This hand painted batik piece patterned with a design in red, black and blue on yellow background is from Cirebon on the north coast of Java. This piece, which would have been used as a skirt cloth or hip wrapper, is decorated with the traditional Chinese cloud band pattern, known in Indonesia as the "mengamendung" pattern. These kinds of north coast Javanese batiks were very much influenced by the Chinese traders. They were made for export to Southeast and East Asia as well as for the local Chinese/Indonesian market.

Asian Art Department, AGNSW, June 1998.