Pigments - Part III
Green Pigments - Part I
Green Pigments - Part II
Red Pigments - Part I
Red Pigments - Part II
Yellow Pigments - Part I
Yellow Pigments - Part II
Brown and Violet Pigments
Black Pigments
White Pigments - Part I
White Pigments - Part II
White Pigments - Part III
Inert Pigments
Permanence of Pigments: New Pigments - Part I
Permanence of Pigments: New Pigments - Part II
Limited or Restricted Palettes
Testing of Pigments - Part I
Testing of Pigments - Part II
Further Refinement of Pigments
Color and Light - Part I

There have been another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics;
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio;
(iii) Color theories and color schemes;
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials;
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V;
(vi) Protein fibers;
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers;
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers;
(ix) Fabric construction;
(x) Techniques and woven fibers;
(xi) Basic and figured weaves;
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics;
(xiii) Durable press and wash-and-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.

To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.

If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g., click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.

The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!

Color and Light - Part I [1]
The color of a pigment is not one of its definite, inherent properties, rather it is the effect on the eye produced by that particular substance under certain circumstances. For example, color blindness is an often misunderstood condition. Many assume because of its name that “color blind” means a person can only see in black and white. In actuality, the vast majority of people with color blindness do see color, but they see a much narrower range of color. It is estimated that a person with normal color vision can see up to 1 million distinct shades of color, but a person who is color blind may see as few as just 10 thousand colors (i.e., 1% of the normal range).

Images that simulate color blindness, like the ones in this blog it can give an impression to people with normal color vision of what color blind people see, or answer the question - "What does the world look like to a color blind person?" However, these simulations actually fail to give a realistic understanding of a color blind person's experience.

So, what are the actual effects of color blindness on vision? The primary symptom that color blind people experience is color confusion. Put simply, color confusion is when someone mistakenly identifies a color, for example, calling something orange when it is actually green.

When a dry pigment is mixed with a liquid, its color is changed to a darker or deeper tone. This is an optical effect, which may be explained in the following manner. Materials used as pigments differ widely in certain properties from liquids used as mediums. One of these properties is the amount of light a substance reflects and absorbs. All liquids and solids vary from each other in this respect, and each one has been measured and tagged with a number called its refractive index. Scientifically, the refractive index is a measure of how much light bends (i.e., refracts), when it passes from one medium into another, and it is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to its speed in that medium. It is a dimensionless number, with a higher value indicating that light travels more slowly and is bent more sharply. The refractive index is determined by the material's optical density and depends on the wavelength and temperature of the light. For example, it must be taken into account when spearing a fish. The fish's apparent position in the water is not its actual position as explained in the diagram below.

The difference of the refractive index of air and water is such that the position of a fish in the water from a fisherman's point of view is the different from its actual position within the water, as per diagram below, because the difference between the refractive index of air and water which therefore bends the light.

A sheet of glass is a transparent substance; when a ray of light strikes it at an angle, there is a varying amount of surface, or mirror-like reflection, depending on conditions; however, the greater part of light passes through its continuous, uniform structure and emerges refracted or bent, at an angle different from which it entered. The refractive index is computed from this change of angle, which depends in each case on the substance's power to impede light rays.

Glass slab is a substance, or sheet made of a glass material having three dimensions: that is length, breadth, and height. It is cuboidal shaped. It does not deviate, nor does it disperse the light rays passing through it. This means that the incident and the emergent ray emerging from the glass slab are parallel. The glass slab only produces a lateral or (sideways) shift or displacement to the direction of light.

When two substances of varying refractive indices meet (see the above two examples), the greater the difference in their refractive indices, the greater will be the proportion of reflected light at the point where they meet. When a pigment with a refractive index of 2.00 is dry, each particle surrounded by air (the index of which is 1.00) causing a certain amount of white light to be reflected. When the pigment is moistened with linseed oil, which has a refractive index of 1.48, much less light is reflected, since more is absorbed, and so the pigment appears darker or more intense in hue.

