Those with a passion for rare batik have until April 30 next year to witness the beauty of the intricate patterns being displayed during "A Royal Treasure: The Javanese Batik Collection Of King Chulalongkorn Of Siam" at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in the Grand Palace.
Originating in Indonesia, batik is made by skilled craftsmen to convey techniques in creating various colours and motifs that are unique from generation to generation. Each design is also influenced by other cultures, such as Persian, Indian, Chinese and Japanese.
Launched in late 2018, the exhibition comprises 38 one-of-a-kind pieces that tell the story of King Chulalongkorn's three trips to Java around 120-150 years ago, as well as his fascination with the fabrics.
Six of them are among the highlights that will take viewers to explore the tales of faiths and beliefs of people of many nationalities. They include:
- A floral batik by Dutch artist A.J.F. Jans, which combines late Victorian artistic lovebirds, floral wreaths in the European Art Nouveau style expressed by the blue, pink and yellow borders on either side of the vertical panel.
- A batik in Bang Biru Ungon style from a Chinese merchant workshop in Lasem which reflected auspicious creatures according to Chinese beliefs such as the carp leaping over the dragon gate, flying phoenixs, pheasants, qilins and butterflies.
- A batik with the "Parang Rusak Barong" patterns from W.F. van Lawick van Pabst's atelier, a world-renowned batik workshop in Yogyakarta. The patterns have been consistently popular in central Java, especially in Yogyakarta and Surakarta.
- A batik with the Huk pattern from the workshop of W.F. van Lawick van Pabst. The pattern was reserved exclusively for royalty and its motif consisted of circles, each containing birds in the centre, surrounded by seashells at the four compass points.
- The Pasrèn batik with parasol and fan motifs from Surakarta. Pasrèn means place of Sri (the rice goddess), the parasol motif refers to protection and the fan motif represents peace.
- A batik with the Sirikit pattern inspired by the beauty of HM Queen Sirikit and named in her honour. It was created in commemoration of the state visit to Indonesia by King Bhumibol and HM the Queen in 1960.
The museum opens daily from 9am to 4.30pm. Visit qsmtthailand.org or call 02-225-9420.
