This batik is decorated with a pictorial representation of the characters from the fairytale “Snow White the Seven Dwarfs”. Snow White is shown in the centre and surrounded by the seven dwarfs, with mushrooms along the outer edges of the cloth. This sarong belongs to the genre of batik fairytale, pioneered by the Eurasian batikmaker Carolina von Farquemont. This batik is part of a large group donated to the museum by the descendants of three generations of female batik makers from Pekalongan. It was made by the mother of the donors, Jane Hendromartono, the last of the three generations. Jane Hendromartono came from a family of batik makers in Pekalongan. She used many names in her lifetime. Her first batiks were created under her mother’s name, Nyonya Oeij Kok Sing (1895–1966). She began using her husband’s name, Liem Siok Hien, in 1947. From 1967 her works were marketed as Hendromartono’s Batik Art “Unique”, using her husband’s new Indonesian family name. She rarely repeated designs, and her highly individualistic style and inventive use of colour made her batiks popular at home and abroad.