As the light enters a film, we want to prevent it from reaching the substrate and exiting; the pigments do this by interacting with the light. When light interacts with a particle, there are five possible outcomes, namely: refraction, diffraction, absorption, reflection, or no change. All of these are considered scattering, except for the ‘no change’ situation. Refraction is when the light path is changed as it passes through the boundary of the particle and surrounding media. Diffraction is when the light is bent by interacting with the edge of the particle. Absorption is when the energy of the incident light is attenuated by the particle, but not necessarily by all frequencies equally. Reflection is when the light that hits the film returns to the source. We want to maximize scattering and minimize ‘no change’ to optimize hiding and color.

When transparent glass is pulverized, the powder appears white. Water in the form of ice is transparent; in the form of snow it is white and opaque. The reason for this is that while light rays are easily transmitted through uniform, continuous mediums of ice and the sheet of glass when they strike powdered glass and snow, they are reflected in all directions from the myriads of tiny facets of the particles surrounded by air, and are bent from one tiny particle to another until they become entirely diffused. When such broken planes and irregular facets exist ony on the surface, as when when a sheet of glass has been rubbed with an abrasive material to produce a ground-glass or non-transparent effect, the light is broken up and reflected on the surface, creating a whitish or frosted appearance. However, since the light-dispersing particles lie on the surface of a thin layer, the rays are not entirely impeded and continue on through the glass, which is now translucent instead of transparent.

Light reflected from shattered glass.

A flat or mat effect on a paint or varnish is always due to the fact that the surface consists of a thin layer of such irregular construction. When such a surface is moistened its opacity is temporarily diminished. In the same way, alumina hydrate, a white, opaque powder when dry will become colorless and transparent when wet with benzol, because particles are then surrounded by a medium which has a refractive index very close to its own. The effect of liquids upon the color and opacity of pigments varies greatly in each case, depending on the difference between the two refractive indices concerned.

Dry Alumina Hydrate.

If a pigment which appears transparent, or translucent, in a thinly applied layer is piled up or applied to a surface in a thick layer, it appears more opaque because the light then travels through a greater number of separate particles, each one of which impedes its progress by refracting it and also because there is more reflection of light from the points where the pigment particles and their surrounding medium meet, and because more particles absorb more light. Intensity of color also decreases the transparency or increases the hiding power of a pigment.

A thick application of paint appears more opaque because it can block more light, while a thinly applied layer is either translucent or transparent. While impasto is a technique that uses thick, textured paint for a dimensional effect, glazing is a technique that uses thin, transparent layers over an opaque base to create depth and luminosity.

The above section is a thin application of paint, whereas the section below is a thick application of the same paint. Note the difference in opaqueness.

Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).

Paisley Patterns - Part V [1]Art EssayMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience, I have listed below other posts in this series:
Paisley Patterns - Part I
Paisley Patterns - Part II
Paisley Patterns - Part III
Paisley Patterns - Part IV
Paisley Patterns - Part V

Paisley Patterns - Part V [1]
How did Paisley become involved in the shawl trade, and even more interestingly, became a world leader in shawl manufacture? Perhaps the blame can be laid at the door of revolutionary France and Napoleon Bonaparte. The wars with France had drained British resources, and attempts to beat the French navy's blockade were confined to more essential imports rather than raw silk. As a result many of the highly skilled weavers in Paisley found themselves without work in the early years of the nineteenth century. Manufacturers in the town were desperate to find a new product, which could revive the weaving industry. Around 1805, or so the story goes, an Endinburgh shawl manufacturer by the name of Paterson had taken on too many orders for shawls. His own weavers were unable to match the demand; so, remembering the pool of skilled weavers in Paisley, he sent them some work. The Paisley workers soon realized that good profits could be made from shawl weaving, and before long, several had set themselves up as shawl manufacturers.

Though first introduced some thirty years previously, the British shawls were still fashionable. In fact they were to remain part of the fashion-conscious females wardrobe for the best part of a century. This was due in no small measure to their versatility. Not only could the colors and designs be changed to suit the tastes of the age, but also the actual size and shape of the shawl could be adapted to suit the garment worn beneath.

