Waist Wrapper (Sarung), ILE2006.4.362

Title Waist Wrapper (Sarung)
Culture Cirebon
Geography Java, Indonesia
Date ca. 1880
Medium Cotton; balanced plain weave and hand-drawn batik
Dimensions 79 1/2 × 42 1/8 in. (202 × 107 cm)
Credit Line Robert J. Holmgren and Anita E. Spertus Collection, Promised gift of Thomas Jaffe, B.A. 1971
Inv. No. ILE2006.4.362
View in Collection

The two main fields of this textile are filled with vegetative and floral designs, as well as images of paired Garuda wings. Garuda is the bird that carries the Hindu god Vishnu, and its paired wings are a popular motif in Javanese . The head (kepala), at center, has triangle shapes filled with phoenixes, smaller birds, and flowers. The cloth is dyed a deep indigo blue. —RB