Indian Batik of Vishnu and Gopi with Peacock. Depicts Vishnu enchanting a group of followers while a peacock, the symbol of royalty, beauty, and rebirth, preens in front of them.  

Overall Size: 39 x 48 in. 
Sight Size: 37 1/2 x 47 in. 
#5021 . 

Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of wax with a spouted tool called a canting, or by printing the wax with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to color selectively by soaking the cloth in one color, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colors are desired. Batik is very important to Indonesians, and many people wear it to formal or casual events, including various rituals, ceremonies, celebrations, and even in daily uses. Indonesian batik predates written records; it is believed by European historians to have been introduced during the 6th or 7th Century from India or Sri Lanka. Conversely, Indonesian archaeologists believe that batik is a native tradition that then spread to the rest of Southeast Asia and even as far as Africa, specifically due to its appearance on other Near Pacific Islands that were not directly influenced by Hinduism. In Europe, the technique was described for the first time in the “History of Java,” published in London in 1817 by Stamford Raffles. The Dutch and Chinese who came to Indonesia were active in developing batik, particularly coastal batik, in the late colonial era. They introduced new patterns as well as the use of the cap (copper block stamps) to mass-produce batiks. The industry itself collapsed after World War II and the declaration of Indonesia’s independence, with most modern batik made for personal use on the island itself. 

In Hinduism, Vishnu (meaning “The Pervader” in Sanskrit) is a blue-skinned god who is often depicted as the guardian of the cosmos, the destroyer of evil, the bestower of karma, and the god of time itself. The particular color of his skin is said to represent his calm demeanor and his connections to the sky and sea. It may also represent the color of the night sky, dark storm clouds, and the moon. Vishnu is one of the three major deities in Hinduism, along with Shiva the Destroyer and Devi the Great Goddess. He is also known as Narayana and Hari, and has been worshiped for thousands of years, with countless religious texts, plays, and songs written about him. For Hindus, Vishnu and Krishna are seen as two different manifestations of the same divine personality. Vishnu is often seen as the god, while Krishna is his reincarnation, the eighth avatar, one of the most important ones along with Rama.

Slight lost of color on border.