Batik fragment cod. 0539.Cotton, traditional dyes. Miao people. Guizhou province. South China. Late 19th. century. Very good condition. Cm. 75 x 150 (2'5" x 4'11"). The fragment is professionally sewn onto a cotton ground and mounted on a wooden stretcher. Batik is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth, or cloth made using this technique. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a canting or by printing the resist with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colours are desired. Batik of Miao people is famous for its fine and delicate design. In employing berds, flowers, butterflies, and berries as design motif, they often expressed a bold and imaginative touch in their production. The Batik is not only used for clothing materials but also widely used in making other articles necessary for daily life. The Miao people like to have beautiful things in life and would like to enjoy life in the full. The design of the batik textile is usually blue patterns on white ground.