Sarong (Kain panjang)

Textiles

c. 1930

Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia

This sarong (kain panjang) for men and women is ornamented with scenes from the Javanese shadow puppet theater called wayang kulit. Many wayang scenes have protective connotations, exemplified by the presence of Bhima, one of the heroes who represents the forces of good in the Indian epic the Mahabharata. The wayang figures on the textile symbolize the wisdom associated with older people who commonly wear these garments.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Title: Sarong (Kain panjang)
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 1920–1940
Medium: Cotton, plain weave; hand-drawn, wax-resist-dyed (batik tulis)
Inscriptions: Inscription: MR
Dimensions: 105.4 × 246.7 cm (41 1/2 × 97 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of E. M. Bakwin Indonesian Textile Collection
Reference Number: 2002.970

Brigette Khan Majlis, The Art of Indonesian Textiles: The E. M. Bakwin Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 33, 2 (2007): 68, cat. 32.

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. 32.
Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia rotation, Gallery 142, Mar. 8-Sep. 22, 2022.

E.M. (Pete) Bakwin, Chicago, IL, by 2002 [E.M. Bakwin Collection of Indonesian Textiles inventory EMB-1033, incoming receipt RX23940, dated Jan. 22, 2003, in curatorial file, Textiles Department]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2002.

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