Ceremonial Lower Body Wrapper (kain dodot) with Design of a “Sprouting Growth” (sěmèn) Motif

Made of two lengths sewn together, this ceremonial garment is an overskirt worn folded and wrapped around the waist. It is traditionally used only by Javanese royalty, by the bride and groom at weddings, or at other ceremonial court occasions. It has an overall design of stylized plants, animals, pavilions, and wings of Garuda, a bird-like creature from Hindu mythology. Together these images form a variation of the sěmèn motif, a “spouting growth” design representative of the rich symbolism of Javanese cosmology. This design is one of the “forbidden” patterns originally restricted to use by the aristocracy at court. The combination of natural plant dyes seen here is typical of Surakarta in central Java, especially at its royal court. Two shades of soga brown dye, made from the bark of the soga or yellow flame tree (Peltophorum pterocarpum) are juxtaposed against a background of indigo blue dye, which is usually made from the leaves of the Java indigo (Marsdenia tinctoria).