Lawan Perada With Green Center Field

Perada is a gold patterning technique that originated in Bali. The intended cloth, usually cotton but on rare occasions as in this case silk, gets marked with a thin layer of glue, which then gets covered with gold leaf. As gold was costly, pervades were worn exclusively by the Balinese aristocracy on temple festivals and other ceremonies and due to the fragile nature of the gold leafing hard to find in good condition. This Perada batik is a good representation of the technique whereby silk batik is enhanced by the application of gold leaf or gold dust. The silk base fabric is of red and green ground with a decorative overlay of gold leaf. The central square in foliate green is decorated with delicate abstractions of floral constellation like motifs. The border has stupa decorations at either end with floral-like designs of gold over the crimson red. The sophisticated gold leafing creates an additional design over the initial base motif. The stiffness created by the gold is perfect for a formal warp around. This textile most likely comes from Sumatra, since the patterns are characteristic of these batik production centers.