By Porter Lang
Look at the cloth before you read about it. Tiny hairline cracks run through the colour, as if the dye had settled into a dry riverbed. That crackle is the clue to the whole story. It started as an accident of batik, became a feature of an imitation, and ended up as the mark of a textile many people think of as African. This is a practical read on how it is made, what the name on the stamp means, and where the sources part ways.
What the cloth is
The Asian Textile Studies page describes Dutch wax as a mechanically printed, wax-resist cotton, based on Indonesian batik, where wax blocks the dye. In the imitation, the article says, a synthetic resin is applied to the cloth with engraved copper rollers. The cloth is dyed in a base colour. In a “breaking-off” stage, part of the resin is removed in a washing machine, and what remains forms small spheres that resist a second dye. The residual resin forms micro-cracks, which give the blurred, crackled look that imitates batik. More colours can then be added with roller printers.
Dates in order
- 1846: Pieter Fentener van Vlissingen founds the Helmond company, according to Wikipedia’s Vlisco entry; the ThisDay and ArchiExpo articles say the same.
- 1927: the company takes the name Vlisco, according to both sources.
Where to see it in Helmond
Museum Helmond has held a Vlisco exhibition. Check the museum’s own site for what is on now.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is it made in the Netherlands? “Dutch wax” names a technique, and we found no source that guarantees where a given piece was printed, so ask the seller. Is every piece with crackle genuine Vlisco? We cannot say, so ask who made it.
Roam first. Shop later.