18 



TIk' iliitli rnav he single, hut usiuilly several tliiekuesses an.' tacked 

 toijother at their edges aud are done at once, the upper one alone 

 havini:; the outline printed on it. This, of course, saves labour aud 

 time, hut prohahly the result is not quite so good as when a single 

 thifkness is treated at a time. The outlined cloth is given to other 

 wt>nien who prepare it for the dyers. A good deal of the pattern 

 is produced hy stitcliiug the cloth firmly togetlier in puckers, aud 

 larger spaces which are intended not to take the dye are tied \ip 

 ti*ditlv in pieces of the skin of the leafstalk of tlie banana. The 

 workers are, of course, guided l)y the outlined pattern which has been 

 printed on the cloth. When finished, the cloth has a curious crumpled- 

 up appearance ; a piece, sufficiently large to make a sarong, will have 

 contracted to about 8 inches in diameter in the tying process. 



The tied cloth is then given back to the dyers, who immerse it for a 

 short time in the dye for the ground colour of the piece. Favourite 

 colours for this purpose are yellow, green and red. As previously 

 stated, the pigments used are all aniline ones. After the first applica- 

 tion of the dy.j the cloth is allowed to dry, the tying and stitching is 

 then undone and all the thi-eads are pulled out. It now presents the 

 api>earauce of a coloured cloth with a white pattern on it. 



It is now ready for the next process. For this, it is stretched on a 

 wooden frame with short legs. It may be mentioned that the Malay 

 women, when working, sit or squat on a raised platform, like tailors, 

 8o that this frame and the printing table, previously mentioned, are 

 furnished with legs about 9 inches high, to be of a convenient 

 height for working at in that position. The frame is provided with a 

 number of sharp brass pins round its outer edges for the purpose of 

 holding the cloth. Further development of the pattern is now 

 carried out on the stretched cloth by means of different coloured dyes 

 applied with the brushes used by the Chinese for writing with. Most 

 of this embellishment is drawn in free-Jiand on the white spaces left 

 by the last process, but some of it is put on to the ground colour itself. 



The clotli after this is taken off the frame and is ready for sale. 

 No attempt is made to fix the colours and, as a consequence.', they are 

 fugitive and nm badly when the cloth is washed, or even accidentally 

 damped or wetted. Although both the makers and buyers are well 

 aware of this fact, it does not appear to interfere with either their 

 manufacture or sale. The brilliancy of colouring is the great point 

 in their favour in Asiatic eyes. To the C[uestion of why they did not 

 use their own j>^*rmanent dyes, the makers answered that it would be 

 a great deal more trouble and that the results would not be nearly so 

 beautiful. 



The idea that the harmonious colouring of the old Eastern art- 

 work was due to the possession of a fine colour sense, is undoubtedly 

 not borne out hy facts. It was simply a matter of necessity, as they 