The costumes of the early nineteenth century were based on classical Greco-Roman lines. Sleeves were tight-fitting, the dresses fell from beneath the bust, and the skirts were straight. The lines of the costumes were extremely severe, and so the softness of the draped shawl, combined with the touch of the exotic pattern, provided the perfect complement. By the 1820s, a change had occurred in dress design. The 'waistline' had dropped to something like its actual anatomical level, skirts had begun to flare out slightly, and the shoulder line was greatly emphasized. The leg-o'-mutton sleeves had arrived. In response to this trend, the shawl changed in shape from a rectangle to a square. Folded across the diagonal, and worn around the shoulders to accentuate their width, with the point of the triangle highlighting the narrow waist, the shawl once again proved to be an ideal accessory.

A gauze print design, ca. 1850s, with beautiful sprays of tiny flowers separating the Paisley motifs.

The gauze print design, ca. 1850s, was stamped 'J. Huntingdon, Dessinateur, Paris.'

A delightful small-scale border design from pattern book of 'Print Designs 1853-1860,' which was donated to the Paisley Museum (Scotland) in 1941 by one of the last of the Paisley textile manufacturers.

This individual motif is taken from a book put together by a unknown manufacturer of 'Gauze Print Designs, French and English' (dated 1850-1860). It is certain that this is not a scrap book, but did belong to one manufacturer, because throughout, in the same hand, are instructions for which machine was used for each design. This pattern was destined for the 'No.1 machine.'

Design for a printed shawl, painted on tissue paper. It may have been intended for roller printing.

Design ca. 1855 for a printed shawl, probably a silk gauze.

A border design in an untypical subdued color scheme. It probably dates to the 1830s.

Design for the border of a gauze print shawl, it was drawn by J. Huntington, perhaps in Paris, but has been overstamped with his London address of Queen's Road Works, Holloway. It is a curved edge block for a 'Glasgow Shawl.'

This small pattern is from the volume entitled, 'Designs for Gauze Prints, French and English, 1850-1860.'

Reference:
[1] V. Reilly, Paisley Patterns, Portland House, New York (1989).

Traditional Batik Clothing [1]Wearable ArtMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your interest, I have listed below, other posts on this blogspot that center on the use of Batik to create wearable art:
Nothing Is The Same I & II (Els van Baarle, The Netherlands)
Batik ArtCloth from South-East Asia
Batiks from Kintore
Batiks From Warlpiri
Historical Israeli Batik ArtWorks
A Brief History of Batik
A History of Javanese Batik - Hindu Influence
A History of Javanese Batik - Islamic Influence
Traditional Batik Clothing

Introduction
Traditional Javanese costume is still worn today. When garments, which are no longer worn, are mentioned in this post, specific note is made of this fact.

Traditional Batik Clothing [1]
The Sarong
The 'sarong' is the everyday dress for men and women. The ends of a length of cloth (110 x 220 cm) are sewn together. This skirt is pulled over the head and adjusted to the correct width with a pleat. The 'sabuk', a band wrapped several times around the waist, holds the sarong in place. A characteristic of the sarong is also the 'kapla' (i.e., edge). See the following three images.

This child is wearing a sarong on which half a kapala is visible.

The strip, originally woven, with a different pattern and is worn at the front or the side, is called kapala (head). This consists of two rows of tumpal motifs (triangles) with rows of seven small stars between them. The points of the triangles do not quite meet. At the upper and lower edges of the sarong there is a narrow decorative strip with kemadas (i.e., short cross stripes).

A part of the kapala strip can be seen on the sarong of this rongeng dancer from Batavia. Both boys are wearing batiked trousers.
Photographed around 1880.

The kain panjang
This loose cloth (110 x 250 cm) wrapped around the waist several times constitutes the festive costume for men and women alike. The end is folded into an uneven number of pleats in the front ('wiron'); these pleats open gracefully when walking. The body and waist are tied with a sash ('setagen'). The kain has an uneven pattern over its entire length. At the upper and lower edges a strip is often left white (see picture below).

