It’s a knock off

The label in the corner of Morgan, Buchanan & Co shows a lady in traditional Javan clothing. Ze grasps the long, narrow shawl wrapped around her with both hands. A few palm trees are added to the backdrop.

This drawing is a one-on-one copy of a picture of a dancer made by Woodbury & Page. It’s most likely that her picture was taken around the same time the regent of Kudus and his family were photographed on Java, Indonesia around 1870.

These types of labels helped make knock-offs look more real, and give them more status. They were even copied into handmade batiks. Today, only the most famous batik entrepreneurs provide their cloths with a label. Which is kind of a paradox, seeing as nearly all printed cloths with batik patterns – fake batiks, or batik print – come with a label today.

Let’s end our journey in the reading room of Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken.