The Origins of African Prints
African print was developed from batik, the latter being of Indian origin. Batik diffused from India to Indonesian islands and Japan while its subsequent perfection was made possible by the Javanese before the thirteen century. Because batik was of Hindu origin, its sacred importance was associated with women’s birth, initiation, marriage and death. It was particularly a medium for depicting symbols of Javanese women’s fertility, such as the feature of crowned snakes; whereas among the Sawu in Sunda island of Indonesia, the cloth was used as a means of clan identification.
The Javanese developed a high level of batik artistry before they were colonized. They produced many symbolic and non-symbolic patterns. Parang rusak (dagger point or broken blade) is one of the most popular patterns developed in the sixteenth century. Also known as ‘Princely Pattern’, parang rusak was developed for and worn only by male members of Djakarta royal house.
While under the rule of the Indians, Chinese, Islamic clerics and the Dutch, the Javanese were influenced by an influx of new ideas from the cultures of their overlords. Consequently, some Chinese mythology and Buddhist themes were borrowed and incorporated in their batik. They included the significance of the Chinese mythical snail and dogs of Fo, which were the fabulous beasts usually found in pairs guarding the entrance of Buddhist deities. They copied from the Indian chintz particularly the ‘Tree of Life’ which was later adopted and used by other cultures especially the Europeans. And greater development of geometric designs was made manifest more than before during the short period Java was made an Islamic state, because Islam forbade the representation of human forms and the like.
By the seventeenth century, Java came under the political control of the Dutch as Javanese batik was introduced to Holland and thereafter to other parts of Europe. Yet, it was not readily accepted in Europe because of its ‘exotic’ design content. However, the Dutch led interested European firms in developing overseas market for the machine-made batik which became known as wax print, and thus during the Dutch trade expansion, factories were established in overseas ports or possessions, including India, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon and the Moluccas.
By the nineteenth century, styles were derived from European peasant ornamentation and preserved in the oldest cloths served as inspirational sources for designing wax print. And design motifs universal to all cultures, such as nature-based forms: plants and animals were drawn and styled in the European format and in the manner of other foreign cultures. For example, we find decorative in-filled plant motifs on these fabrics. The flowers and foliage are of mixture of Indian and European origin. Some of these nature-based motifs are reminiscent of the seventeenth century Western embroidery and silk styles. All these added to the repertoire of design content of the print, and despite the non-relationship of the design motifs to African traditions, the cloth bearing the motifs were introduced to African communities.
The Introduction of African Prints to Africa
During the late nineteenth century, the Dutch directed their textile mills in Haalem, Leyden and those in overseas to produce wax prints for the West African markets. Before then, little quantity of wax print were introduced to West Africa by the Europeans, first through Christian missionaries who needed the prints for converts; second, through the European producers who made wax prints for the African market; third, through West African soldiers who brought back Javanese batiks to their wives after serving between 1810 and 1862 in Indonesia. Thus, by the early decades of the twentieth century, there was a rapid increase in the export of the cloth to Africa, and later in the twentieth century, additional bales of African prints were supplied from Japan and local factories to West Africa (the latter offered cheaper price ranges).
In this process, the marketing of the cloth at the retail level was greatly enhanced by the way and manner attracting indigenous names in form of proverbs, catch phrases, catch words, slogans, maxims and puns were given to each successful design by African traders, although the names had no connection with the designs. Yet, the practice then became established as one of the strategies for marketing African prints at various local markets.
Content taken from: http://www.jpanafrican.com/docs/vol2no5/2.5_African_Print.pdf
Yinka Shonibare 