A former administrator of Surakarta with his five sons. The men are all wearing very richly patterned kain panjangs.

The Dodot
This garment of state for princes, dancers at court and high dignitaries consists of two cotton lengths of equal breadth, sewn together lengthwise before being batiked. The total size is 220 x 350 to 450 cm. Often the dodot is decorated in the center with one color rhomboid, the 'tengahan' motif, and a fringe along one side edge. Today it is only worn in Central Java by noble bridal couples.

The edges of the tengahan motif, on official dress as well as on a breast cloth, are often decorated with cemukirans (diagonal pointed motifs).

The Kemben
This breast cloth (50 x 250 cm) is often the same patterning as the kain panjang and together it gives a sense of unity. The kemben is often decorated with the tengahan motif. The four edges are usually richly decorated. Only brides of noble birth wear this breast cloth today with a dodot (see the two photographs below).

While women used to leave their upper trunks uncovered, they would just pull the kain up over their breasts when visiting. Probably from this custom the breast cloth developed. This Javanese woman is wearing it above a woven sarong.

Part of a richly decorated breast cloth edge. The center piece of the cloth is decorated with plangi, a tie technique.

The Slendang
This article of women's clothing serves as a decorative or carry cloth. It probably had its origin from the breast cloth and has the same measurements and edge decoration. Originally the cloth was divided into a central and two sided areas. The latter were often decorated with 'tumpal' motifs.

The slendang used here as a baby-sling, contrary to the usual area division, has the same patterns of tambalan motifs over the entire length. The Javanese woman on this old photograph is also wearing a breastcloth and a woven sarong.

The Slendang Lokcan
This silk slendang was mainly worn by Chinese women on the north coast of Java. The lokcan (loktjan) has an even all-over pattern and rich edge decorations, often with pretty fringes. The word 'locan' can be traced to the Chinese word 'lo', meaning blue, and can (tjan), meaning silk.

The Iket
This square, men's headcloth (1 m²) was an important item of clothing, particularly in Central Java. From it one could tell the rank and position of the wearer. It is hardly worn today. The middle of this cloth, too, was decorated with a single color tengahan motif, to which sometimes the cemukiran (tjemukiran) motifs were added.

These Javanese card players are all wearing a head cloth for men, called iket. The single color tengahan motif above the temples can be seen on the man on the left and also on the man sitting in the middle. The draping and method of wearing the cloth use to vary in the various principalities and were greatly dependent on the influences of the current fashion. The men are also wearing kain panjang, recognizable by the narrow white lower edge.

Tambalan
The term tambalan refers to the pattern (see picture below) on this short jacket with long sleeves. It was worn by animist priests in the Tengger mountains in East Java. The patchwork pattern can be traced back to the early Buddhist priests who were required to clothe themselves with patched garments made from rags.

The jacket shown above, made of squares composed of triangles, used to be the correct clothing of priests from the Tengger mountains. These priests also wore batiked jackets in a pattern, derived from this patchwork. The batik patterning shown in the slendang two pictures above that is used as a baby-sling is also an example of this.

The two dancers in the middle of this wayang topeng scene (topeng = mask) are wearing batiked sheaths with parang rusak pattern of the nobles. The man standing back left is wearing a sheath with the same pattern, but enlarged, called parang barong.
Bandung, ca. 1890.

A central Javanese bridal couple, 1975. Men wear the dodot over tight trousers made of cinde cloth. The higher the status or class, the more these trousers are visible. The dodot trails a little at the back, falling over the dagger sheath and is lifted by several train carriers. The dagger (kris) is held in a wide belt called pangsit. The head is covered by a stiff Persian cap called kuluk. The upper trunk is uncovered. Women wear the dodot over the kain panjang, the upper trunk slightly bound with a breastcloth. The draping is carried out by selected servants and follows strictly in accordance with a prescribed ritual.

Reference:
[1] M. Spée, Traditional and Modern Batik, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst (1982).