Charles Bartlett, Buying Batiks, Java (Etching)

Notes: Signed and numbered in graphite by the artist. "CWB" monogram in plate. Bartlett would often paint and sell his etchings at the local shipping port to visitors, with an option of black and white or colored versions. The copper plate used to create this work is in the collection of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Batiks are an Indonesian technique (originally used in Java) of producing colored designs on textiles by dyeing them, after first applying wax to the parts left undyed. Traditional batiks are made by drawing dots and lines with a spouted tool called a tjanting or using a copper stamp called a cap. Since Bartlett was indifferent to the dating of his etchings, we cannot know for certain the order of their production, but clearly he became more bold and free with his work as the years passed. As stated by Miles, "The rare and rarely seen hand-colored etchings can now take their deserved place as Bartlett's collective masterwork".