Batik occupies a special place in Indonesian culture. Each fabric has a rich story to tell—as a reflection of the nation's religious beliefs, sophisticated court cultures and cosmopolitan history. The extraordinary textiles in this book are from the collections of Rudolf Smend and Donald Harper. Most date from the period 1880 to 1930 when the art of batik reached its apogee. Having collected historical batik for over thirty years and published two books on the subject, Rudolf...
