Re-dyeing

In the last stage before the cloth is finished we notice that the cloth has been re-dyed. The writer of the inventory cards is confused: dyed again with indigo (?), he writes. The cloth has actually been dyed with mengkoedoe over indigo, turning this stage into a combination of the last two stages.

Although on the north coast of Java, dyeing the cloth blue was often kept until the very end to only color in details, the people in Middle Java first dyed the cloth blue, followed by a bath of red or brown dye. This creates a dark brown, almost black, color on the parts that were not covered with wax either time. The darker the indigo and the browner the second dyebath, the blacker the result. This, and earlier observations, suggest that this cloth might have been made in Java after all, perhaps even in the regions of Yogyakarta or Solo.