PWM Trap

These mystery initials belong to Pieter Willem Marinus Trap, a lithographer from the 19th century. This tiny credit shows us a stunning example by an artist who hand coloured prints from nature and collections. At one point he worked directly as Printer of International Archives of Ethnography at Leiden, so his illustrations found their way into many museum publications.

The four corners that border this bright guide to tie dye are a quick glimpse into who, what, why, when and where. They place our story firmly in Leiden before it travels all the way to Indonesia and back again.

His illustration was commissioned by Leiden businessman Felix Driessen. The reaches of the Dutch Empire opened up the world for men like Driessen in the 19th century. Felix was the oldest of 13 children and by 1887 was gradually taking over the family business with one of his brothers - a factory in Leiden called the Leidsche Katoenmaatschappij. The company sold cotton that had been weaved, bleached, dyed, and printed in the fashions of the time.

Faced with globalisation, they were challenged to be more innovative than their father, and embraced experimentation with materials, colours and techniques. It is no surprise that Driessen travelled to Indonesia to see for himself the magic of creating tie dye, where it was practised along the coast of Semarang, Java.

This is where our story begins, taking us back to 1889. In Europe, the industrial revolution was in full swing. Exhibitions were celebrating artistic progress and the invention of new materials for the public. In his publication ‘Tie and Dye-work Manufactured at Semarang’, Driessen noted that in the display of traditional tie dye craftwork, something was missing…