Title
Sarong
Year/Period
1940s-1960s
Region
Indonesia - Java
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 105.8 x 101.2 cm
Accession No.
2024-00054
Collection of
Alice Choo (1926-2019) bought her sarongs from Basharahil Brothers in Arab Street, Singapore. She recalled that fine sarongs were stored in the shop’s safe and would cost between $60 and $100 in the late 1940s. Many of her sarongs came from well-known workshops in the north coast of Java. Synthetic dyes were imported into Java beginning in the late 19th century. Peranakan Chinese batik workshop owners were the first to start experimenting with them at a time when most Indo-European batik entrepreneurs preferred keeping to the natural dye recipes they were familiar with. Hues and tones made possible by synthetic dyes were more vivid and varied.
