Batik Handkerchief
Prabir BiswasSantiniketan, India, 1970s
- Materials & techniques
- Silk, batik and tie-dye; wax resist
- Collection
- Prabir and Bani Biswas
Object details
This handkerchief was made by Prabir Biswas in the 1970s under the guidance of Gouri Bhanja, and may be among the earliest, possibly the first, batik handkerchiefs produced in Santiniketan.
Combining wax-resist batik and tie-dye, the small textile demonstrates how techniques associated with Kala Bhavana were adapted to an everyday format.
The design depicts two birds in flight between clouds, creating a light and open composition across the silk. The birds, suspended against the cloud-filled sky, introduce a sense of movement and expansiveness to the otherwise intimate scale of the handkerchief. The interplay of wax-resist lines and tie-dyed passages contributes to the atmospheric quality of the scene.
The handkerchief is significant for its early experimentation with batik beyond the sari and larger textile formats. Its modest scale and everyday function reveal the versatility of the medium, while the combination of batik and tie-dye points to an exploratory approach to resist techniques. Made under Gouri Bhanja’s guidance, it belongs to the formative period of Santiniketan batik, when artists and practitioners were extending the possibilities of the technique into new forms and uses.
